After years of calling Austin, TX, home, The Running Event moved about 80 miles southwest and planted its flag in San Antonio for 2025. The Alamo City proved to be a wonderful host for a TRE delivering its characteristic blend of energy and enthusiasm, collegiality and connections.

Running Insight senior writer Danny Smith shares some notable takeaways from his TRE experience.  

Intense battle for share of foot 

According to proprietary data tracking from Karnan Associates, five of the top six footwear brands in independent run specialty (Brooks, Hoka, New Balance, Asics and On) saw their sales figures drop in 2025 compared to 2024. Only Saucony, with a modest uptick of one percent, saw a positive jump. 

At the same time, Altra, Nike, Mizuno and Topo all recorded positive gains from market share slots 7-10. Powered by a sexy new lineup of trainers, Nike saw an impressive 35 percent year-to-date sales gain in independent run specialty, while Topo soared 30 percent as it continued building upon its foundation of creating high-quality, comfortable product.

The numbers underscore the competitiveness of the market, the grinding battle for customers and the unrelenting pressure to innovate. 

Speaking of which … 

We are in the golden age of performance running footwear. Innovation is coming from every direction, in every category, from brands big and small. In addition to the major players rolling out exciting new models and updates, fledgling brands are similarly entering the market with compelling options and further intensifying the competition for consumers’ attention. 

After debuting at TRE last year and earning fanfare across 2025 with its first performance run models, Mount to Coast returned to TRE in 2025 with a bigger, grander presence and more footwear to display. Kiprun, owned by European sporting goods mega-retailer Decathlon, announced its U.S. launch in San Antonio and is eager to leverage its resources to gain market share. And R.A.D. came to TRE with exciting momentum following shiny reviews of its first model, the UFO. OTIVM is also making some waves.

Curating the shoe wall has never been more difficult for run specialty retailers, who have abundant options and so much to consider, from a brand’s trajectory and market niche to its distribution strategy and the support it provides retailers. This is no easy feat.

The footwear pendulum swings

After years of stack heights on performance running shoes growing and growing and growing, might we have finally reached our – ahem – max? To be certain, high-stacked shoes remain commonplace and brands across the TRE floor touted high-stacked footwear. However, the pendulum might finally be swinging in a different direction.

After the minimalism era ushered in a focus on natural foot movement, the pendulum had a decade-plus long swing toward maximalism. Running footwear became high tech and high cushion. Bases widened. Shoes could resemble blocks, even if dynamic midsole foams and plates ensured lively rides.

One of the most visible new releases on the show floor, however, demonstrated a potential marriage of two eras often seen at odds – and bucked the maximal trend in the process. A decade in the making, the Brooks Glycerin Flex combined the latest in midsole technology with a deep midfoot groove prioritizing flexibility. 

“It’s a shoe for the runner who wants to feel connected to the road but doesn’t want to compromise on the comfort and support of a cushion shoe,” Brooks PR told me in advance of the new model’s release.

In fact, Brooks senior vice president of footwear and apparel Carson Caprara even suggested a new name for the category: “essentialism.”

Might the Glycerin Flex be a harbinger of things to come? In conversations with a few different footwear brand representatives about discoveries on the TRE floor, I suspect it could be. High stack isn’t going out of style, but there seems to be accelerating focus on increased flexibility in performance running footwear.

Sayonara, running shoe classifications

Once upon a time, running shoes were classified as either neutral, stability or motion control. Across more than two dozen meetings with footwear brands on the TRE show floor, however, not a single one discussed their footwear in these traditional silos, even if they could. It wasn’t necessarily a surprise, as many brands long ago shifted to dropping their different models into categories better aligned with the intended feel of the shoe.

As one example, Mizuno has four categories: Speed, Bounce, Cruise and Float. Speed is all about fast while Bounce brings pop to daily miles with models like the Neo Zen and Neo Vista. Cruise delivers reliable support and cushioning while Float provides plush, high-caliber cushioning in both a traditional neutral shoe like the Wave Sky and a stability shoe like the Wave Horizon.

