Project: Run Fearless

At Nike, we have always believed that humans have the potential to achieve anything. But each year, too many runners are sidelined by injury, preventing them from reaching their goals. So, we started to ask some questions: What if every day off was a decision? What if our sports MVPs were never MIA? What records could we break if we had record numbers chasing them? What if everyone who started running never had to stop?

Welcome to Project: Run Fearless. Our ongoing mission is to keep runners running by providing them the tools to stay healthy.

The Nike Sports Research Lab team embarked on a plan to see if we could design a running shoe that actually helped keep you on the run. For years, the industry hypothesized that motion control shoes—ones that corrected pronation, the natural motion of the foot inward during a footstrike—did just that. But in fact, motion control didn’t move the needle and the percentage of runners experiencing pain has remained static for decades.

—Matt Nurse, VP, Nike Sports Research Lab

It took the scientists at NSRL several years to discover the unlock. And instead of it being one thing, it’s several. Working off insights from real runners who said that comfort is key, the NSRL team decided to put cushioning front and center, hypothesizing that more cushion could help. However, additional foam can make for a clunkier shoe, so NSRL countered this by developing a unique rocker shape for a smooth heel-to-toe transition. Lastly, the team added a wide base at the toe and the heel to allow for more stability. But a shoe alone can’t keep you healthy—the NSRL team found that diversifying your running routine is also essential in helping stay injury-free.

It’s one thing to test the shoe in a lab on runners, it’s another to put it through its paces with hundreds of them in a controlled scientific study. Each time we release a new Project: Run Fearless shoe, we commission an independent study to see if it actually helps keep you on the run. The results of our most recent study indicate that we’re on the right track: Testing shows* that the Nike ZoomX Invincible Run and the Nike React Infinity 2 showed no statistically significant difference in the incidence of running related pain compared with the Nike React Infinity Run.

Of course, an important factor in staying healthy is running smart. Our studies involve hundreds of runners who follow a variable training program, which is all about mixing up your routine with speed and track workouts; intervals; long, slow distance runs, and recovery runs. Use our Nike Run Club app for Guided Runs that deliver the motivation and inspiration you need to mix it up.