We’re finally upon marathon major season and my favorite, XC season. Berlin is this Sunday, Chicago is October 11, and NYC is Nov 1. For all those reading this that are in the running industry on the marketing or event side, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Quick Hits
The NYC Rec Room Popup will be Oct 28 - Nov 1. Official announcement coming soon! Sign up for updates here (best seen on desktop, with volume on). Enjoy the site, I had a lot of fun making it. Tell your friends!
Vintage is making a run with the big boys. adidas x Rematch staged a vintage popup in Copenhagen, with creative direction and production by Hyld Studio. If you’re interested in doing this stateside, hit my line.
While Nike has had some big product announcements, they cannot seem to keep ahead of bad press. At their Nike Elite Program camp in Beaverton, a camper was allegedly sexually assaulted. I don’t have much to say beyond this being deeply sad.
ICYMI
A new trail store up north, the Rapha store in Boulder has a new resident serving up bikes and trainers,
Running Supply #95: Has Shelby Houlihan Served Her Time?
We’re in full marathon major swing again. Berlin is this weekend, Chicago in a couple weeks, and NYC in November. I’ll see you in New York at the Rec Room. In the mean time, I’m prepping for a store residency with Heartbreak Running and getting in my first continuous miles since surgery!
The Hip Boutique Running Stores Aren’t All Rainbows and Cash Flow
There’d been rumblings of LSD Running, the first Los Angeles 4th wave running store, closing recently. Their website went down a couple months ago, orders were falling behind or not shipped, and I’d heard rumors that they might be closing.
Seems like that’s now the case. The store is now completely empty. It is marked as permanently closed on Google.
It seems like Voodoo Running in Manchester has fallen to the same fate. Their Instagram has been inactive for 14 weeks, with the only activity from a customer who seemed to have purchased something online.
This isn’t an indictment at all against these stores. If I’ve learned anything over the near 2 years of writing this newsletter and speaking to store owners in the running industry, it’s that owning a boutique running store means thin margins and a lot of communication with brands. It means getting a payment extension on a product order, hustling for brand marketing deals, grinding for a share of web sales, showing up every day to offer the best customers service just to lose an order to a big box store online. It is really, really hard. All the more impressive for shops that have managed to stay open longer.
This same boom and bust occurred in the streetwear space. Bodega, a huge streetwear store in Boston and LA declared bankruptcy a few years ago after exploding during COVID. They had collabs with Nike, Saucony, Asics, New Balance, and their own inline clothing brand. By all accounts, they were crushing it. In a blink they closed doors and only had a website. My local streetwear and designer consignment store went from 8 locations to closing every door.
While you can run a store on vibes, the vibes better be immaculate and have a healthy dose of grind. Probably why we still don’t have a store in NYC. Canary in the coal mine?
Own a store? I’d love to interview you about this. Message me here, or reply to this email.
The Red Carpet Hits The Red Tartan
Track meets now have red carpets? Both World Ultimate Championships and the final Athlos London meet rolled out a red carpet, which online looked pretty good even if it was a bit lackluster in person.
Regardless of the competition, which seemed shockingly good at Athlos despite being within spitting distance of World Ultimate Championships, Athlos did a great job showing up online. That matters for attracting future fans and eyes on TV. They, or perhaps brands(?), hired a ton of extremely creative photographers and videographers who turned the meet into an art project.
George Moriss shot some incredible portraits as well.
Oh and this shoot with Sha’Carri was straight star power. Nike Atelier made her a red carpet fit that literally let her shine. They combined high fashion and sport, and a zillion Swarovski Crystals on a Vomero Premium.
Got a friend or coworker who should be reading this? Send along this newsletter. Don’t gatekeep.
Recent and Upcoming News
SATISFY Releases Band On the Run Women’s Capsule
Part II of SATISFY’s recent band shoot features their women’s line which is mostly cropped gear and some women’s cut stuff. I’ve heard there has been a pause put on the line until they get more women’s specific gear like integrated bras and vests though…
Bandit Fall Capsule 2
I already shared the first release and “Evolution Report” which runs through all the tech for the latest season, but we’re now seeing my favorite parts of the collection: 2-in-1 jacket and vest, built as a system, the Polartec waffle (which will be worn both on and off the roads), and the punchier dripped gradient pieces. I also love the punchy blue pigment dyed tee. Bright blue is really having it’s moment this year.
From the grid
Blue FrioSoft Tee - pigment dyed, gorg
Polartec Waffle Long Sleeve - uses Polartec Power Dry so even if you sweat you dry better, keeping you warmer.
TerraStretch Dual Zip Pullover - cute pigment dye on a mock
Checkerboard Long Sleeve - vroom vroom
Melted Stripe Gradient Race Crop - color pop it
WindSheer Shell + Vest - system design, smart move
lululemon embraces the multi-faceted runner and mindful trail running
lulu tapped Geoff McFetridge, a multidisciplinary Canadian artist and designer based in LA, to work on a limited running collection. While some might cry “Notes Running,” this is very much in line with the style Geoff’s been working with for years, across media. In the past he’s worked with District Vision, SATISFY for Possessed Magazine, Norse Projects, and Rapha.
Together they released, “Amplify the Quiet,” which draws on themes of mindful performance and focuses on namely trail gear. Savvy collab given both the “mindful running” theme and trail running writ large is hot right now. The online store photos feature layered looks not dissimilar to the ones from District Vision. Overall, sharp looking and very elevated for their run side which rarely gets flowers in the “running fashion” community, but is otherwise very popular.
Some People Call Me The Space Cowboy
Saucony is releasing a new full-line Space Cowboy themed capsule and I’m a sucker for faux-fur and a theme. Perfect for fall, and love that they did a lifestyle + running combo here. It’s rare to see a release that covers performance and lifestyle! Coming October 2nd.
Mizuno Goes Max Cush
Mizuno often adapts a bit slower to the running trends, but when they do catch on, they usually do it right. Their upcoming HyperWarp 96 features a seamless TPU upper (read: LightSpray) and comes in at sub 100g, one of the only sub 100g supershoes. TBD when that comes out. The most recent release though is their first super trainer, the Sky Prime. At $200 it’s in the same sweet spot as my first ever pair, the New Balance Balos, and has a hefty stack and uses a nitrogen-infused SCF. I’d marked $200 super trainers as on the ropes, and seems like I was a little too early. While we’re seeing that technology trickle down to daily trainers, plenty of people are buying the up market versions. Excited to give these a go and compare.
Puma x Another Cotton Lab
There is no love lost between me and ACL, their designs are all basically merch copied off other brands, but their PUMA collab looks sharp. Cool antiqued midsole with chunky fuzzy bubblegum pink laces.
For Later
Check out my bit on 3rd and 4th wave running stores, which features a list of the best running stores in the world. Indie Running Stores
If you’re looking to shop for any of this cool gear, check out my running store finder which let’s you filter by brand to see the nearest store.
Supply Run is a series of casual interviews with industry professionals. Anyone from runners to store owners to founders.
Running Supply’s archive of the some of best designed running gear
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That space cowboy line 🔥🔥🔥🔥
My pockets are already empty cuhhhh 💀😩😭
Thanks for putting this all together!