Nike Trail Team Done?

they lost more than Tim. they lost the Vargos too

Kaci Licteig, Camille Herron, and Alex Varner are basically the only ones left

Does Nike actually pay the Nike Trail members a salary? I thought Zach Miller said they gave him gear and paid for race entries. If that's true, then I could understand people leaving if offered a regular paycheck by other brands.

I was under the impression that there was a base and performance based compensation. So Miller would be doing, OK. It just sounds like a missed opportunity from Nike. Losing key members instead of adding and growing the trail brand.

Kaci also had a post where she raved about a competitors pack. That does not sound good at all.

All of this just goes back to Nike and their contracts. Perhaps they are undervaluating their athletes or other companies are overvaluating since in those cases, the athletes are what could make or break the company.

Smyth?

David Laney still with them, and happy judging by his Instagram.

Not sure about the US but in the UK they just pulled all trail products from stores, online only now. Wildhorse, Terra Kiger, hydration vest etc.

pnw_runner wrote:

Does Nike actually pay the Nike Trail members a salary? I thought Zach Miller said they gave him gear and paid for race entries. If that's true, then I could understand people leaving if offered a regular paycheck by other brands.

They were more generous than that ^^^^ but they're not paying what Hoka and others are paying right now. Nike isn't stupid. If Nike Trail wasn't bringing in more money than it was paying out, they're not going to continue it just for kicks. They accomplished exactly what they wanted to accomplish: Splash into the trail running world. The launch of the team coincided with the TRUE launch of their 2 trail shoes, which have taken off. Their trail line of clothing didn't take off. They know from this point on they can sell their shoes without having to pay a full team, so why would they?

Is David Laney still with NIKE?

Don't forget David Laney

I hope they don't stop making the Wild Horse. I love that shoe.

Very true. My overall point is how half-assed Nike went about doing things. At my flagship Nike store, there is 0 trail products. So if they were losing money, they also didn't do a good job of promoting the team to make money. I started noticing a while back when people like Kaci, Zach, Tim, and Laney were not giving shout outs to Nike (Probably not getting paid, so why would they).

It actually appears Kaci took down a recent post. I wonder if she will getting her gear from Nathan now or going to Nathan at some point.

What team did Miller go to???????????

Per The Northface twitter account.

It's Miller Time!

The larger shoe companies have to look at the big picture.

The trail running market is not that big relative to their other markets for large shoe companies. They get more exposure (and sales) from sponsoring some little known basketball camp or similar than a trail runner.

The trail shoe market is oversaturated with shoes and competition relative to its size. Compared to 20 years ago, the number of companies and shoe models has ballooned up to unsustainable numbers. Something will have to give.

The smaller companies will offer athletes better deals, as they see the trail shoe market as a big market. For some of these companies, its their only market.

LRC vett wrote:

Smyth?

Still Nike. Of course, he can run well on any surface.

Here's the scoop: Nike did not pay these guys a base, but was generous in performance bonuses, product and travel reimbursement based on race performance.

Such a shame they are folding the program. And guys like Varner are just ambassadors and don't deliver any value.

Both Roches are now with Hoka.

reed wrote:

they lost more than Tim. they lost the Vargos too

Kaci Licteig, Camille Herron, and Alex Varner are basically the only ones left

With Kaci gone, who are they left with now?

Camille and McRae for women, Varner and Laney for men? Are they down to four people? At least all but Sally are SUPER competitive at what they are racing.

Camille is the only runner left who is wining big races

they have Varner (just had a kid, isn't racing lately)

McRae (never hear about her lately)

Laney (hasn't raced well in a couple years)

Ryan Bak (2:14 marathoner but doesn't race much)

Mocko (new to team)

Matt Daniels & Brittany Peterson & Tayte Pollmann (brand new to team)

Keely Henninger (not a big name but does okay)

that's all off my own memory and some twitter searches. could be more, no info on nike website

Still love my Wild Horse shoes. Need a new pair. Wonder how the 4 compares to the 3

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM wrote:

I hope they don't stop making the Wild Horse. I love that shoe.