As American ultrarunner Rajpaul Pannu lined up to defend his USATF 100 Mile Championships title on Friday 14 February, something was different. Instead of opting for a pair of his usual Hoka Rocket X2, which he wore when he won the race in 2024, this year he chose to don the Hoka Skyward X. Surprisingly, he had run in this shoe for the first time only the day before.
With the US record of 11:19:13 in mind, Pannu, who is sponsored by Hoka, was on pace to break this mark for most of the first half of the race – but high winds made it a tough task in the later stages. He went on to cross the finish line in a time 11:52:46, over 90 minutes ahead of compatriot Cody Poskin, who placed second.
The next day, Pannu received an email from an official at the USATF, who told him to give her a call. On the call, she explained that his chosen race shoe was in violation of USATF rules that mandate that shoes must have a stack height no taller than 40mm. The men’s version of the Hoka Skyward X has a stack of 48mm in the heel and 43mm in the forefoot.
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The organisers of the Jackpot 100 – which doubled as the USATF Road 100 Mile Championships – in Henderson, Nevada, in the US, released a statement on Tuesday 18 February saying that Pannu violated USATF Rule 143 Section 3. (i). The rule states that athletes in USATF competitions must comply with the World Athletics maximum stack height.
World Athletics implemented shoe rules and announced the stack height requirement in 2020, just after super shoes started to appear in professional marathons. Even though some brands didn’t have super shoes at the time, the rules were put in place to establish an industry standard and prevent athletes from having an unfair advantage.
Although, for this year’s Jackpot 100, the race organisers transferred Pannu’s result to the open race, he was disqualified from the national championships section and lost out on the prize money of $1,200 (about £950).
‘My actions weren’t intentional, as I never imagined my shoes wouldn’t allow me to register an official USATF time,’ wrote Pannu on Instagram. ‘We all saw what I was wearing. Congrats to [Cody Poskin] for winning the 100-mile championship! You had an amazing race and truly deserve it.’
The USATF did not respond to emails from Runner’s World on the matter.
A last-minute switch
Three weeks before race day, on Friday 31 January, Pannu completed the final big workout of his training block: a 50K time trial at near-US 100-mile record pace, which is 6:47 min per mile. Pannu nailed the pace, but developed a blister on his big toe in the process, as well as some numbness in his toes. He believes that this was aggravated by the Rocket X2 he was wearing at the time – a shoe that is approved for use in races under World Athletics rules.
As such, he tested out other Hoka shoes – namely, the Bondi 9 and Mach X – in other runs to see how they would fare. Ultimately, though, Pannu settled on the Skyward X, which is marketed as a ‘super trainer’ due to its carbon fibre plate and generous amount of foam. This differs from a super shoe, which is more optimised for speed and characterised by springy, lightweight foam.
According to a press release from Hoka on 25 April 2024, when the Skyward X was first unveiled, the shoe was ‘designed with easy miles in mind’. Hoka’s website, too, markets it as a ‘cushy’ neutral shoe that is best for everyday running.
Pannu said that he decided upon the Skyward X after speaking with one of his friends who works at Hoka, who recommended the shoe to him.
‘When I heard that [the Skyward is a super trainer], I didn’t even consider this shoe being unsanctioned, because I’m like, well, it’s clunky enough – it’s heavy enough,’ said Pannu to Runner’s World.
Pannu decided that comfort was going to be more important than weight – the Skyward X is 320g compared to the Rocket X2, which sits at 236g – and he was willing to sacrifice some speed for the sake of a supportive ride. He tried out this shoe for the first time on a short 1.5-mile run the day before the race, posting a photo of his pair in his Strava activity.
Wearing the Skyward X, Pannu said that he didn’t experience any discomfort during the race. He noted an improvement in his post-race recovery, too.
‘I felt like I’ve bounced back, physically, a lot quicker and I’m not limping as much,’ he said. ‘I don’t think that the Skyward X gives you a performance advantage. However, I do feel like it allows your body to recuperate a lot quicker because of the cushioning.’
Accidental anarchy
Pannu understands that he violated the rules, but maintains that he did not break them intentionally. He’s self-coached, he does not have an agent and running is not his full-time job – he’s a maths teacher at a continuation school in the US state of Colorado. He says that running is only one part of his life and he admits to not following the latest advances in shoe technology very closely.
According to Pannu, the protest was made by someone watching the livestream of the race – not one of his competitors. He said that the only time his shoes were highlighted during the race was when a USATF official asked his crew if his shoes were publicly available for purchase, which is another World Athletics requirement. (To be clear, at the time of writing, the Skyward X has been on sale for nearly a year.)
Pannu said that he was given a chance to appeal, but decided against it.
In future, he believes that athletes at USATF Championships could benefit from having their running shoes checked at the pre-race technical meeting – similar to way that shoes are often checked at track meets or major marathons.
Pannu revealed that he’s still figuring out what his race schedule will look like in the wake of the incident. Originally, the Jackpot 100 was to be his last 100-mile road race before transitioning to the trails later in the year. He had been eyeing up the Canyons 50K and Javelina Jundred 100 Mile – but now he’s considering running the Jackpot 100 again.
‘I feel like I’m almost obligated to run this race again with thin shoes just to prove a point,’ he said. ‘So this is definitely on my radar for next year.’
