Last Sunday, not one but two runners broke the sub-two-hour marathon record at the London Marathon. Both wore Adidas’s new Pro Evo 3 supershoe. Sabastian Sawe set a world record of 1:59.30, while Yomif Kejelcha came in second, just 11 seconds behind. Tigist Assefa also set a new women’s world record of 2:15.41, wearing the same shoe. Even Nike, Adidas’s main competitor, congratulated Sawe. According to Launchmetrics, Adidas generated $11 million in media impact value (MIV) at the London Marathon, mostly thanks to the men’s and women’s records.
Adidas may be grabbing headlines in London, but it was far from the only brand at the city’s marathon, or at the Boston Marathon the week before. From established players like Nike and Adidas to newer brands like On and Hoka, performance running brands have been going all out. They’re activating on a larger and longer scale to tap into the booming marathon opportunity, which was really cemented when Harry Styles ran both the Berlin and Tokyo marathons last year, then appeared on the cover of Runner’s World last month, interviewed by fellow marathoner Haruki Murakami.
More runners than ever are signing up for World Marathon Majors, with applications up year-on-year across all seven cities (Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, and New York). In London, ballot applications exceeded 1.13 million, up 36% from the 2025 record of 840,318. On Sunday, 59,830 runners crossed the finish line, up from 56,640 the year before. Overall, marathons are a big business opportunity.
Sabastian Sawe broke the world record in Adidas’s new supershoe.
Photo: Courtesy of Adidas
Performance brand executives agree that this opportunity has grown well beyond race day. “The marathon has moved from being a single race day moment to a multi-layered cultural platform,” says Patrick Nava, general manager at Adidas Running. “Ten years ago, success was mostly about podiums and performance validation, mainly within the running niche. Today, the marathon sits at the intersection of elite sport, mass participation, culture, and innovation storytelling.”
More brands are treating marathons as cultural platforms rather than just performance events. They’re offering bigger programming—like shakeout runs, pop-up hubs, and weekend-long events—that caters to a wider audience, including elite runners, casual runners, running crews, and spectators. The rise of run clubs has pushed brands to develop a more creative, grassroots, and cultural presence, says Alice Crossley, deputy foresight editor at strategic foresight consultancy The Future Laboratory. “People used to look forward to race day, but now there’s a whole cultural build-up,” she says.
This makes for a busy weekend. In London, Hoka built a Hoka Hub, On moved its On LightSpray Tour to the city, Puma opened a Nitro Lab, New Balance set up its London Run House, Nike popped up with free posters, and Adidas set up a space in Trafalgar Square. All these brands arrived in the UK after a similarly packed activation lineup in Boston the week before, and they hosted runs throughout both weekends too.
Niche brands have also joined in. Tracksmith (Styles’s go-to running short brand) hosted programming at its flagship store in Boston and released a collection dedicated to the city’s marathon. In London, the brand opened a pop-up on fashion-favorite Chiltern Street, handing out pizzas out front. Instead of jumping into the busyness of Boston and London, Paris-based Satisfy took a similarly fashion-forward approach, opening a Paris Marathon Supply space at Dover Street Market Paris ahead of April 12. Meanwhile, Bandit is staying busy with a longer effort ahead of the Brooklyn half-marathon on May 16, offering a 12-week in-person guided training program.
New Balance set up shop at Somerset House, with a prime view of the race.
Photos: Courtesy of New Balance
There are many ways for brands to get involved, says Katie Baron, content director at trends intelligence agency Stylus. “There’s the kit, the localizedPre- and post-event spaces, and even co-creation ideas for friends and family—what’s known as ‘cheer commerce’—let people get involved in the celebration and commemoration of marathon day, explains Baron. For example, New Balance opened its Run House at Somerset House, a prime spot for cheering runners from the sidelines, says Kevin Fitzpatrick, VP of running. (New Balance also set up marathon cheer zones at Miles 8, 16, and 25.)
In Boston, brands generated media impact values (MIV) in the hundreds of thousands—a solid marketing win. London blew that out of the water, with a total MIV of $62.3 million. This was mostly driven by Adidas, but Nike, New Balance (the official sponsor of the London Marathon), and Puma each brought in over $1 million in MIV. (MIV measures the impact of brand mentions across different voices and channels, assigning a monetary value to media exposure.)
As marathon weekends get more crowded with brand activations, collaborations, hubs, and giveaways, how can performance brands stand out from each other—and hold their own as more sports-adjacent brands join in? With brands gearing up for Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, and New York in the second half of 2026, here’s where they should focus.
The race to innovate
Running brands flood every city on marathon weekends, always trying to up their game. In London, Adidas won with its new superlight shoe.
