Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next% 3 Volt Concord (Women's)

Two uses. Race day: black shorts and a black singlet so the volt reads as the only colour you are wearing, with thin socks and nothing new anywhere else in the kit. Final sharpening session: one race paced effort in it a week or two out, enough for your legs to learn the plate without spending the foam. Fit is snug and low volume through the midfoot, so size as you would other racers, not as you would a cushioned trainer. Keep total mileage low and intentional, since ZoomX gives its best over a limited life and volt uppers show every mile of dirt.

Nike has sponsored women's track at the highest level for decades, with Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Allyson Felix on its roster and Serena Williams among its endorsers, and the brand's whole running attitude traces back to Steve Prefontaine, its first track endorser, who has a statue at company headquarters. Volt has become shorthand for that world: the colour is read instantly as Nike racing, and a women's racing shoe in volt and concord is a deliberate refusal to be understated. In a marathon field where most kit is black, this is what shows up in the photographs at the finish.

The parts are simple to describe and difficult to make: a stiff plate through the length of the shoe, high rebound foam above it, Air Zoom units from Nike's family of pressurised gas cushioning, and an upper cut down to almost nothing so the whole shoe weighs as little as possible. The category has rules for a reason. World Athletics set them on 31 January 2020, capping sole thickness at 40mm, permitting one rigid plate and requiring general retail availability. Volt is a dye that fades under sunlight and stains from wet road grit, so keep this pair boxed between races, brush it dry, and never expose it to heat.