The Runner Decides
When a brand sets up their line of running shoes and plans out distribution they are attempting to reach a wide audience of runners. In the 1980's many if not most of the performance running shoes were sold at specialty running and specialty sporting goods. In the mid to late 80's catalogs came around and a subset of runners would buy their shoes through the mail. By the mid to late 90's there was this thing called the Internet. This opened the door for more "retailers" to sell shoes and widened the availability to the runners.
An aside here. In the late 90's or early 2000's I was invited to a conference at the adidas US headquarters in Portland, OR. This wasn't a running conference it was a general specialty dealer conference. There were running specialists, tennis specialists and a few others. One of the evenings I found myself talking to a tennis specialist named Tennis Warehouse. We were always open with our way of doing business. They asked me many pointed questions. I answered as always but I was left with a feeling that I had just sat down with a future competitor. Not long after that meeting Tennis Warehouse opened a second business and called it Running Warehouse. If you know the history of running warehouse the specialty guy at adidas recommended Joe Rubio to his account Tennis Warehouse.
While all of this was going on, Amazon was just starting out, Ebay was probably an idea and more was coming. By the mid 2000's the brands started posturing around selling direct to consumers via their website. Nike of course already had large retail locations so it was easy for them to flip the switch and sell direct. Brooks took an absolute opposite posture. They came out and said "We will not sell direct to consumers. If they come to us we will send them to the closest specialty dealer in the area."
Today, a runner wants a new pair of running shoes. as it was in the 1980's, it is today. The runner decides where they will shop. The main difference from the 1980's is the opportunity to buy.
US Nationals
The US Nationals for Track and Field start this Thursday. World Champions from 2 years ago don't have to qualify for Tokyo this year. Everyone else does. There are so many events where Americans are among the strongest in the world it's hard to pick one to watch. The Men's 1500 M final at 14:14 Pacific Time, Saturday might be the best show all year. It's not a given that Cole Hocker the Olympic Champion will qualify for worlds this year. It's going to be a sprint to the finish and the difference from 1st to 4th should be rather tight. 4th does not go to worlds.
Heat
The last couple of trips have been to the "South" in the USA. It's just darn hot and humid in the South. Yesterday on a run we ran at conversational pace. I finished the run and my Garmin said I ran at VO2 Max. That is all because of the heat. It's a warning that your pace in extreme heat should be adjusted to the conditions. If I were to do too many runs like that in a row I would build a deep hole in my fitness. If I lived in those conditions I would certainly find a treadmill for my quality sessions.
