Certificate of
Authenticity
Authenticity
0
Try on
View authenticity certificate
Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 3 Blueprint Pack
Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 3 Blueprint Pack
DELIVERY AND AUTHENTICATION
Includes Authentication Certificate
by Checkcheck global standards
Come see it in person
Culture Note™
Bill Bowerman's whole complaint was weight. He poured rubber into his wife's waffle iron in Oregon because he wanted a lighter sole than anyone was selling, and that experiment produced the 1972 Moon Shoe and the 1974 Waffle Trainer, the first pieces of Nike engineering that were genuinely Nike's own. Every racing shoe the company has built since is an argument in that same direction. The Alphafly is the current end of the line, a maximal race platform that carries as much midsole as the rules allow and as little upper as it can survive. The Blueprint Pack treatment puts the shoe in a marked graphic identity, which is what happens when a piece of equipment becomes recognisable enough to have a wardrobe.
Race one: the marathon, the distance this platform was designed around and where the propulsion pays back most. Race two: a half marathon or a fast 10K when you want the ride without burning a full race shoe lifespan. Log two or three shorter fast sessions in them before race day, because plated shoes shift load into the calf and Achilles and your legs need warning. Thin socks, one firm lacing pass, no double knots. Keep them out of easy mileage, dry them at room temperature away from radiators, and store them uncompressed, since race foams lose their character faster than any other part of the shoe.
Nike's racing authority is built on names, and the list is long: Steve Prefontaine as the first track endorser, with a statue at the company's headquarters, then Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix as sponsored athletes. Just Do It, written by Dan Wieden in 1988 and first aired on 1 July that year with an eighty year old runner named Walt Stack, was the line that took that authority beyond elite sport and handed it to everybody else. Advertising Age named it a top five slogan of the twentieth century and the Smithsonian holds it. A race shoe in a graphic pack is that same message aimed at amateurs with goal times.
A race shoe is a set of subtractions. The upper is stripped to a thin engineered textile because it only has to hold your foot for a race, not a training block. The tongue is minimal, the heel counter barely exists, and everything saved goes into the midsole, where Nike's foam and plate programme lives. ZoomX, the company's altered Pebax foam, is the lightest and most responsive material in the range, and it is the reason modern race shoes are tall rather than thin. Under World Athletics rules issued on 31 January 2020, competition shoes are capped at 40mm of sole and one rigid plate, so this whole category is designed against a ceiling.
Most asked questions
How we always
Guarantee the best prices?
Luxury marketplace
In luxury marketplaces, prices depend on demand — less popular items sell below retail.
.svg)
Competition between sellers
Our 5,000+ verified sellers compete with each other, giving you the lowest prices.
.svg)
Price comparison
We show you price comparisons across sellers so you always get better deals.
.svg)
Helping sellers, helping you
We help sellers buy smarter inventory, so they can offer you better prices.
Loading…