Marathons are a key moment for performance brands because that’s where credibility is built, says On CMO Alex Griffin. “When Hellen Obiri won the Boston Marathon wearing LightSpray in 2024—and then went on to win bronze at the 2024 Olympic Marathon and set a course record at the 2025 New York City Marathon, all in the same LightSpray model—it showed that this isn’t just innovation for its own sake,” he says, but a real performance indicator.
On’s LightSpray demos will travel to all the major marathons this year.
Photo: Courtesy of On
In both Boston and London, On showcased its LightSpray shoes at the On LightSpray Tour experience, which will visit all the major marathon cities this year, says Griffin. Similarly, Hoka hosted an “innovative try-on experience” for runners (and non-runners) to test the brand’s latest Cielo X1 3.0, its lightest supershoe, at the Hoka Hub in London. “It all ties together,” says Erika Gabrielli, Hoka’s VP of global marketing. “While our elite athletes run in the Cielo X1 3.0 on race day, the community can try it for themselves at the Hoka Hub.”
Innovation moments aren’t just about marathons, though. Nike, for example, has hosted entire events around its supershoe innovation, most recently in Paris for its Breaking4 event last year, where Faith Kipyegon tried to run a mile in under four minutes, wearing Nike’s latest innovations. Even so, marathons are a necessary and real proof point, says Tanya Hvizdak, global VP of Nike Running. “We don’t see these as either/or,” she says. “Races validate what our innovations can do, and a moment like Breaking4 inspires the world to dare to try.”
The fact that London saw two runners hit the sub-two-hour mark and the women’s record was smashed shows how big the innovation opportunity is, says Nava. “The takeaway for us is that we’re no longer innovating for an abstract future; we’re responding to what’s happening now,” he says. “The sport is evolving faster, and athletes are asking for tools that let them reach that next level responsibly and credibly.” Hvizdak agrees, adding that running shoes are “one of the most exciting design opportunities in the world right now,” and that Nike is deeper into the prototype phase than ever before.
This innovation isn’t necessarily meant for the masses. Adidas’s decision to release a limited 200-pair drop of the $500 shoes before the marathon wasn’t just to build demand—it came down to capacity. “There are physical limits on how manyWe can produce something similar to a Formula 1 car, says Nava. However, elements of the technology will make their way into the brand’s more “democratic models” in the coming months, he adds.
“This isn’t a shoe where we expect to sell thousands of pairs — but the demand is thousands of pairs,” CEO Bjørn Gulden told investors on Adidas’s latest earnings call. He noted that the last price he saw on StockX for the $500 shoe was around $5,000.
Nike kept the rest of its marathon signs up around Boston.
Photo: Courtesy of Nike
The lifestyle element
On the other hand, at marathons, brands can no longer focus only on elite runners. Any sense of exclusivity disappeared years ago, as more casual runners join the marathon experience. Now, brands can only succeed by catering to a wider range of participants on any race weekend.
In Boston, for example, Nike released an ad that said, “Runners welcome, walkers tolerated.” It didn’t go over well with audiences, who quickly criticized the ad for suggesting that non-elite runners weren’t welcome on the course. Competitors also jumped on the opportunity. Asics put up billboards in Boston that read, “Runners. Walkers. All welcome.” Ecco launched a “Walk Your Walk” campaign, aiming to move away from performance-focused messaging. (Though it’s worth noting that Ecco doesn’t make marathon shoes.)
“We take feedback from the running community seriously,” says Nike’s Hvizdak, referring to the ad, which was taken down after the backlash. “We listen to the voice of the athlete; they’re our most honest critics and our greatest supporters. What that moment reminded us is how deeply people care about this sport, and we respect that. We’re always learning, and our goal is to show up in ways that celebrate all runners and every form of movement.”
In London, other performance brands went out of their way to emphasize that their products aren’t just for runners and athletes, but for anyone who wants to move and support those involved. Brands from On to Hoka highlighted how they engaged and supported not only runners (at all levels) but also the crews on the ground that make the marathon happen. “What’s changed is who the marathon speaks to,” agrees Adidas’s Nava. “It’s no longer just about the very front of the pack — although that still matters a lot for credibility — but also about the millions of runners who see the marathon as the ultimate expression of commitment, identity, and self-belief.”
There are lessons to be learned from the more niche running brands that are increasingly showing up at smaller (but still crowded) marathon weekends. While legacy brands tend to speak to these consumer groups separately (“We don’t talk to these groups in the same way,” Nava says, because the same shoe can mean different things to different consumers), brands like Satisfy and Tracksmith have built their influence by blending performance and lifestyle, and connecting innovation with the cultural appeal that larger brands are after.
