We often get asked in-store “who is the best running brand?” or “who is your favourite brand?”, and of course we can give our personal opinions, but these should never be taken as gospel.
Every brand in the running and fitness industry has it’s own strengths and weaknesses; so the answer is there is no “best” brand, but moreover it’s a case of what product suits you best.
You may find a certain brand suits you for running shoes, but another brand will make better technical running clothing and maybe another will be better for running accessories; that’s fine.
Just remember, try to stay open minded, if you didn’t get on with a certain running shoe, then rather than condemn that brand forever, try to consider that it was probably just that particular model that wasn’t right. In the same light if a certain shoe fell apart or wore down much quicker than usual, don’t blame the brand; blame the shoe!
For everyone that is interested in the individual brands, we are going to write a series of blogs, introducing each of the top running brands from their own point of view.
So here we go! Starting with Brooks, this is what they had to say about themselves when we posed the simple question “tell me what if different about your brand over all the others?”:
“Founded in 1914, Brooks Sports celebrates the 100 year anniversary in 2014. During those 100 years we’ve been driven to deliver the best running experience on the planet, striving to create the perfect ride for every stride.
Brooks are focused on improving the complex interaction between the runner and the shoe by widening our understanding of runner biomechanics. For the past 4 years we have worked with Prof. Dr. Gert-Peter Bruggemann and Prof. Dr. Joseph Hamill, two of the world’s leading running biomechanics researchers Through prospective research studies on hundreds of runners and work with our key speciality retail partners, Brooks has been led to an exciting new breakthrough that will take us into the next era of how we assess runners and design footwear.
As a leading running company that designs and markets high-performance men’s and women’s running shoes, apparel and accessories in more than 40 countries worldwide, we are dedicated to inspiring people to run and be active by creating innovative gear that keeps them running longer, farther, faster and most importantly happier.
9 Principles sum up exactly what Brooks is all about:
- We do one thing and we do it better than anyone on the planet – Run Happy. Behind every employee, every idea, and every lace and stitch of our gear is a razor sharp focus on runners and the running experience.
- The answer is the run. We believe in the transformative power of the run; it can turn a day – or a life – completely around.
- We make essential gear for runners not consumers. Every design and engineering choice we make has a purpose. Our goal is to make the run better, safer and more fun.
- We relate to our audience Runner to Runner. Our audiences aren’t segments to exploit, they’re our running buddies, runners we pass on the path, and runners we stand with at starting lines who share our values.
- It’s about WE. Everything we do, we do together. We work hard, play hard, celebrate, struggle, persevere, learn, achieve more as a team. It’s a lot more fun that way.
- When we celebrate the run, good things happen. Run Happy reminds us – and runners everywhere – why we fell in love with lacing up our shoes in the first place
- In all things, we seek the right balance of art and science. We start every product with biomechanical research and end with beautiful design. To make it Brooks we always liberally apply a dose of runner insight and a sprinkle of Run Happy.
- Big success is determined by the smallest of details. We deliver the expected: orders on time, product performance, and great customer service. We also bring the unexpected, or the little things.
- At the end of the day, we will succeed based on our culture. Every day, our company values guide what we do and how we do it: Serve people, Lead thought, Play as a team, Compete every day, Have integrity, Have fun, Be active.”
So that’s Brooks, keep checking our blog for the next brand in the series and if you are interested in Brooks Running shoes or kit click on the “Run Happy” logo above.