Kim Smith dropped by Reebok

Thought that "nikeman" would be announcing that Nike had signed her.

Does this mean Steve Jones will no longer be at major marathon expos signing posters of his rain soaked Chicago Marathon victory and WR?

I think this is part of a process of reducing their running program that began a few years ago. Thread from 2009...

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2846923&page=0

Perhaps we will find out if Kim has a new sponsor when she runs in the Marugame Half Marathon in Japan on Feb. 3rd. The race sponsor is Asics, but that might not mean anything.

What about Aries Merritt?

I'd like to think she's better off for it. As others have said, Reebok has been consistently eliminating their support of running.

Hopefully she'll get picked up quick by another brand and continue to have plenty of opportunities to do what she needs to.

Augusto E. Perez wrote:

It's not the same for everyone. Meseret Defar isn't running just for shoes.

The Mizuno deal for international athletes is completely different than for the Americans. Don't be fooled.

mizuno sucks too wrote:

Augusto E. Perez wrote:

It's not the same for everyone. Meseret Defar isn't running just for shoes.

The Mizuno deal for international athletes is completely different than for the Americans. Don't be fooled.

I know that. Which is why the same rules don't necessarily apply to Kim as they would to an American.

Elle Woods wrote:

Especially Smith, she looks brital.

I know she looks Brital but she is as Kiwian as you get. Her wealth is just common nothing special.

She's 30+ and just had a crazy 2012. Given that and Ree' thinks the running boom is over --years ago-- this isn't a surprise.

Kim would rep well for any shoe Co (fit,pale,married, blonde, named Smith). Hew Balance ?

Does Reebok supply any NCAA teams these days: Or are they out of that end of it too?

I'll ask her, find out if she has a new sponsor lined up. Shes in NZ at the moment and has been training at my local track quite often. I'll ask Willis as well, hes pacing a whole lot of meets while he's in NZ.

WATCH THIS SPACE

had reebok premier fsm shoes many years ago; they were great.

since then--crap

Not American

Reebok is dissolving, fully absorbing into adidas.

Zap? wrote:

correct me if im wrong but is reebok not the main sponsor for Zap Fitness?

ZAP is the main sponsor of ZAP. They have set up a situation where they are self sufficent and do not need someone to throw them shoes. It is great but a minimal amount of support. Hardly a "MAIN SPONSOR".

ZAP is run by some smart people and they will not close there doors because of a lost shoe deal. Most groups would have to close their doors without outside help like the old Reebok Enclave but Zap has a better business plan.

Zap owns their facility and does not rent property like some of the other groups that are built on a house of cards. They also have a steady income with camps toprovide financial support.

Woxl wrote:

Reebok is dissolving, fully absorbing into adidas.

The idea is the adidas will be the performance brand and Reebok will be the training brand. Really no need for adidas/Reebok to compete against itself in this area.

This is exactly the reason why running needs to evolve and runners need to have multiple corporate sponsors, not just apparel/shoe companies.

Ryan Hall, the flakiest of all runners, somehow managed to get Nissan, Vizio, Oakley and Muscle Milk/Cytosport on his sponsorship roll call.

How Hall has better business sense than 99% of US runners is beyond me, but he clearly does.

Its time for US runners to enter the 21st Century and take care of their brand like a business.

I've said this before but will say it again. How no one has co opted Dunkin Donuts yet is beyond me. "America Runs on Dunkin"? How much of a more obvious sponsor can you get?

Hall and Meb have been able to get those kinds of sponsorships mainly because they're big enough names in running to be slightly recognizable to those outside of running. In terms of business sense, they're amateurs compared to Josh Cox. This is a guy who is over 35 and didn't even finish top 10 at the trials. Yet he's been able to rack up this list: Kswiss, Polk Audio, Powerbar, Nestle Waters, CEP compression, Garmin, and Elliptigo. He Facebooks and Twitters like a mad man, does commentary at big races, and he somehow parlayed his friendship with Ryan Hall into Nissan advertisements.

Beyond elite running, Dean Karnazes gets ragged on all the time but he's squeezing more money out of his running than guys hours faster than him. Why is that? I can tell you it's no accident or fluke. Karnazes comes from the business world so he knows that money isn't going to drop out of the sky. If you want to make a living by running around in short shorts then you have to promote the hell out of yourself. A lot of runners these days don't seem to get that the money they're earning is advertising money. If Nike puts 5 dollars into you and can't get at least 6 back, then you're not worth it.

Just announced- signed with New Balance. Thank goodness some she companies still have sense

From the frying pan to the fire. adidas usa is not a player in the run specialty circles and their running product is viewed as big box store type, Kohls, JC Penny, etc. Aside from Boston which is a big retail op only, adidas usa has zero grass roots running presence to build brand identity in the USA. adidas usa would be better off absorbed by adidas group in Germany or UK.