I’ve spent the week at The Running Event in San Antonio, Texas. It’s an industry-only event where all the brands – and I mean all of them — showcase their product lines for the next year, and running stores and media walk around a massive convention center taking a look to see what they want to stock in their shop or write about in their publications.
I didn’t really take any photos, so I’m going to try and write this up before I get on the plane home. I struggle to sit down and work while I’m traveling. All the walking and talking really takes it out of me and that’s something that I’m going to have to figure out in 2026, as I expect to be on the road promoting my book quite frequently.
Have you pre-ordered This is Running yet? It’s four months until release week and the more sales I get before release, the better. As few as 300 pre-orders will indicate to the big book buyers that this is an important release, which leads to them buying in loads more copies of my book to put in their shop windows. Wouldn’t that be cool? I think we can do that.
Anyway, an idea I’ve had to make next year’s newsletter easier is that I’ll do an A to Z of running. Each letter will have a couple of entries, so if you have any requests for January’s letters of A and B, please leave your idea in a comment below. Yes, it’s almost January.
The Running Event
This was my second trip to Texas for TRE, and you’ll understand that I’m not product-focused in terms of simply listing the latest press releases and photos of forthcoming shoes and apparel. Other people already do that just fine.
I like to think about how new products either reflect a changing desire from the consumer or how new technology can change how runners interact with the world of running. That’s run culture. That’s what I write about.
A huge part of that is the people, and while I didn’t see any single huge standout piece of innovation at the expo, there is still much to be excited about.
I hung out with a bevy of Substackers, sharing, trading, talking, listening. Ideas and opinions flowing everywhere from the most beautiful four-day writer’s room. They’re all great writers because they’re all great thinkers. I’m of the firm belief that writing underpins everything that is good. Your favorite film has a great script first and foremost, even if the actors and director get the shiniest awards.
Experiencing the reactions and perspectives of
, founder of 3sixteen in real-time was a real pleasure. As an outsider to the deepest recesses of the running world, his thoughts on being plunged into a whole world of the realest runners was so interesting.Andrew is a cool guy, you see. He founded a denim brand, and has a flagship store in the cool bit of Manhattan. He’s used to New York’s idea of cool in the running world and developed an activewear range to suit, but when I talk about running culture, I talk far beyond the vagaries of Instagram bros.
Every strand of run culture from the urban runners in $1,500 outfits to the small-town run specialty experts in an accidentally vintage race tee were thrust together in that windowless convention room, and it just worked. Andrew likened it to a high school canteen. I said it was more Lord of the Rings. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
More options for women
One of the brightest spots at TRE was the emerging options for women, and the increased conversation about what’s required.
hosted a panel titled Women Reshaping Running Style and of Running Wylder (the most thoughtfully curated running store in the world in my opinion) was on it, of course, talking about writers/thinkers. It was so well attended, and you can watch 95% of it here. I’m afraid I missed the intro while trying to figure out the Substack live-streaming flow.In the state that was one of the first to criminalize abortion, Katie Douglas also led a run with Hettas (a female-founded shoe company profiled here by Lee) through San Antonio in support of Cadence OTC, which has a mission to make birth control as accessible and affordable as condoms. They hosted a run from the San Antonio 7-eleven that stocks the Cadence morning after pill.
Also on the panel was Jessie Hyman of Pruzan Running who provided tampons in the restrooms. Another guerilla move that really ought not need to be made. Other companies like Oiselle and Paradis were in attendance again, and Currently showcased their thoughtful new women’s range. It all feels like a groundswell worth noting.
Also, Raide made waves last year with their hydration belt, which has gone on to be massively popular, but there was always one nagging complaint: it wasn’t perfect for women. Top athletes like Anna Gibson and Jade Belzberg do wear the original belt, but founder Kyle Siegel still set about creating a belt more suitable for women. We know it’s not enough to pink it and shrink it, and this belt is wider at the hips than at the waist and it’s black. It’s a cool development.
While it’s great that female-founded brands are thriving, in a male-dominated industry/world, I believe it’s still incumbent on men to elevate the world to try to achieve parity. A lot of that simply involves turning up and listening.
The foreign invasion
If I had more time, I’d write some very serious and shareable stats about how many brands were in attendance from outside the US in 2026 compared to 2025, but here we are. Anyway, it felt like there were more this year.
Acid Running and Soar joined from the UK for the first time, and Hylo had their second appearance, debuting three new shoes, signaling serious strategy for the next two years. Jonty and Molly from Runlimited, the London boutique store that hosted my series of conversations in August were also in attendance.
It seemed like there were more brands from Asia as well. There were the heavyweights like 361 and Anta who pull in $5-10 billion a year, as well as three-person startup brands like Kaleg from South Korea as well as a group of distributors looking for brands looking to break into the Asian market but currently had no representation on that end of the supply chain.
It’s a long way to come, and I think that signals the importance of TRE in terms of opportunities to the global running industry.
A word on Bandit
They had a nice enough stand slap bang in the center of the room, with some lovely-looking product including a nice simple black singlet with billions of laser-cut holes (I would wear it), but they were apparently not courting retailers. They were just there.
With very intelligent new hires from outside of the running world (Netflix, Spotify, and Kith), Bandit is clearly focusing on the data. I expect their direct-to-consumer sales to go supernova. With their designer being a woman, they’ve also always offered both men’s and women’s apparel, so have never had to play catch-up with half the market.
I suspect that Bandit will overtake Tracksmith and Satisfy to become the biggest niche/premium challenger brand over the next 12 months.
Other bits and bobs from TRE
Vivek Gowri is the new proprietor of San Francisco Running Company. Are there any other South Asian run specialty store owners in the USA? Is Vivek the first? We laughed that we only saw two other South Asian people at TRE, just in case you were wondering how diversity in running is going for us.
I also had the deep pleasure of meeting Michelin-starred chef and master sommelier (and 2:45 marathoner) Bobby Stuckey at a gravel shoe event. A fascinating man who I can’t wait to write more about.
It was great to see Like the Wind helming a booth as they celebrate launching a US edition of that fantastic magazine. If you enjoy reading my work, you’ll enjoy LtW. There’s an interview with LtW founder Simon Freeman about storytelling in my book, incidentally.
Finally, thanks to Pao Jelly for the ride home last night. I didn’t enjoy sucking down your energy jellies any more than the other gels out there, but the Asian-inspired flavors really do taste fantastic. Good luck.
Apologies for any errors or anything I’ve missed. I’m very tired.
Thanks for reading and supporting my writing. It means a lot to me.
Raz x
Pao Jelly ftw!! Also, I didn't know that SF Runnng Company has new ownership -- awesome to hear.
So great to meet you in-person this week. Hope to see you again soon!