S
partan, the 17-year old obstacle race and endurance brand,
and CRAFT Sportswear, the premium Swedish endurance
sport brand for running, cycling and Nordic Ski, are partner-
ing in a new multi-year deal to bring specialized apparel and
footwear to Spartan's worldwide participants in 40+ countries.
Spartan Founder and CEO Joe De Sena hopes the rela-
tionship with CRAFT, following a recent one with Reebok, will
help attract some crossover athletes to the wide age-ranging sport
and also bring it steps closer to a longer-term objective of becoming
a recognized Olympic event. In 2011, Spartan changed its format to
three different distance races—3-mile, 8-mile and 13-mile—each
on military-inspired courses. This year, more than 100,000 kids will
participate in Spartan events, De Sena proclaims.
CRAFT, available in North America for slightly more than a decade,
is pinning the Spartan relationship on broadening its market reach,
including through a product extension into footwear. Typically,
a stronger performing brand in Northern Hemisphere markets,
CRAFT already distributes its performance apparel and base
layers in many top U.S. running stores.
Starting in Spring 2019, CRAFT will introduce Spartan racers
to a collection of OCR, Olympic-caliber apparel with Spartan-
specific footwear. "The Powered By" line will be distributed at
Spartan.com and Spartan events only after debuting in December
2018 at the Ultra World Championships. Subsequently for Fall
2019, CRAFT will have a network of strategic retail partners to
carry the Spartan-specific apparel and footwear.
Eric Schenker, CEO of CRAFT Sportswear North America
thinks the Spartan-specific footwear, currently in development,
will be the catalyst for the Swedish brand to expand into broader
trail-specific footwear. n
Spartan and CRAFT Sportswear Team Up
RUNNING INSIGHT
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