In case you didn’t know, the traditional way of classifying running shoes has vanished, an admittedly odd reality for ol’ shoe guys like myself.

The growing gravel category

Years ago, the gravel – or door-to-trail – category did not exist. Today, the running shoe mashup of road footwear sensibilities with trail footwear pragmatism is burgeoning. 

Not surprisingly, European brands such as Craft and Salomon are leading the charge, fueled by the realities of local environments where runners can often start a jog at their home’s door and travel roadways before hitting a trail. 

The versatility of these hybrid models offers run shops an interesting value play to present customers, specifically those who run on varied terrain or even encounter wintry conditions: get a bit more ruggedness without sacrificing ride.

A focus on … laces?

Though shoelaces are an essential component of performance running footwear, they are far from sexy. As a result, shoelaces can be overlooked, minimized and discounted by brands who have so much to consider in building a compelling model for the marketplace.

Increasingly, however, I’ve seen brands take greater care with the laces they choose, understanding that shoelaces, modest as they seem, represent a daily touchpoint with runners. A brand like Tracksmith, for instance, has clearly invested in beyond-the-norm laces to give users an elevated tactile experience. (Of particular note, a number of brands are foregoing shoelaces altogether, including On’s breakthrough work with its LightSpray products.)

At TRE 2025, I noted something else with shoelaces. From one footwear booth to the next, I saw upcoming models featuring sawtooth laces, which have serrated edges to help ensure a tidy lock. Once the domain of racing shoes, sawtooth laces appeared on trail shoes and daily trainers alike on the TRE floor. It’s a minute observation, but an interesting one demonstrating how brands are working harder than ever to mind the details. 

Surprising finds

While the big booth spaces at TRE capture outsized attention, it’s the smaller vendors inhabiting 10-by-10 foot booths that bring particularly unique energy to TRE. Understanding they can get lost in a sea of 350-plus exhibitors on a massive trade show floor, their creativity and push to stand out is impressive and inspiring.

Tantrums, for instance, is a one-year-old company selling two different hydration vests – a small, niche company in a small, niche category. And yet, the California-based startup caught eyeballs with its bodega-styled booth featuring Tantrums-branded bottled water, a black-and-white checkered floor, a live security feed of the booth and a refrigerated display case containing its vest styles. It was hard to walk by and not be intrigued.

And notably, some of these small booths might hold the greatest potential to help running stores increase revenue and profitability, perhaps providing an opportunity to sell more to existing customers. Consider Sweaty Ponytails, an upstart greeting card company tucked on the far edge of the expo hall. Its colorful greeting cards carried fun memes like “now you can put one of those stupid 26.2 stickers on your car” and “don’t poop your pants.” The greeting cards represent a quick-grab, add-on item capable of driving overall spend in running shops. 

Optimism abounds

During her featured presentation on TRE Education Day, Circana’s Beth Goldstein shared data showing event participation growing eight percent in 2025, while involvement with running clubs jumped 60 percent and performance running shoe sales climbed nine percent. She also noted a projected eight percent year-over-year increase in running footwear sales in 2026. Exciting news for shoe peddlers, right? 

Dial down further and there’s additional positive energy.

Despite ever-increasing competition from online power players such as Amazon and Zappos as well as footwear brands’ swelling direct-to-consumer efforts, independent run specialty saw dollar sales, unit sales and average selling price all climb from 2024 to 2025, according to Karnan Associates data. In short, indie run specialty, not just the overall running market, is healthy and trending in a positive direction.

Are there headwinds? No doubt. Business costs, in particular, continue eating into profitability and causing consternation while labor remains an ever-persistent concern. 

But by and large independent run specialty has reason for optimism. The formula of personalized service plus thoughtful curation of goods plus community connections continues working. Even more, though, running retailers have proven to be an enterprising, problem-solving bunch more than capable of overcoming challenges and securing success.