Meet the 21yr-old telling the story of the world's 4th biggest nation through a running brand
Leaning into telling the story of Indonesia has informed Beyond Running's product development in such a way that they might have cornered a rapidly expanding market
We all have the same internet. Whether you’re in London, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, or Nairobi, we have access to the same internet. When a quartet of Gen Z runners in Jakarta saw the likes of Bandit and Satisfy peddling their nouveau wares online, they decided that they could do that as well.
Earlier this year I wrote about the problem with having to spend a month’s salary on a pair of running shoes if you live in a country like Bangladesh. It’s different in Indonesia, which is 50% more populous, with a median salary three times that of Bangladesh, in an economy that’s growing at an impressive 5% per year. Opportunity knocks.
Beyond regional representation, though, you may well ask why we need another Bandit or Satisfy. That’s what I found out while talking to Beyond co-founder Nizar Alaydrus.
While those brands – leading the running industry’s new wave of fashionable challenger titles – were started by industry veterans who brought decades of combined expertise to the running world, this is different. Beyond Running was founded at the end of 2022, when the team was at most 21 years old. This is a bold endeavor from a bunch of upstarts.
At 21, Nizar is the youngest of the four co-founders, but not by much. As his colleagues bring garment design, finance, and business development to the table, he brings the marketing rizz, figuring out how best for their burgeoning brand to engage with the running community. The guiding light is the apparel’s functionality.
“It's very hard to find really good running apparel because in Indonesia you will always have a problem with the humidity.”
With a stable, high temperature year round, as a runner, it’s the humidity that gets you. Hitting 70-90% throughout the year, Indonesia is a sweatfest.
“You have to run before 6am, otherwise you're just gonna sweat, and get very wet. In the U.S., it's very comfortable to run in cotton, but not in Southeast Asia.”
Nizar had long wanted to create his own running brand primarily to solve this issue — one that he had when wearing other brands’ clothing. He could see that imported clothing didn’t cater to his needs, but also knew they couldn’t fix what they didn’t know.
He understood the running landscape in his home region, and had built a strong grassroots network, but knew nothing of product development. Even at this tender age, there are a handful of ‘Founder’ positions already littering his resume. He has had ambition for some time.
All four co-founders were in a Jakarta-based running community geared towards the younger generation of runners and when they reached out to Nizar to model their new range, he pitched his experience and industry knowledge as the missing piece of the Beyond Running puzzle.
That comment about how comfortable it is to run in cotton in America comes from knowledge as well. Currently in his fourth year of studying computer science in Wisconsin, Nizar was on the college triathlon team until joining Beyond. That’s when he accepted he wasn’t a great swimmer, sold his bike, and focused all his efforts on engaging with all parts of the running community.
“It’s kind of intimidating because I'm trying to reach out to so many people in the running industry, and as a 21-year-old founder, it's hard because some people underestimate me.”
Clearly, though, he’s made steady progress. With a collaboration with Saucony across a domestic tour of shakeout runs in four Indonesian cities this summer, as well as the organizing of cheer zones and afterparties, the marketing structure of Beyond Running is much what you might expect in New York or London, for instance. That’s part of the appeal.
“A lot of brands in Indonesia – not only running brands – are trying to do a photo shoot in London or in the U.S., but we want to embrace Asian culture. We’ll do a collection shoot in a traditional Asian market, in the mountains or on Bali’s beaches.”
Nizar also talks about storytelling as a crucial part of Beyond Running standing out from the crowd. He tells me about how in Indonesia it’s necessary to run in traffic on the main roads, apart from on Sunday mornings when Jakarta’s main roads are completely closed to motorists. Runners and cyclists take over the capital every single week. A nice day for a long run.
Talking of long runs, Nizar waxes lyrical about the unique features of Indonesia’s marathons. He comes alive when talking about the sunrise and beaches in the Bali Marathon, the competition between local schools to see which kids can cheer the loudest, the Balinese traditional dancers that pepper the course, and the fact you can run a marathon through one of the ancient wonders of the world. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Borobudur Marathon starts and finishes in Lumbini Park. Quite the destination race.
After that partnership with Saucony this August, the situation sharpened for the Beyond team. When they noticed customers from Malaysia, Japan and the USA, they realized that it was time to get serious. It was time to focus. It was maybe even time to start thinking beyond Indonesia.
“Before I found Beyond, I looked up to brands like Satisfy and District Vision. Why can’t we have an indie brand from Asia? Those brands manufacture their products in Asia.”
I found the last bit out for myself when visiting Bangladesh as a teenager. My uncle picked up a pair of my trackpants and squinted at the label before triumphantly declaring that they were made right there in Bangladesh. Did I feel embarrassed? A little, even though I was a child with only a light grasp of multinational imperialism, I knew something was amiss.
We know that most profits from mainstream sports brands come via ultra-cheap manufacturing - mostly achieved by paying poverty wages to already impoverished people in poorer countries. So why wouldn’t companies from countries closer in both proximity and economic status tap into this same supply system?
With all revenue going into the research and development of the correct fabric for running in the high humidity and sunshine of Southeast Asia, the team is determined to develop a product that not only celebrates all things Indonesia, but is also the best product for runners across the region.
“We don't want to just release a running shirt, and then it doesn't absorb your sweat. It's not giving you the functionality.”
Right now, Beyond is the most expensive Indonesian brand and, accordingly, one of the top-priced running brands overall, along with international independent brands like Tracksmith and Satisfy. Nizar says that once people wear Beyond products, however, they understand the quality.
For me, the issue is still one of income disparity. Median incomes in the UK, US, and France are all similar. The spending power for these new premium challenger brands is similar across these countries. While Indonesia has 3x the spending power of somewhere like Bangladesh, it still has at least 5x less spending power than the aforementioned Western trio.
Building a product for runners in high-humidity climates is a smart move on a warming planet — especially from Indonesia, where economic growth is fueling youth entrepreneurship. So it makes sense that young entrepreneurs are creating a premium running brand representing their idea of their homeland. As high humidity becomes more common globally — like the extraordinarily humid summer we just had in Los Angeles — their potential market is expanding every day. While the brand is still in its infancy, going international might happen for Beyond Running sooner than they realize.
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Thanks for reading
- Raz x
Thanks for having me Raz
What a great read. Rooting for them!