Adizero Takumi Sen 11 Review: A Sub-2:30 Marathoner’s Take

Adidas released the ADIZERO TAKUMI SEN 11 on July 2, 2025. The Takumi Sen line became especially well-known after Hirabayashi, running for Kokugakuin University, set a collegiate marathon record wearing an earlier version.

If you’re curious about the fit, sizing, and ride feel of the latest Takumi Sen 11, you’re not alone. This is my review after buying and running in a pair myself.

I’ll cover why I decided to buy the Takumi Sen 11, plus a deep dive into the ride feel and propulsion, and detailed sizing notes.

By the end, you should have what you need to decide whether the Takumi Sen 11 is worth buying.

This shoe also drew attention at the 2026 Hakone Ekiden — Japan’s premier collegiate long-distance relay — where Aoyama Gakuin University’s Asahi Kuroda wore the Takumi Sen 11 on the fifth stage and set a new stage record on his way to the team’s win.

Product Specs

Item	Details
Model	Adizero Takumi Sen 11
Brand	Adidas
Retail Price	¥24,200
Stack Height	33mm forefoot / 26mm heel (7mm drop)
Weight	191g (US 9.5, measured)

Why I Bought the Takumi Sen 11

To get straight to the point, I bought the Takumi Sen 11 for key workouts — everything from tempo runs at threshold pace to VO2max-intensity interval training.

Up to now, I’d mix between non-carbon and carbon shoes for key sessions, choosing based on how much load I wanted to put on my body.

Carbon shoes undoubtedly let you run faster than non-carbon ones. But that extra speed comes with more strain on the body.

At the same pace, carbon shoes obviously feel easier and leave you less fatigued than non-carbon ones. But if you’re pacing off heart rate or perceived effort instead, you end up running faster than you realize, which adds up to more muscle damage.

The glutes take on a particularly heavy load. I’ve dealt with a hip injury in the past from overusing carbon shoes, so I’m cautious about leaning on them too much.

I’ve used the Takumi Sen 8 from this line before. It doesn’t have the propulsive assist of a high-end carbon racer, but it’s light and offers moderate propulsion — the kind of shoe that trains you to generate your own forward drive.

The Takumi Sen doesn’t use a carbon plate at all — it’s built around a glass-fiber rod instead.

Because the propulsive assist is moderate, running in the Takumi Sen 8 never pushed the muscular load too high. The midsole isn’t overly thick either, which gives it a feel reasonably close to a track spike — a real advantage.

Since I don’t usually have access to a track, being able to train on the road with something close to a track-spike feel is valuable. VO2max interval work is often done in preparation for track races, so I wanted to keep training conditions as close to race conditions as possible.

Ride Review

I got straight into running in the Takumi Sen 11. Since I planned to use it at fairly fast paces, I started with threshold pace (around 5:38/mile / 3:30/km) and strides (4:34–4:17/mile / 2:50–2:40/km).

The session was a warm-up, strides, and a threshold interval workout — four reps of 1.6km (about 1 mile) plus a 1km add-on.

Since this was right after waking up, I eased into the warm-up slowly. Even at a slow pace, the landing has a dense, springy feel. High-end carbon racers with thick midsoles barely flex at all, but the Takumi Sen 11 flexes nicely.

Before the strides, I picked the pace up to around 6:42/mile (4:10/km), and it felt great. That dense, springy sensation is addictive. Above all, it still feels like you’re running under your own power while getting real propulsion.

I ran the strides after about 3km. I couldn’t tell a clear speed difference from other shoes, but I was hitting good speed without much effort, which suggests the propulsion is roughly on par with high-end carbon racers.

Then came the main workout: four reps of 1.6km, with a 60-second standing rest between each. In the summer heat and humidity, even this session felt tough.

For the first rep, I tried to stay as relaxed as possible. It felt relatively easy, and I finished at 5:43/mile (3:33/km) — a bit slower than I expected.

