Swedish-based CRAFT Sportswear has expanded its relationship with Spartan. It has added its designation as ‘official performance apparel & footwear’ obstacle course racing (OCR) partner to the Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder event series.
In multi-year deals, CRAFT has also been named as a sponsor of the Golden Gate Trail Classic. The partnership will see CRAFT collaborating with Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder to… ‘develop co-branded merchandise for competition and training, along with on-site branding and activations.’
Spartan and CRAFT first established a partnership in 2018.
“CRAFT has been an outstanding partner for the last four years – paramount to our growth as the world’s leading endurance sports brand,” said Spartan Founder and CEO Joe De Sena.
“We’re excited to double down on that growth with CRAFT, expanding our partnership to other portfolio brands of Spartan, including Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder – as we collaborate and bring innovative performance footwear and apparel to the market.”
As part of the partnership, Spartan and CRAFT recently released the carbon-infused Spartan x Craft Nordic Speed Shoe for the trail running community. The companies plan to follow up with a line of trail-running specific apparel.
CRAFT will have on-site branding at Spartan Trail events and the Golden Gate Trail Classic, which Spartan Trail is hosting in partnership with Pacific Coast Trail Runs and ultrarunning legend Dean Karnazes on November 19-21.
Launched in 2019, Spartan Trail produces traditional trail running races across the globe from 5k to 50k+ distances.
CRAFT has grown its presence among the running and trail running communities in recent years, highlighted by the launch of its Elite Run Team, a global roster of elite trail and ultra-runners. The brand also continues to raise money through its Team Rivs collection, supporting accomplished ultra-runner/elite run team member Tommy Rivs, who received a cancer diagnosis in early 2020.
The partnership with Tough Mudder will see CRAFT dive deeper into the sport, creating a new OCR shoe. According to Tough Mudder owner Spartan, this is ‘designed to meet the grit and elements of the brand’s signature muddy event courses – along with a line of performance apparel to be launched later this year.’
CRAFT will also receive on-site signage at Tough Mudder events.
“CRAFT is dedicated to designing high quality performance sportswear for endurance athletes of all levels – which encompasses the Spartan ecosystem,” said Eric Schenker, CEO of CRAFT Sportswear North America.
“We’ve had such an incredible response from Spartan’s OCR community over the course of our partnership that it’s only natural our collective growth would lead to more opportunity. We’re excited to add Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder to our curated list of partners – and look forward to expanding our innovative sportswear for the brands’ passionate endurance communities.”
All Spartan x CRAFT footwear and apparel is developed at the company’s sports science laboratory in Sweden.
The two new Spartan portfolio partnerships add to CRAFT’s growing relationships across the endurance sports landscape, which include a recent agreement to outfit the Norwegian Ski Federation. CRAFT apparel was worn by Team USA Olympians Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall when they took home the gold in cross country skiing during the 2018 Winter Games and the brand sponsors several other elite athletes and professional teams across the globe in obstacle course racing, cross country skiing, cycling, triathlon, soccer and running.
www.spartan.com
www.toughmudder.com
www.craftsports.us
