Adidas' $500 Adios Pro Evo 2 Marathon Racer Debuts in "Silver Metallic"

The 2025 Abbott World Marathon Majors season will kick off on Sunday, March 2, in Tokyo. Elite fields have already been announced for some of the year's most-anticipated events, but these athletes' choice in footwear has yet to be seen. Those sponsored by the Three Stripes, however, could unveil the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 in their attempts to set new personal bests, course times, and world records.

A sequel to the $500 racing model unveiled at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, the Pro Evo 2 was approved for competition by World Athletics in November 2024. The silhouette—which delivers new geometry, LIGHTSTRIKE PRO EVO foam, and traction setup—can be tested across World Marathon Majors until Friday, Nov. 28. By then, all seven major competitions would've come and went, with adidas-sponsored athletes likely to have laced up the lightweight racer in Berlin, New York City, and Chicago.

Official tech specs for the Adios Pro Evo 2 haven't been entirely disclosed by the Three Stripes, but an initial look at the sequel reveals a number of differences from the Adios Pro Evo 1.

The single-piece of foam underfoot no longer reads LIGHTSTRIKE PRO. Instead, the impending model's cushioning setup is denoted as consisting entirely of LIGHTSTRIKE PRO EVO. Those lucky enough to try on the Adios Pro Evo 1 immediately mentioned that despite the identical name, LIGHTSTRIKE PRO featured on the lightweight marathon racer differed from that found on the Adios Pro 3 and other Adizero offerings. It's possible the Adios Pro Evo 2 has simply updated the cushioning's name without tweaking the TPEE's (Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer) composition.

What's immediately certain about LIGHTSTRIKE PRO EVO on the Adios Pro Evo 2 is that it's presented in a higher stack. Initially, it was believed that the follow-up to the Adios Pro Evo 1 included a rocker geometry at a different position than the predecessor's 60% placement. This, however, has been debunked by Adidas in an official press release for the shoe.

Adidas' Research & Development team took athlete insight into account when working on the second Adios Pro Evo. This resulted in an additional 3mm of LIGHTSTRIKE PRO EVO foam packed into the forefoot. According to the Three Stripes' testing, the almost 10% increase in forefoot stack height translated into a 5% increase in energy return when compared to its predecessor.

No change was made to the ENERGYRODS 2.0.

Underfoot, the thin but grippy liquid rubber outsole has been completely reworked. The LIGHTTRAXION solution found on the Adios Pro 4 and Adios 9 is abandoned in favor of a another glossy compound that features flex grooves at the forefoot. Thin strips of the liquid-like rubber compound cover either side of the heel to deliver more substantial protection to the soft foam midsole. Its grid-like pattern was intentional. Surprisingly enough, not a single piece of Continental rubber appears on the Adios Pro Evo 2, although prototypes used by adidas' elite runners may feature a reworked outsole with the reliable, but heavier tire compound.

Visually, the semi-translucent upper seems different from its predecessor, but closer inspection reveals the same paper thin mesh construction. Reinforced eyelets and padding across the tongue and inner-lining seemingly stay the same to ensure the latest Evo-series offering maintains an unrivaled weight.

The model's debut colorway features the same "Silver Metallic/Lucid Red" combination found on the recent Adizero Ekiden collection.

Enjoy an official look at Adidas' Adios Pro Evo 2 below. The marathon racer will launch in limited quantities via Adidas.com on Friday, April 25. A wider release will take place throughout fall, likely coinciding with the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 21.

For more from the Three Stripes family, check out our dedicated Adidas Release Dates calendar, which includes several colorways of Anthony Edwards' AE1.