Running Supply Roundup #60

We're in a lull period before all the Black Friday sales start and every brand launches their winter line. New releases from a few, including the fastest spike in the world and flashes from Nike ACG.

Nov 10, 2025

We’re entering the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures diving, and it’s already snowed in Buffalo, New York. A few brands have yet to put out their full winter lines – namely Bandit, Tracksmith, SATISFY, and many of the new challenger brands. I suspect plenty of the new brands will not launch winter lines since those require more research into materials.

Quick Hits

ER Doc Anne Flower broke the women’s 50 mile record at Tunnel Hill. If you know any ER doctors, you know how impressive this is.
Brogan Austin set the 50 mile record on the men’s side at 34, which gives me hope my career isn’t over. Thanks for the coverage Brian Metzler!
Coming soon: full guide for layering now that its fall and you can really start dressing.
Cycling: I’m adding a monthly (ish) cycling column that I’ll periodically link to talking about similar topics on the bike side of things.

ICYMI

Last week I recapped everything from the NYC Marathon, which was a lot. Tons of popups, brand activations, etc. I only went to a few, but shared my thoughts. TLDR; do something other than a shakeout run.

Running Supply Roundup #59

Cole Townsend

November 5, 2025

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The Human Touch and Rejecting AI

I recently watched a reaction to a Rosalia interview, and then the subsequent interview, in which she discusses a “purely human album.” No AI, no computer instruments, all human made noise. You can see the hand that created the art.

It’s a story told before—post-industrial aesthetic. As things are easier to make the same imperfection and traces of humanity are more valuable. It’s why paintings traditionally are more valuable than photos and why film is sought out in the era of digital. It’s why people like Alex Zono’s running hats, chain stitching their Heirloom hoodies, and dip dying their 3sixteen Saucony shoes.

When creation gets more frictionless, the more we crave friction. Imperfection is human, and technology when used thoughtlessly distances us from humanity. The Romantics of the 19th century and Existentialists of the 20th century, all believed this. Thanks for coming to my art history rant.

Creative Directors Need To Branch Out

This feels way out of Altra’s wheelhouse and very played out look for brands trying to do “cool” in running. Every brand is doing Oakley Reduxes (in this case Ridar Sport sunglasses) on a tatted up model to steal some of their clout. Zero-drop, wide toebox shoes haven’t been cool, and Altra is purely capitalizing on this trendy look right now in running that they know will get picked up by all the sea of text-over-image moodboards. Do something different.

No slight to Paige here at all who seems rad and is a great model and athlete. Not her fault Altra relied on her to look cool here.

Diadora’s Dragon(fly) Slayer

Diadora’s been looking to claim a top spot in performance in the US, while other brands take aim at run clubs and social runners. Their recent stint at altitude in Flagstaff focused on high school athletes showed that. While their road racing shoes still leave much to be desired, they recently put out the Mezzofondo, which they claim to be is the fastest spike on the market. Their goal was a super spike faster than the Nike Dragonfly Elite, and in testing theirs proved to have 4% better energy return. At $260, its $50 more than most of the Dragonfly Elite spikes (which range from $190 - $210). It’s also a solid ~40g heavier than the Elite and only comes in a navy blue and fluoro yellow. BUT if it’s speed at any cost (or you’re trying to branch out from Nike) these Italian-made Mezzofondo spikes are your best bet.

The spikes look quick! It’s good to see some other brands besides Nike and New Balance focusing on track performance, which has been in a bit of a lull since Nike introduced the Dragonfly. I’d love to see more colorways from Diadora, since they do a good job with their regular running shoes. Check out the colorways below to see what I mean. While performance does matter, plenty of kids will choose a spike they can match to their team jerseys, especially in high school. Nike does a good job of having a neutral colorway, and a few that are so wacky you don’t need to match at all.

Nike Teasing More ACG

this detail shot with the flower is cute

While Nike is claiming to refocus Nike ACG on performance, everything they’re putting out so far is captivating the gorpcore and running hype community, making its way onto all the Instagram re-post accounts.

Their recent flurry of ACG has show off the Air Milano, a blow up jacket (which they’ve done before in the Airvantage), and the Lava Loft Down Jacket, a bright orange 700-fill down coat that reminds me of their best stuff from the 20-aughts.

I have been influenced and I do want this jacket.

Nike ACG is putting out some intriguing new gear, including the Radical Airflow shirt first debuted at Western States and most recently worn by Eliud Kipchoge at at the NYC Marathon. They’re making a comeback at the right time, as trail is bigger than it’s ever been and UTMB is threatening the sport (and Nike’s bottom line) with a monopoly on all the races.

Adizero EVO SL Goes All-Terrain

All-terrain version of the brands very popular Adidas EVO SL. Adizero EVO SL ATR. We’ll see if this shoe has the same success as the road version, but I doubt it. Not that it isn’t good, but it doesn’t look rugged enough for trail. It looks like a muted version of Terrex stuff they’ve already done.

Zono Goes Global

The viral “I Dig Running” hats are now in stock at stores internationally, namely in the Eastern Hemisphere. Pretty impressive to be stocked at so many shops, with South Korea leading the way. That market is consistently on the front end of trends. I love how this store styled them in Seoul.

Schism Cybernetics, Supporting Artists

Schism is a new brand out of New York from stylist and designer Joshua Quinonez. He’s worked with a number of artists he came across that did album covers for his fave hardcore bands as well as other's he found organically. The brand is using the best stuff they can find overseas and the main goal is making running gear that appeals to him, while supporting artists he likes. The gear itself is solid, but I’m drawn to the unique graphics. Josh pulled in artist Artyom Togo, who is known for their Cybersigilism themed work (which took off a few years ago in tattoo art).