If you’ve hung around the finish line of a World Marathon Major this year, you might have seen a similar scene play out.

The winner crosses the finish line, celebrates, then, moments after running at a pace incomprehensible to most of us, poses with a pair of shoes and hoists them into the air.

Lately, it’s been the same pair of shoes.

Since Adidas unveiled the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 days before the London Marathon in April, the shoe has been on the feet of seven of the past eight winners of World Marathon Majors. The $500 super shoe weighs under 100 grams—about the same as a stick of butter—and Adidas claims it has “11 percent greater forefoot energy return” than its predecessor, the Pro Evo 2.

The Pro Evo 3 is part of a growing category of shoes referred to as “hyper shoes” by the shoe nerd community. These are ultralight, advanced marathon shoes that are designed specifically for elite athletes, not the rest of us mortals.…