‘They literally give you the power of [The] Flash’: Woman wears Nike Vaporfly shoes to national race. Then she gets turned away 5 minutes before. Here’s why they’re so special

A would-be marathon runner learned five minutes before a race that she wasn’t allowed to wear Nike Vaporflys. A non-runner explains why in a viral video.

Candacce (@candacce) posts TikTok videos reacting to current events and everyday life. In a March 18 video with more than 15.9 million views, she explains why Idaho high school distance athlete Dakota Keyworth (@dakota.runs) was recently held back from competing in a race due to her choice of shoes.

The video takes a screenshot from Keyworth’s March 14 TikTok post, which has 7 million views of its own. In the photo, Keyworth is giving the thumbs-up sign. The text reads, “Thanks, Nike, for specifying that you can’t wear Vaporflies at national races. (They told me 5 minutes before my race and I had to wear trainers.)”

Candacce explains the Nike Vaporfly situation

It appears Keyworth is referring to the Nike Indoor Nationals, which was held in New York City in March.

“This girl said she wore a specific shoe called ‘Vaporflys’ to a national race,” says Candacce. “And they turned her down right before the race. And people in the comments were like, ‘Why would you even try to wear those shoes to the race?’ ‘The fact that you would even try to wear those shoes says a lot about you.’”

This intrigued Candacce. “Whoa,” she says. “What? Shoegate? What is this? I’m interested now. Then I looked deeper into it.”

According to Nike, the Vaporfly is equipped with a “light and stiff” carbon fiber plate that helps propel you forward as you run. The sneaker is designed to support runners who want to run a lot of miles quickly, and it’s so effective at what it does that some call it a form of “technology doping.”

Do the Nike Vaporflys really make you faster?

Candacce looked into the Vaporfly 3 further and learned about its carbon fiber plate. “I’m a normal person, so I have no idea what that means,” she says. “So, me being nosy, I wanna see the controversy.”

That led her to the story of Eliud Kipchoge, a Kenyan long-distance runner who made headlines in 2019 for running the fastest marathon ever at 1:59:40 while wearing a prototype of what would later become the Vaporfly. 

A GQ review of the Vaporfly 3 also indicates the shoes help boost your speed.

“Everyone was like, 'Oh my God, this is insane,” Candacce says. “But then people who actually run were like, 'Wait, what is that? Are those Vaporflys?'”

According to a New York Times profile of the event, Kipchoge’s record could not qualify for a world record due to the specific rules of the marathon, including assistance from pacers and hydration from a bicyclist. The article also includes data that shows “super shoes” are making runners faster than ever before.

To prove her point further, Candacce shows another video she found that demonstrates how a Vaporfly performs versus a regular sneaker. The person in the video bends the Vaporfly, releases it, and it bounces into the air like a spring. Another sneaker doesn’t go nearly as high.

“You know, I’m not even going to hold you,” Candacce says. “It makes perfect sense. Before I was like, 'What’s so great about the shoe?' But then when I saw this video, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, OK.' I’m a normal person; I’m not a runner. So now I understand it. Thank you guys.”

She cuts back to the photo of Keyworth. “Now I’m going to be one of the people in the comments like, ‘You really tried to race in Vaporflys? Oh my god, what is wrong with you?’”

@candacce this shoe drama is wildly specific (orig: @Dakota Keyworth) #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound - candacce

Viewers react

In the comments section, not everyone was on the same page about the effects of the Nike Vaporfly on runners.

“Nah, I disagree with this because I bet even those other people who wore Vaporflies would still not be able to beat that record,” wrote one viewer. “Shoes are tools. ATP don’t wear shoes then.”

“I promise I’d wear these shoes and still come in last place,” joked a second viewer.

“Imagine making an insanely good running shoe just for it to be banned in running competitions,” observed a third viewer.

Someone else posited, “Unless you’re wearing Heelys it shouldn’t matter.”

Another person said, “People are acting like the shoes are going to make you fly.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Candacce and Nike via email for comment. It also reached out to Keyworth via TikTok for comment. 

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