Rewind four weeks. I knew I would be running the marathon for the second time for the brilliant cricket charity, the Primary Club, and had been training for months. I had been scouring the market for shoes, having trained in a trusty pair of Hokas. But I had read with interest that Lidl was releasing a “super shoe” of their own. So, on the Sunday they were released, I went to take a look in one of the many branches of Lidl near my south London home.
This is the first time I have been to “the middle of Lidl” with a specific target in mind. I see shopping in the middle of Lidl the same way Forrest Gump sees a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. On previous visits, I have left, on a whim, with a £20 pressure washer (still in the box), a £15 steamer (works intermittently) and a £30 toddler tower (used daily). I have seen them selling reformer Pilates machines and leopard-print kettles. Generally, it is good quality, very good value, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.
Staff are still plonking the boxes of shoes on the shelves as I arrive. I take a pair out. The shoes are light and not bad to look at. Like all super shoes – the name given to trainers with the carbon-plate technology that has revolutionised running since the Nike Vaporfly almost a decade ago – they have a decent heel, and very thin, light material covering the feet. I’ve seen enough and decide to invest. At £40, what is the worst that could happen?
I take them out for a couple of spins in training. They are bouncier than the tiring Hokas, which have seen me through a warm-weather training camp in Australia (also known as an Ashes tour) but provide less support for the foot. I worry that the insole on the right shoe is slipping a touch as I run, and that any potholes in the pavement have to be carefully negotiated, but broadly I am comfortable with their performance.
For comparison, I was kindly lent a pair of £450 Adidas Adizero Pro Eco 2s, the forerunner to the 97g pair that Sabastian Sawe wore when he broke the world record on Sunday. Eight days out from the marathon, I took them for a spin for an hour. It felt like running on a trampoline, and I moved better than I ever have. The Lidls are light, but these are like a feather, whilst also feeling steady and strong – in fact the Lidl pair are three times heavier. They seem workaday by comparison.