LunarTrainer
Typically, if a runner wants to log a lot of mileage training, they’d expect footwear with extra cushioning and support to handle the demand of the road. The LunarTrainer set out to overturn those expectations—and did it using Nike’s revolutionary new cushioning system, Lunarlite foam. Nike’s lightest weight and most responsive cushioning material to date, Lunarlite foam is 30% lighter than Nike Phylon, our next lightest performance foam and works to distribute force across the foot. With each footfall, pressure is dispersed—protecting the foot from injury as well as pain and fatigue—a huge benefit in a shoe meant for mileage.
Developed by the aerospace industry, Lunarlite foam was adapted by Nike for running. The process took more than four years, but you could easily say the LunarTrainer was more than 30 years in the making. Lunarlite foam got its start when Nike designer Kevin Hoffer wanted to create a cushioning system as revolutionary as Bill Bowerman’s original Waffle sole. Geoff Hollister, one of Bowerman’s runners as well as one of Nike’s first employees, first tried a Waffle prototype in 1971 and likened it to “running on pillows.” This very quote inspired Hoffer’s search for cushioning that recreated that sensation—a nearly impossible order. Foam is rarely responsive and soft. Soft cushioning is frequently deadening, meaning it absorbs energy rather than returning it to the runner for the toe off.
However, once Hoffer found his material with Lunarlite foam, it had to be tamed. The compound had to be reformulated for manufacturing, and Lunarlite foam itself can't be exposed to water—or to air or even sunlight—without degrading. The design team had to create an entire system—a carrier that could contain the Lunarlite foam material. Once it had been perfected, the designers set out to design a training shoe that paid homage to its original inspiration.
The Waffle’s first incarnation was the Moon Shoe, which debuted at the 1972 marathon trials. The design team kept the iconic look and lightweight simplicity of the Moon Shoe’s upper but updated it with a single-layer mesh. As Brian Stewart, one of the designers who worked on the project, explains, “We wanted to create a really simple upper, because the whole idea about the LunarTrainer is that it's light and uncomplicated, and at the same time it's a shoe you can run in big miles, but it's way lighter than most shoes that people would think about doing that with.”
Perfecting the outsole required many iterations to work out the proper balance with the Lunarlite foam material. The initial outsole and midsole systems were wide, almost exaggerated to compensate for people’s perceptions of cushioning that light. The design team narrowed it down until they found the perfect ratio of size and stability. Wear-testers of even the earliest prototypes came back with rave reviews. They said in the LunarTrainer they felt less beat up after long runs. They reported they wanted to run longer and after long training runs their legs didn’t feel as beat up. Now in keeping with its original inspiration, the LunarTrainer has a rubber Waffle outsole for increased durability, and at just over 9 ounces, the shoe is nearly 4 ounces lighter than most training footwear.
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