Justyn Knight and Chris Fox to Reebok - New Reebok pro track team announced!

I love how the rumors on this board turn out to be true.

My thoughts 1) Good luck. More pro groups in the US and more shoe companies involved is a good thing.

2) Hadn't thought much about the athletes they'd have besides Knight, but right now the roster is thin. But some of the top, top groups aren't that big historically.

3) WTF With the name. It's the Reebok Boston Track Club but they're going to be mainly out of Virginia? Clearly, I'm not a marketing genius. But I just chuckled when I read that.

4) Totally agree with the comment by Paul Astorino who will oversee the group for Reebok who said they need to make superior product for this to really work. I ran track one year at the University of Texas and Reebok was the sponsor. The product wasn't very good and some of the guys wouldn't train in the free shoes. That was 20 years ago. Reebok hasn't really shown a commitment to running since but clearly they have the resources to make good running shoes. Nike is a marketing genius, and sponsors groups, but they also make good running shoes. The best have good product and good marketing.

5) Top training groups do resonate with the public. Look what Brooks did with the Brooks Beast etc. (Correction: I was thinking of the Brooks Hansons teams) Brooks used to be regarded as not making good running shoes either. They improved their product and showed people at the top end of the sport they were serious with the Beasts and other measures.

6) I had no idea Garrett O'Toole's dad was so high up at Reebok. Sounds like the light went off when he saw what Hoka was doing.

7) I knew his Garrett O'Toole's was Jason Garrett, coach of the Cowboys. Go COWBOYS.

wejo wrote:

6) I had no idea Garrett O'Toole's dad was so high up at Reebok. Sounds like the light went off when he saw what Hoka was doing.

I've written a column with my take on the development where I try to give some historical perspective to the story. Its' amazingly ironic that one of the impetus' for this team was the CEO seeing some Hoka NJ NY guys since Reebok had a team coached by Gags 25 years ago. I mean Hoka NJ NY basically is the Enclave of 25 years ago.

wejo wrote:

3) WTF With the name. It's the Reebok Boston Track Club but they're going to be mainly out of Virginia? Clearly, I'm not a marketing genius. But I just chuckled when I read that.

I'm 100% with you on the name.

Now I think we should brainstorm some new name ideas. Anyone got a cool idea? Hell I think the should start a contest, we run it on letsrun. Design the name and create the logo for the Reebok Track Club.

So, this is not a group designed to develop american talent obviously? Top two guys are a Canadian and a Jamaican. A little different than the Hoka/NJ group.

Reebok founded the Enclave the same way Brooks founded Hansons.

Don't trust Reebok. They never follow through with their support of professional running. Several years ago, they dropped a number of good runners (Kim Smith was one of them) to "go in a different direction." They follow fads (Crossfit), then drop them.

I give the team a year before Reebok pulls out.

Hopefully wojo/rojo and the rest of you nitwits buy some Reebok gear; time to take off the nykie. I read Rojo’s piece and all I could think of was ..buy the products if you like them, the coach, the athletes they sign.

Also, why do all these teams base themselves in expensive urban areas or hip, expensive college towns? Have we not learned anything from the East Africans? Pick some cheap, sleepy mountain town in the Southwest with minimal distractions and be based there. Just make sure there is a track and plenty of decent trails to train on. What else do you need, really?

Reebok dominated the roads and had good group of track athletes in the mid 80's and early 90's.

Shoes were ok, spikes were good. They had great regional teams.

Athletes impute on production creation and development is limited no matter the brand, don't kid yourself in thinking otherwise. Nobody was buying Brooks shoes because the of the Brooks Beast Team, the shoes got better because they hired good developers and and product managers. Please understand the business before you comment.

Reebok had other issues that led to their demise and a lack of leadership to keep the running program running. Running shoe sales fund the money spent into the program. If your not selling shoes then no program.

Paul A. knows what to do and will help guide this program in the right direction. Paul knows shoes as well and they will be runable.

Hope Reebok stays with this long term. They definitely are showing commitment to the sport here, but they have a habit (other than with zap) of sponsoring athletes and groups for a few years and then adopting a more casual focused branding again and dropping them.

A few things. I said product is most important. Running lifers are not going to buy a shitty product because of marketing. But with Brooks the improved product and team went side by side and then having the team helps sell the product.

