TRACKSMITH
A long-form love letter to running. From campaign copy to editorial storytelling, I helped shape Tracksmith’s distinctive voice—equal parts romantic, rigorous, and rooted in the culture of the sport.
Tracksmith - That's Running Films
To love is to relish the mundane. As runners, we invest deeply in a sport of repetition, failure, and loneliness. And still, we love it – not despite these things, but because of them. This shared passion creates a secret language, a lingua franca that transcends pace or prominence, culture or creed. And that's running.
Tracksmith - NDO '24
No Days Off is a call for consistency. The steadfast commitment against the season’s unpredictability. It’s not a sprint to our limits but a sustained effort where the act transforms into ritual, as the season offers an opportunity to recommit to consistency. It is a juncture to reflect upon the path trod and the journey still ahead. As December's cold rolls in, winter reveals itself as a landscape rich with introspection and transformation.
Tracksmith - Through Woodlands, a Cross Country Memory
Memory can be a funny thing. A sound, a vision, a scent can stir emotions that dizzily swirl. Magnified, heightened, and amplified, nostalgia tells us that it was all so much and then some. We attempt to encase the echo of an instant in the ember of our minds, somewhere safe, somehow unchanged. We long to preserve, soberly knowing that it rarely lives up to the hype.
Tracksmith - A Welcome Respite
As spring gives way to summer, it’s time to sharpen up and convert conditioning into race day pace and performance. In Italy, at one of the world’s most beautiful tracks, our athletes went through the motions of a competitive dress rehearsal, wearing new race day styles and tapping into the intensity of peak performance.
On the brink of the spring solstice, we asked London locals, Saskia Millard and John Howorth, as well as San Francisco-based Miles Smith and Claire Green, to join us just outside of London near Oxford. The weekend featured a mixture of strenuous efforts on the iconic Iffley Road Track – where Roger Bannister famously broke the four-minute mile – as well as some picturesque miles through the enchanting English countryside.
Tracksmith - Into the Cotswolds
Tracksmith - A Spring Classic
The first product designed at Tracksmith was the Van Cortlandt Singlet, a true classic now available in new colors for Spring. The mesh singlet has been a race day staple for decades and has had a permanent place in our wardrobe from the first mile on. Built for making statements, our Van Cortlandt Collection features classic silhouettes and an astonishingly lightweight performance mesh with an iconic design element inspired by the pursuit of excellence.
Tracksmith - Into the Heartland
In the final days of the harvest, as the earth is turned over for its next chapter, reflection takes hold. The fields, now bare, carry the story of the past while waiting to be etched anew. For the cultivator and runner alike, the end of one cycle ushers in the contemplation of the next. It’s in our nature to keep moving, to look ahead even as we catch our breath. The yields are in, the miles logged, and while there’s a moment for rest, the planning for the upcoming season is already underway.
Tracksmith - Run. Cannonball. Run. '23
When our body temperatures peak, whether from exertion or merely the sun's merciless intensity, there hangs a moment where our bodies lust to collide with the water and its promise of cool freedom. Momentarily weightless, we float in a suspended world. The water envelopes us, washing away the worries and cares of the outside world, leaving only the bliss of the present moment.
Tracksmith - Seeds of Change
Spring is a season that calls us forward; in subtle spurts, it beckons us toward the light. Hints of warmth and lengthening days plant the first seeds of a seasonal shift in our subconscious. The subtle awakening of flowers teases us with their ideas of one day coming into bloom.
Tracksmith - Iffley Road
Even casual followers of our sport know at least something of the story of Sir Roger Bannister. For a long time, the world of athletics believed it was a non-debatable impossibility for a human being to run a mile in under four minutes. That was until a 25-year-old British 1500m Olympian and methodical medical student from Harrow arrived at the cinder track at Iffley Road on May 6th, 1954, for an annual meet between his alma mater, Oxford University, and the Amateur Athletic Association.
Tracksmith - Pass the Torch
The expression stems from the ancient Greek torch race, in which a lighted torch was passed from one runner to the next. It represents the transfer of knowledge, wisdom, and responsibility from generation to generation. It serves as a reminder that our time is brief and that what we impart has an everlasting impact on those who follow. It is a nurturing agreement, a celebration of heritage and tradition, and a testament to what binds us. Most importantly, it acknowledges that each individual is part of a larger collective.
Tracksmith - The Harvest Part 1
The harvest season brings forth a profound sense of accomplishment and gratitude. For those who have sown seeds of effort and hope since the spring, it culminates in patience and an acknowledgment of the future's bounty. For runners, as autumn’s vibrant tapestries unfurl, the efforts invested in sowing seeds on the track in spring and the sweltering endurance of summer runs crystallize into a resilient trust in the journey taken. Faith is placed in those efforts as we eye fulfillment in the test of fall races.
Tracksmith - NDO '23
There are no tricks, choices, or dead ends. The clock does not tick towards an allotted time for “finishing” or “accomplishing” them. The time it takes is not set, nor is it of consequence. The process simply becomes the purpose.
Tracksmith - Shifting the Paradigm Film
The track provides the perfect space to test boundaries, internal and external. Its dimensions are repeated the world over and its beauty lies in its uniformity, but that's not to say that tracks aren't also unique in their own way: in England, we set foot on hallowed ground, a place where boundaries were tested, records broken, and history made.
Tracksmith - Paradise Found Film
Established in 2000, the Tossols-Basil Athletics track, designed by RCR Arquitectes, is located at the edge of both a city and a natural park along the Fluvià river. The track rests in a forest clearing, previously used for cultivation, allowing nature and sport to unite. Highlighting the beauty of the landscape and preserving the vegetation as a filter that changes with the seasons. The seating for observing the athletes is developed as small terraces or embankments between the clearings, often using natural topography. The slender lighting towers become points of reference in the landscape.