“The lifestyle side is a status signal,” says Mark Jones, creative director of brand agency Studio Blackburn. “To win, brands must show they understand the actual routes we run every day. This means designing for both performance and perception, turning innovation into a cultural signal that scales from elite competition to everyday use, while staying part of one brand world.”
Hoka hosted shakeouts from its Hoka Hub.
Photo: Courtesy of Hoka
Gaps in the marathon market
Although marathon weekends are busier than ever, the surge in interest has made it clear that there are still gaps in the market waiting to be filled.
The increase in marathon participants is largely driven by women, notes Stylus’s Baron. “That’s a focus I think is still underappreciated, and brands ignore it at their own risk,” she says. “For younger women, mental wellbeing and community are the key motivations; for older women, it’s achievement and purpose beyond traditional life milestones — work, family, etc. — tied to an important sense of reclamation.” Moving forward, this is a key area to watch.Baron hopes to see more women-focused programs supporting female runners, like Nike’s After Dark Tour across seven cities, which included small events such as personalized bra fittings, makeup sessions, and manicures. For this year’s Boston Marathon, Tracksmith teamed up with sports watch brand Suunto for an afternoon event centered on women’s running, featuring a docuseries screening and a panel discussion.
To meet the needs of this growing group, established brands need to step up, especially as fashion and beauty companies seize marathon opportunities. For example, skincare brand 111Skin’s 111Cryo offered finishers a free cryotherapy recovery service. The beauty potential is huge because it overlaps with wellness, recovery, and optimization. “Running has become a serious lifestyle symbol, and beauty combined with sports is an exciting area for growth,” says Crossley. “The trend of beauty brands tapping into sports fandom has real potential to take off.”
Instagram content
The post-event phase is also ready for change, Baron adds. Crossley agrees. “More brands should focus on recovery,” she says. “It’s still overlooked compared to training and race day, but there’s clear demand. We think recovery-wear has a lot of room for engagement and growth.” Women’s activewear brand Oner Active embraced this idea with its Oner Your Recovery van in Covent Garden’s Piazza, giving female finishers a recovery kit that included Oner merchandise, magnesium oil, electrolytes, and beauty products.
There’s a big opportunity here for health-tech, food and beverage, and supplement brands to get involved, Baron agrees. In Boston, sports hydration brand Cadence partnered with fitness tracker brand Whoop for a race day essentials pop-up. More post-race engagement would also help brands keep talking to and connecting with consumers even after the marathon excitement fades, boosting engagement before the next big race.
As always in 2026, there’s also a major creator opportunity. “Races are perfect for content—we’re seeing more live streams, docuseries, user-generated content, and behind-the-scenes stories,” Crossley says. These creators, whether they’re true running influencers or fashion and beauty creators training for a marathon, give brands a way to reach audiences who might not normally pay attention to performance brand ads. “The chance to stand out lies in creator relationships before and after race day,” Crossley says. “Focus on long-term partnerships where creators show how your brand helps them with training and recovery. That’s where lasting impact happens.”
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about how marathons have become a big business covering beginner to advanced perspectives
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 I thought marathons were just for runners How are they a business
Marathons are now major events that generate money through entry fees sponsorships merchandise sales and tourism Big races like the New York City Marathon or the London Marathon are multimillion dollar operations
2 Who makes money from a marathon
The race organizers of course but also sponsors local hotels restaurants airlines charities and even the city itself through increased tourism
3 Are charity slots in a marathon a good thing or a scam
They can be a great thing Many races set aside a portion of entries for charity runners You pay a higher fee or raise a minimum donation but you get a guaranteed spot Its a legitimate way to run and support a cause but always check the charitys reputation
4 Why are entry fees so expensive now
Fees cover the cost of road closures police medical staff security timing chips finisher medals Tshirts water stations and the technology to manage tens of thousands of runners As events get bigger and more professional the costs go up
AdvancedLevel Questions
5 How do sponsorships actually work in a marathon
Sponsors pay a large fee to the race organizer in exchange for branding This can be the official shoe the official energy gel or the title sponsor In return the sponsor gets massive exposure to a highly active affluent demographic
6 Do cities actually make a profit from hosting a marathon
Yes most major cities do The economic impact is huge Runners and spectators spend money on hotels flights food and entertainment A city might spend 1 million on logistics but see a 50 million boost in local spending The city wins even if the race itself just breaks even
7 How do bucket list races like Boston or London control their business
They use a scarcity model Boston has strict qualifying times while London uses a public lottery or charity slots This artificial scarcity drives up demand The harder it is to get in