Hoka is another example where they have improved the product and the team gets them some buy in with people who follow the sport.

I've told a few brands on the fringes of the running world that they first just need to get real runners running in their shoes. Show them their shoes are legit and don't suck. Those people are the people working on the floor of running stores, the people winning road races, the people asked by their neighbors what shoes they should run in. They are the influencers. None of those people are wearing Reebok now.

Right now a) Reebok by and large is not selling running shoes and they are starting the program. They are b) Starting the program to help sell running shoes. and c) hope they increase in sales can fund the program.

I just looked at the LetsRun.com Better Running Shoe database. There are THREE reviews total of Reebok running shoes total since 2017. There are 6,660 reviews in the database (now I think some of those go back prior to 2017 but you see the point). Running lifers are not running in their shoes right now. The one good thing is that gives them tremendous upside. They just need to stay committed.

As far as product...yes.

Different angle though...start with a good xc spike/flat. Said this many times over years (to Fila with Goucher for example). Cheap. No worry about stability bs and what or drop nowadays. Not event specific like track. Put some marketing recognition behind it. F-M hordes of kids would not dig a Knyght spike? Jeez, door is open. Victory xc was a hightop last year...

Not going to solve all problems for a company but easier than a traditional running shoe line or knocking off other brands good or gimmicky ideas. Or renaming your own TPU midsole.

With modest success with the xc shoe kids will be more inclined to try a trainer. Call it Aztrek or something. 100 bucks. Put a heel counter on it and a durable outsole.

Grote

Y'all are forgetting Martin Hehir is really one of the best potential distance talents in the US. He is in med school, but with some more consistent training could really be a legit threat at longer distances.

Finished second in the loaded Philly 1/2 last fall with very minimal training.

wejo wrote:

6) I had no idea Garrett O'Toole's dad was so high up at Reebok. Sounds like the light went off when he saw what Hoka was doing.

Does that mean that Garrett automatically gets a spot on the team if he chooses to go pro? He hasn't really done too much while at Princeton (3:39.34 1500m) after being introduced as a HS phenom with his 4:01 HS mile. I think injuries plagued him throughout most of his collegiate career...

Interestingly enough, Princeton athletics mention this family connection in Garrett's bio:

Personal: Full name is Garrett Hasten O'Toole ... son of Matthew (Miami '84) and Jill (Michigan '86) O'Toole ... Matthew is the Reebok Brand President and Jill is a homemaker ... has two younger brothers Ryan and Justin and two younger sisters Charlotte and Isabelle ... three uncles played football at Princeton and in the NFL: Jason Garrett '89 (current head coach of the Dallas Cowboys), Judd Garrett '90 (current director of pro scouting for the Cowboys and John Garrett '88 (wide receiver coach for Tampa Bay Buccaneers) ... grandfather Jim Garrett played and coached in the NFL.

I wonder how much thought went into the location? Having trained in Charlottesville, it’s not the ideal trainging location. Temperate, but most of the runs are super hilly and you have to drive 45 mins to dirt roads. Forget training there in the summer if you’re not over in Europe. Humid AF. Why not base in Boston, but spend significant time at altitude?

Also, Hehir will have to decide if he wants to take time off during Med school after his 2nd year, because the next two years are not at all conducive to training. I suppose it could be done, but it’s like going from a stay at home job to 40-60 hour a week in the hospital.

If you love gimmicky,

They should go with

Reebok

Athletic

Club

East

RACE get it. ha ha ha ha ha

Always encouraging to see news like this but....these groups are NEVER sustainable due to the fact that their existence (and all group's existence) is entirely reliant on the commercial whims of the running shoe brands and the industry in general.

If the sport wants to be something, there needs to be a self-sustaining model for clubs across the board that isn't dependent in this way.

I wish the running community would tap into the great thinkers that are in the sport to re-imagine how the economics could work better.

thisguy wrote:

I wonder how much thought went into the location? Having trained in Charlottesville, it’s not the ideal trainging location. Temperate, but most of the runs are super hilly and you have to drive 45 mins to dirt roads. Forget training there in the summer if you’re not over in Europe. Humid AF. Why not base in Boston, but spend significant time at altitude?

Well, Boston sucks for training, unless you like indoor track. AND, very expensive!!!