Well known HOKA has a middle distance team launching in Portland. This makes complete sense. Should be announced soon with a prominent college coach heading it up.
I don't get posts like this.
You hint at something but don't just say it. Name the coach. You already are protected by anonymity.
Why would you launch the team in Portland? People associate Portland with Nike. We've had a ton of track teams in Portland.
Brooks, Under Armour and I guess now Hoka all have significant presence in the Portland Metro, though their HQs are in Seattle, Baltimore and Southern California respectively. Under Armour's office is right off the Duniway Track (one of the great public tracks in America). It's an economic cluster effect started by Nike. Why wouldn't companies locate where highly experienced and talented workers who can benefit their businesses already live? Makes sense that the cluster effect would eventually make its way down to training groups.
It's annoying to me that there is no transparency about who is downvoting this. I guarantee it's mostly Hoka affiliates monitoring the boards. I don't understand why we can't collectively be a bit concerned that one of America's best chances for a medal is now wearing product that has historically been, and continues to be, second rate. Those small margins matter.
Interview with Ali on the Run regarding lots of details on the Hoka decision (and fluff)...
She wasn't allowed to even try on Hoka shoes until after Dec 31 when her Nike contract was up. Seems like most athletes would ignore such a clause and test new shoes in private (but understandably not share the contract violation on a podcast).
Haven't listened to the pod yet or had time to look at the transcript, but anywhere does she say her Nike contract ended, as in she was dropped or not renewed? Or do we think she shopped around and got more $$$ from Hoka as it appears they are interested in building a group (says all the speculation floating around).
She just set a few AR's and had a great year. I know in non-champs years and Olympic cycles contracts come and go but she doesn't seem like one to get dropped.
I remember when people said Pyuma and Nike that rhymes with Mike!! LOL and SAW-cony.
Puma, Nikeeeee and Sa-CONY
Any pros are still with Saucony?
Barely. They sponsor a bunch of C-level pros (sorry, just trying to be real here) on what seem to be gear only deals. They don't have any top level runners like Molly Huddle or Jared Ward anymore
But this is probably an extremely cheap way of keeping a small footprint in the pro scene, and you might just get lucky like they did this year with Paternain's Bronze in Tokyo (Or Molly at the trials, but then they were too cheap to resign her)
she had an outstanding 2025 and probably used it as leverage when her contract expired, maybe get a bidding war started amongst companies and finally got a quote Nike wasn't able to match. this is most likely her last big payday so good for her getting the most she can.
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what's interesting is that she is coming off arguably the 2 best years of her career (higher place at worlds in 2022, but 2024 saw American mile record, PR's in the 1500m, world finals indoor and out, albeit not good showings in those finals). Not saying she would be Nike's TOP priority but surprised they would just let her go, and generally in these contracts they would have right of first refusal, meaning they would have an opportunity to match whatever other offers she received. I'm surprised Hoka made a big enough offer that they wouldn't cover, since they are a much smaller company
what's interesting is that she is coming off arguably the 2 best years of her career (higher place at worlds in 2022, but 2024 saw American mile record, PR's in the 1500m, world finals indoor and out, albeit not good showings in those finals). Not saying she would be Nike's TOP priority but surprised they would just let her go, and generally in these contracts they would have right of first refusal, meaning they would have an opportunity to match whatever other offers she received. I'm surprised Hoka made a big enough offer that they wouldn't cover, since they are a much smaller company
It's also a little bit funny that she did pre-announcement interviews with Citius, Fast Women and Allie on the Run, all set to drop this morning and did not give any heads up or interview to LRC. I wonder why?