On the second rep, I pushed the effort up a notch. It felt somewhat tough, and I hit 5:38/mile. That’s a pace I couldn’t produce in a non-carbon shoe — for the effort involved, it’s roughly on par with a high-end carbon racer.

From the third rep on, the heat and humidity made things feel genuinely tough. I finished out the set at 5:41–5:38/mile (3:32–3:30/km). After a 4-minute rest, I added a 1000m rep at 5:23/mile (3:21/km) to close out the session.

Even once things got tough, the landing stayed stable, which made it easy to run in. Overall, it’s a shoe with few quirks and one that’s easy to get along with.

Performance That Rivals High-End Carbon Racers

Within Adidas’ lineup, the Takumi Sen 11 is positioned as a “moderate-stack racing shoe.” The carbon-plated Adizero Adios Pro 4 sits above it as the high-end model, and the two are clearly segmented.

That said, my impression running in the Takumi Sen 11 was that it’s already delivering close to high-end-model performance. The times I hit in training back that up.

Where it differs from typical high-end carbon racers is sole flex. Most brands’ race-day carbon shoes barely flex at all, which takes some getting used to.

The Takumi Sen 11, on the other hand, has a flexible midsole thanks to its glass-fiber rod. The sole flexes an appropriate amount at landing, which makes it easier to get rebound even off a light push-off.

For lighter runners, women, and runners with a high cadence, I’d guess a shoe with the Takumi Sen 11’s level of sole flex is easier to run in than a stiff max-stack carbon racer.

Look and Build

Here’s a look at the Takumi Sen 11.

Given how light it is, I expected the upper to be flimsy, but it’s surprisingly substantial — you can’t see your fingers through it even when you press against it.

The eyelets are reinforced solidly too.

In my experience, the outer side of the upper is usually where holes show up first, but here it’s reinforced by Adidas’ three-stripe branding, which should help durability too.

Sizing

I went back and forth on sizing for the Takumi Sen 11. Other reviews I found suggested it runs a bit large, so I went with my true-to-size US 9.5 (27.5cm).

In the end, US 9.5 fit quite snugly. Despite what other reviews said about it running large, I didn’t get that impression — if anything, it feels a touch too snug for a full marathon.

Since I’m not planning to use the Takumi Sen 11 for a full marathon, a true-to-size fit works fine. In that sense, I think I made the right call on sizing.

Grip

I ran on wet pavement right after rain — about as slippery a surface as you’ll find. Grip on the Takumi Sen 11 is average; it does slip on wet asphalt.

I wouldn’t call it slippery, but I wouldn’t call the grip good either. Don’t expect too much here.

Outsoles from other brands with genuinely strong grip include ASICS’ ASICSGRIP and Puma’s PUMAGRIP. So far, nothing beats those two for traction.

Weight

I measured my US 9.5 (27.5cm) pair at 191g. That’s not exceptionally light compared to recent high-end carbon racers, but it’s plenty light for a racing shoe.

Durability

I’ll keep updating this section as I put more miles on the shoe. My impression of the Takumi Sen line is that durability isn’t its strong suit — the upper on my Takumi Sen 8 tore at around 500–600km. I plan to take good care of this pair.

Fresh Out of the Box

Midsole condition:

Outsole condition:

Who Should Buy the Takumi Sen 11

The Takumi Sen 11 lived up to expectations as a high-performance carbon racer. It manages to combine a reasonably flexible sole with genuinely excellent propulsion.

I bought the Takumi Sen 11 as a shoe for track-race training, and it delivered exactly what I hoped for. I plan to use it for a lot of my training going forward.

The Takumi Sen 11 is a good fit if you’re one of the following:

If you’ve never been able to make carbon shoes work for you, this one is worth trying.

How I Plan to Use It

Here’s how I plan to use the Takumi Sen 11 going forward:

It holds up fine at marathon pace too, but for training I don’t think it has to be the Takumi Sen 11 specifically. Since durability isn’t its strong point, I’d lean toward a different shoe for regular training.

That said, I think the Takumi Sen 11 is more than capable for a full marathon race. There’s plenty of cushioning for it.