CRAFT Sportswear Expands Endurance Sports Footprint, Partnering with Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder

June 8, 2021

Swedish Performance Apparel and Footwear Brand Deepens Connection with Spartan Community; New Olympic-Caliber Trail Running and OCR Apparel and Footwear Coming Soon

BOSTON, Mass. (June 8, 2021) – Swedish-based CRAFT Sportswear has expanded its relationship with endurance sports leader Spartan by adding its designation of  official “performance apparel and footwear” partner of the brand’s Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) entity to Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder. The multi-year deals also name CRAFT as a sponsor of the Golden Gate Trail Classic and 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 and 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 and plan to follow up with a line of trail-running specific apparel. CRAFT will also 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 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.

As the first brand to create Olympic-caliber OCR-specific apparel and footwear – first with the popular “Spartan x Craft RD Pro,” the partnership with Tough Mudder will see CRAFT dive deeper into the sport, creating a new OCR shoe 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 events. Acquired by Spartan in 2020, Tough Mudder creates teamwork-based challenge events and digital fitness experiences.

“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 – rigorously tested and designed to face elements that require full functional movement and varying temperatures (extreme at times). CRAFT’s team of designers and technicians pay strict attention to detail, with every stitch and seam meticulously placed to address the ergonomic and thermal needs of athletes.

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 – seeing the world’s most successful national cross-country ski team race and train in CRAFT apparel. 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.

ABOUT CRAFT SPORTSWEAR

CRAFT Sportswear is a Swedish brand specializing in clothing and footwear for endurance sports where performance and comfort are crucial for a good result. With a passion for sports and a commitment to innovation, design and performance, CRAFT Sportswear offers tools for sport achievements that inspire and enable athletic progress for world champions and everyday heroes. For more information, please visit www.craftsports.us

ABOUT SPARTAN TRAIL

Spartan Trail is a zero-obstacle trail race with distances of 10k, 10k Night Run, Half Marathon and 50k. Our races are held in some of the most picturesque, natural environments around the US and the world. Choose your goal, begin your Road to Ultra or continue your journey through the trail running world with Spartan Trail and the Spartan Trail World Championship.

ABOUT TOUGH MUDDER

Founded in 2010 with the launch of the Tough Mudder obstacle course event series, Tough Mudder is a leading global sports and active lifestyle brand. With more than 6 million participants, the company hosts more than 130 challenges (Tough Mudder Kids, Tough Mudder 5K and Tough Mudder Classic) and endurance (Tougher Mudder, Toughest Mudder and World’s Toughest Mudder) events annually in 19 countries. The company’s content studio provides millions of engaged online brand enthusiasts with wellness, nutrition and inspiring content delivered daily across social and digital platforms. Tough Mudder’s brand of teamwork-based challenge events and digital fitness experiences are unique in the endurance and obstacle course industries, and over 500,000 new participants are welcomed to the global Tough Mudder community every year. For more information visit www.toughmudder.com.

ABOUT SPARTAN

Spartan is a global experiential sport and wellness brand with a 10 million+ strong community. We create transformational experiences, products, and content to help people, companies and teams tear down boundaries and expand what they believe to be possible. Spartan combines large scale global events with a vibrant digital content and community platform. With 250 events across more than 40 countries on six continents, Spartan is the world’s leading extreme wellness and endurance brand. Visit spartan.com for more information and registration.

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