One of the world's oldest sports, running experienced something of a resurgence in the last number of years, with people more keen than ever to get out and explore the world at pace.
A huge part of this growth in the popularity of running among the younger generations has been the emergence of run clubs, social groups turning what was once a solo exercise into something of a team sport.
As these groups began to grow in popularity, running brands took notice, and one company able to capitalise on the run club boom in a massive way has been New Balance.
How New Balance rode the run club wave and came out on top
The rise of run clubs was one of the more unexpected occurrences in the recent sporting world, as people turned a form of exercise into a communal experience, more closely resembling a social setting than a fitness-focused one.
New Balance was one of the brands who were quick to get involved with the movement, sponsoring a number of run club ambassadors and even collaborating with health and fitness brands like Kic to entrench themselves firmly in the market, a move that SVP, Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Darren Tucker said has seen them close in on becoming Australia's top running brand.
"People aren't going out at night. They're going a bit earlier to get up at four o'clock to go to a run club and meet their partners and play up or whatever they do," Tucker told Sporting News Australia.
"I think it's actually made running cool again, which it became very stodgy and old. I think that's probably what I've seen, it's brought freshness to running and excitement."
This boom has led the brand to reassess their entire running range, with plenty of new technology to anticipate from New Balance over the coming years.
"We feel like we've got this connection of innovation and bringing newness, and we think we need to do it in running, and we need to do it our way," Tucker said.
"We don't want to just show up with a New Balance version of an ASICS or whatever shoes. Bringing that authenticity, but also bringing our version of what we think next running looks like is important. There's a lot of work being done on innovation and foams and what next generation speed and comfort can look like.
"I mean, a lot of work from all brands went into plate and shoes, but that mid-level got a little bit left behind. That's where, not the money is, but that's where the volume of consumers shop.
"Not a lot of people can wear a plated shoe, and not a lot of people want to spend 400 bucks on a pair of shoes. I think it's not without risk, but I think you got to be prepared to fail to move forward. You got to have that permission to bring newness and freshness to the consumer, because we're not going to get to where we want to go if we don't bring new consumers in. We've got to keep bringing new people to our brand."
The brand recently released its newest performance running model, the New Balance FuelCell Rebel V5, and they have plenty more to come as they continue to level up in the market.