Running Supply Roundup #30
World Indoor Championships, The Speed Project, and a promising new challenger brand
Quick Hits
Currently Running Apparel finally launches this week on Thursday. I spoke to founder, creator, and do-it-all-er Nash Howe this weekend and he’s super excited about what’s to come. Be sure to plug into their Instagram this week come Wednesday.
Nike hit a 5 year low in sales, and their strategy seems to be focusing on creating new hubs in China.
Super cool video for Merrell’s new SpeedARC shoe. They commissioned a CGI chrysalis demonstrating the metamorphosis of their shoe. Great to see some creative flex from the brand.
I’m crewing Parley Hannan as she takes on TSP Solo LA → LV this week. Shout out Omius (and
) for sponsoring Parley!Many of the creative folks working at TSP also put together a beautiful magazine called Make Running which highlights raw stories of runners and stories adjacent to running.
Running Lore of the Week
A running fashion highlight of mine, where Jordan Brand hit the track for the first time on a distance athlete. Matt Centrowitz raced in NOP x Jordan in 2018 at the Pre Classic. As far as I know he’s the only distance runner to ever wear Jordan. The split top here is a reference to the old Nike Jasari spike colorway, which was widely regarded as the greatest mid-distance spike of its generation until the Nike Victory came around.
World Indoor Highlights
Gudaf Tsegay (Nike) dominated her 1500 and set the World Champs record. Jakob Ingebritsen (Nike) continues doubled the 1500 and 3000. American Josh Hoey (adidas) wins the 800m. He’s struggled to outperform his stellar high school times…until this season. Former UW Husky Luke Houser (Nike) claimed a silver medal after he considered ending his track season. From LetsRun: “Houser wound up racing a total of six weekends in a row, dropping his mile time from 4:03 to 3:56 to 3:53 to 3:51.” Stick with it!
What Dropped This Week
On x PAF are back
On x POST ARCHIVE FACTION released another collaboration on the Cloudmonster and limited apparel. The On Cloudmonster 2 and Cloudventure Peak PAF dropped March 20th at On and select retailers. The Cloudmonsters came out in nice colors but I really dig this balaclava trail jacket. It’s been a popular feature in streetwear and ultra lightweight backpacking apparel. The colors similarly feel very PAF, contrasting the current punchy gradients in On’s gear.
Tracksmith Eliot Racer launches
Tracksmith finally released the Eliot Racer online March 18th, a carbon plated high speed racing shoe with a drop in midsole. I’m still not super impressed with the story telling around the shoe compared to what I’ve seen out of Norda and SATISFY. It’s most compelling feature is that it doesn’t look like a high performance racing shoe. Otherwise, the tech is on par or slightly behind, the top tier super shoes in the same price bracket.
SOAR crosses over with basketball
SOAR Running just released a new American race singlet in the style of a basketball jersey. SOAR has relatively limited distribution in the US and they don’t seem to be sponsoring many clubs there in the same way they are in the UK. They’re selling an American look here, but certainly to their UK audience (reminds me a bit of the American flag SATISFY tank top, which certainly no Americans are buying). They’ve released singlets like this before, but its a stark departure from their punchy gradients and abstract graphics.
For those who race with style and run with swagger, the American Race Vest blends bold American sports heritage with road-ready performance.
From the siglet product description
Tim Soar also teased SOAR’s new hydration vest releasing this spring. I expect they’ll nail it since they are so great at technical apparel. A few folks have commented on how the curved pockets are bad for carrying things, but they seem to be tuned to the curved bottles and have been battle tested by SOAR for years at this stage.
Diadora Anima turns 2
Diadora continues to invest money into running, trying to expand beyond their reputation as a football and lifestyle brand. They’ve created a relatively well reviewed super trainer in their Atomo Star. This particular shoe has spercritical foam, which provides 40% more rebound while being 40% lighter.
The shoes are priced at a premium for a non-plated shoe at $240, but they’re really leaning into the artisan made-in-Italy story as a way of justifying the price; everything is designed and tested in Italy. That price point makes it a bit of a hard sell, at least on the road running side1 when you have the super popular adidas Evo SL at $150. Trail shoes have more technical features and the industry pricing is in this price range. They also aren’t good the best colorways IMO. For a brand trying to sell the Italian bespoke, made in Italy story, the shoes don’t look stylish. I wouldn’t say this if their lifestyle shoes didn’t have excellent colorways especially for the Heritage collections.
Upcoming Releases
Nike Glitches Out
No date on this yet, but Nike has a cool glitched out graphic nicknamed “Blue Void” coming to their full line up of running shoes including the Vaporfly 4. Sign me up, they look cool.
New Challenger Brand
Currently Running launches on Thursday online. There’s an entire product line that’s been wear tested from the trail to the track to the road. Nash has gone through the paces on this gear and it looks incredible. Premium Italian fabrics, lovely earth tone colorways, and custom made silhouettes. Follow their instagram this week for more previews ahead of the official launch.
Trail shoes have more technical features and expensive technology outside of plates due to the rugged requirements of the trail: waterproofing, tread, sole durability, rock plates, and abrasion resistant uppers. The market for high end trail shoes trends above $200 without a plate.
Agree on the Tracksmith storytelling. I can tell you it may be my favorite shoe right now, maybe not as an aggressive racer but as possibly the best super trainer that can also work well on race day. I’m absolutely shocked by how much I like it. But the launch has been extremely ho hum, especially considering how much time and development went into the show.
Myself and the Good Sport team directed, photographed, designed and published the first issue of Make Running. It was a great project to lift off the ground. Excited to see what the new team does with it.