Tracksmith - Off Roads
Any journey, regardless of size, length, or duration begins with a single step. In an attempt to diverge from the comforting cadence of the paved road and hometown routes, this year's Off Roads journey pointed us north toward the Garibaldi Mountain Range near Whistler, British Columbia.
Tracksmith - Autumn's Embrace
These are the days when it may no longer come as a shock to see frost on the ground when we rise for a run. A period where we begin to notice our normal wake-up call comes before the sun announces its rising over a new day. During this time, the changing of a season is clearer than ever, as colors showcase the transition in dizzying displays of beauty, with a hint of melancholy. We know colder days are on the horizon, but as runners, we also recognize this as a season of reaping what we have sown during the warmer months. It is a season when being a runner is plentiful.
Tracksmith - The Side Of The Mountain Film
A scratch of hard land where the skinny air can rough you up if you catch it wrong. A place where you learn that it’s the side of the mountain
where life is sustained, and there are no days off. It’s on those sides, emboldened by optimism, or perhaps delirium and naivety, where we choose to build something.
Tracksmith - The Harvest Pt. II
As we leave behind the early whisper of fall, teetering past the equinox, nestling into the long breath of autumn, we find ourselves on the cusp of a season of culmination. For many, that realization of months of work and dedication hinges upon just a few fleeting weeks. In the case of devoted runners, we are not exempt from this reality. For some of us, it can boil down to a solitary race that will define our efforts. The harvest has truly begun.
Established in 2000, the Tossols-Basil Athletics track designed by RCR Arquitectes is located at the edge of both a city and natural park along the Fluvià river. The track rests in a forest clearing, previously used for cultivation, allowing nature and sport to unite. Highlighting the beauty of the landscape and preserving the vegetation as a filter that changes with the seasons. The seating for observing the athletes is developed as small terraces or embankments between the clearings, often using natural topography. The slender lighting towers become points of reference in the landscape.
Tracksmith - Tossols Basil Athletics Stadium Film
J.Crew x Tracksmith
Our new exclusive collaboration is geared toward summer training, racing and rest days—especially when every body of water you come across is fair game for a spontaneous swim.
Tracksmith - Visualization Film
An hour from the high-altitude stronghold of St Moritz lies Chiavenna in northern Italy, a small town with a big position in running culture. With its oxygen-rich air, this is where athletes descend to sharpen up for the races ahead, touching race pace and reaping the benefits of the high life.
Tracksmith - Creator Series - Rhythm of a City
In the heart of New Orleans, a city pulsating with the rhythms of its rich musical heritage and storied past, we had the privilege of meeting with Dawn Richard at the Hotel Peter and Paul. We delved into her illustrious career, Dawn illuminating the vibrant beat of New Orleans with its record of resilience and hard labor, drawing parallels to her own journey.
Church Of The Long Run - Film
"Church of the Long Run" follows nurse practitioner and runner Sam Roecker in real time on her Sunday long run in the foothills of Rollinsville, Colorado. The film is both a celebration and an acknowledgment of the importance of dedicating oneself to the process. It serves as an authentic portrait of a moment in time when the runner is truly engaged in her movement. We get to come along for the ride (run).
Tracksmith - A City's Pulse
Preserving a running routine in the city can pose unique challenges. Yet, with some flexibility and an adventurous spirit, it is feasible to integrate running into a busy metropolitan lifestyle. After all, isn't that one of the universal appeals of the sport? We can take it with us anywhere. A pair of shoes and we are ready to exert and explore.
Tracksmith - A City's Pulse
Preserving a running routine in the city can pose unique challenges. Yet, with some flexibility and an adventurous spirit, it is feasible to integrate running into a busy metropolitan lifestyle. After all, isn't that one of the universal appeals of the sport? We can take it with us anywhere. A pair of shoes and we are ready to exert and explore.
Tracksmith - Run Cannon Ball Run '22
The road trip is a summer institution. We load up the car and head north, south, east or west. For some of us, it’s the same route every time. We’ve perfected the short cuts, memorized the best rest stops and count down beloved markers that signal “We’re getting closer.” Nostalgia rules.
Tracksmith - Smells Like Team Spirit/Fall '22
Time at pre-season training camp takes on a rhythm of its own: eat, run, nap, run, eat, sleep. And again. For six athletes, camp is an opportunity to buck down for fall. Mick Iacofano has his eyes on the New York City Marathon, while Judi Jones is working towards Club Cross Country Nationals with her team Idaho Afoot. Ruben Sança wants to break the Guinness World Record for the stroller mile and then race the Hartford Marathon. Rolanda Bell is aiming for a 5K at the South American Games in Paraguay. Susan Aneno is gearing up to train alongside a talented slate of 800m runners at Stanford. Whatever their goals may be, for one glowing weekend in Maine they've been transported back to the golden days of training camp, where the only goal is to test the limits, together.
Tracksmith - Summer Style Guide
Summer is all about easy-going style. Inspired by the way some of our friends and team members wear Tracksmith when they are not running, we remixed our key summer pieces in unexpected ways and took the looks for a spin around TrackTown, USA.
Tracksmith - No Days Off
As we hopped out of the van at the unceremoniously unmarked beginning of “Mags”, I repeated the quote one last time. The wind hit me square across the jaw. I smiled knowing that there was joy to be found in the work ahead, clarity in hardship to come, and that there was life on the sides of the mountain we chose to put in front of ourselves.
METER - Running Through The Woods
The following training log and corresponding field notes were collected between late November and the end of December 2020.
