Good day, fellow members of the Running Industry Community!
As we step into another autumn running season – and after visiting a number of spring and summer road races – a thought I shared to a group of industry leaders returns to my mind often: running is cool.
Listening to leaders speak at the Outside Days conference, watching the start line at the Bix 7, announcing finishers at the Monumental Mile, walking into my local run specialty store, watching Diamond League action on television, observing USATF championships of all disciplines and attending high school cross country meets reinforces what we all know – we have a terrific opportunity to leverage this running growth moment.
To be truly cool, however, means that we should not simply lean into the trends simply because everyone else is doing it. We should look to capitalize on the trends via data, listen to our customers, talk to our constituents, be curious, and ensure we continue to invite a broad perspective.
I was reminded of this a few weeks back after a discussion with Adina Crawford who I first met in Boston during our industry reception cohosted with RRCA and in conjunction with Brooks at their dynamic Hyperion House. Adina is a certified yoga instructor, mentor, motivator, advocate, and community influencer.
She is passionate about “the aging runner” and allowing spaces for that demographic to be seen and prepared for starting lines, not squeezed out of a run crew or social media coverage. Turns out, I am an aging runner! It was a good reminder to me, and I hope each of you, to make running cool for everyone.
At Running USA where the running industry connects, we aim to educate, elevate and engage the running industry and its constituents. Here is how we are working on that in the coming weeks and months.
Educate
Be on the lookout for the release of our always-anticipated Global Runner Survey sponsored by Active and in partnership with Wahoo, coming next week. Register for the upcoming webinar centered around the Global Runner Survey. Additionally, the 2027 Industry Conference presented by haku will be here before we know it January 31-February 2 outside of Las Vegas. We’re expecting a record crowd, so be sure to book your discounted rooms at the M Resort. Please be aware that as in the past, scammers are again offering rooms for the hotel. The only authorized link to book is the one I have shared here.
Elevate
Many of you are doing this day-to-day, but Running USA is pumped about our first Charity Team participating in the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon October 11 in support of the growth of our industry.
Engage
We are thrilled to engage with our fellow industry constituents, runners and members at the inaugural Running USA Member Village inside the Abbott Health & Fitness Expo prior to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Eight Running USA member events will be exhibiting in our dynamic space. Please visit us or if you plan to be in town, let us know. There are ways to get involved with booth programming and raffle giveaways. Contact Matt Chittim. (matt@runningusa.org)
In closing, well done to the race directors, event staffs, vendors, sponsors and contributors who are making considerable impact on our industry. It has been fun to witness. On behalf of our terrific Running USA staff, thank you to our members, sponsors, thought-leaders, constituents, staff and board of directors. Have an amazing fall running campaign! Please connect if I can support you in any way.
Onward,
Shawn K. Sullivan