sportstyle

6 • January/February 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com BY CARA GRIFFIN Heading into 2022, the running industry remains focused on innovation, and on reaching as many runners as possible, from elite athletes to beginner runners to those who don't even define themselves as runners. Beyond that, continuing to deliver quality products continues to have added challenges — demand is high, but supply chain challenges remain. In our recent trip to The Running Event trade show, held in December, brands and retailers we spoke to were upbeat, and the show floor was buzzing with positive vibes. Here are a few new trends, products and technologies on our radar for the year ahead. RUNNING FORWARD MOTION Carbon for the Masses Every leading running brand now has a performance shoe fea- turing carbon plate technology. Lightweight and rigid, carbon plate shoes, with "propulsive" qualities were developed first with elite ath- letes in mind. However, in 2022 the use of carbon is evolving into (slightly) more affordable shoes. Think, $200 range rather than $275- $300+ price points. Also look to see more trail shoe offerings with carbon plates, such as the upcoming $200 HOKA Tecton X trail style. Innovation in varying the "flex" of the often rigid carbon plate shoes is also pushing the carbon category forward. The carbon fiber manu- facturer Carbitex has its material in new 2022 shoes coming up from the likes of Altra, Saucony, Scott and Speedland. Let's Call Them Hybrids Consumers have taken on new fit- ness routines over the past two years and products are following suit. This is evident in trends emerging in footwear — shoes targeting the "indoor" runner and shoes catering to the "gravel road or trail/road" runner. Brazilian brand Veja has new 2022 styles in the pipeline with the treadmill runner in mind. And Brooks has a capsule collection of apparel, called Run Within, set to drop that is designed with indoor runners' more minimalistic design needs in mind. On the trail side, we've long seen hiking/trail run- ning hybrid shoes flourish, but now more brands — including Saucony, HOKA and Altra — are keying in on runners looking for a less clunky trail shoe, with minimal lugs, for use on gravel roads or for running from road to trail. Release Date Uncertainty The best thing about our trip to The Running Event trade show in Austin this past December was seeing all of the innovative new per- formance shoes that running brands are readying for Fall 2022 launches. The only glitch? Many brands are unable to confidently say when the products will be available. While several brands told us that despite challenges their inventory was in good shape, cross your fingers and expect a window of 2-4 weeks-"ish" when it comes to the release date on the tech sheets and true availability.

• Cover