Charlie Lawrence on How Innovation Goes Beyond the Lab

Charlie Lawrence isn’t just an ultramarathon runner. He made waves in the ultrarunning scene back in 2023 when he smashed the 50-mile world record in a time of 4 hours, 48 minutes, 21 seconds, taking nearly two minutes off the previous record. In 2025, he participated in adidas’s ‘Chasing 100’ challenge with the aim of running 100 kilometers in under six hours.

Charlie joined us at adidas’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, as part of our ‘Home of Innovation’ event. We took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to hear how he works together with our Innovation team and how his feedback has helped to create some of the best running shoes in the world.

So many people think that innovation happens purely in a lab. From your experience, how much of it happens through conversations with athletes such as yourself?

The Innovation Lab is a really controlled space. With the climate chamber you can get the temperature, you can get the humidity, but you're on treadmill, you're not on the road, you're not going over hills. It really has a purpose.

But really where the Innovation Team gets the most – and probably the best information, is from me putting on a pair of shoes, doing my normal training route, doing my normal sessions, taking part in races and then the communication that takes place afterwards with the innovation team.

For me, probably 90% of the work is telling the team what I like, what I don't like, what works, what doesn't, and how the product feels.

What kind of feedback do you think is most valuable for the team?

I know that by sharing my opinion with the team – together with feedback from others – I will help to create the best product for me, for them, and hopefully the broader athlete.

But when giving that feedback, I believe the most valuable thing you can tell them is what you don't like or what doesn't work, because if you're just telling them the positives, they’re never going to get better. And they’re always like, “Sure, we think we can improve this.” They understand that constructive criticism ultimately helps them to build a better product.

How would you describe the relationship between you and the adidas Innovation Team?

It feels a lot like we’re co-creating something and at this point in our relationship, I’m doing that with friends. We genuinely enjoy being around each other. We talk outside of the work, which is really cool because you're going and helping your friends and people that you really trust and who also trust you to help build the best products in the world.

Are you happy with the products they deliver?

Absolutely. Even last Sunday, I was on the start line, and I knew I had the best shoes in the world on my feet. So that's a massive confidence builder. You go in knowing that you have the best technology and you're the most prepared.

Do you feel that the best shoes in the world could be even better?

I think there are always areas to improve, so the shoes we have today are just another stepping stone. We have the Evo 3s, we’re going to have the Evo 4s, I don't know when, but the team will try to improve certain aspects of this shoe. And even then, that shoe will have stuff to improve upon. It's just a constant evolution. The team knows that and they're open to it, which is exciting.

Over recent years, we've seen barriers fall that once seemed impossible. Do you believe that we're entering a new era of human performance?

I think so, yeah. With the advancement in technology and improvements in general training knowledge, times are getting faster, athletes are getting faster. It's just cool seeing the boundaries being pushed.

You see Sebastian [Sawe] breaking two hours in the marathon and the first person to ever do it. You’ve got Siibu [Sibusiso Kubheka], the first person to break six hours in Nardo during the Chasing 100 event. And there's still the official barrier for six hours which is something I'm chasing. There are also amazing things happening on the track, with Alison [dos Santos] breaking the world record in the 400-meter hurdles. So yes, it’s a pretty cool time to be in the sport. Rapidly evolving, for sure.

How do you balance preparation, performance, and recovery when chasing extraordinary goals like the Sub 6?

For me, the word ‘balance’ doesn't really exist in the traditional sense. Everything in my life is balanced towards the training, the recovery, the sleep, the nutrition. I've built my life all around that. I enjoy it, but it's probably hard for the people I'm closest to because I'm not going to stay up late to watch a movie. I'm not going to do these dinners. I'm going to do my long runs on Sundays, you know. But for me, it's just a part of it.

One final question: If you could challenge the adidas Innovation Team with one impossible brief, what would it be?

To make a shoe where my legs don't feel tired after 75 kilometers!