Wild & wet race day + new drops 👀

Hey guys,

I know I sound like a broken record...

But it's been a helluva week.

Seriously. Chaos. Mayhem.

It started just over a week ago when we revealed the limited releasy Navy Blue R700. And what a reception it was.

There was so much interest our waiting list sign up form when into melt down 😅

Navy Blue dropped on Friday morning, with more than 50% of the entire stock gone in the first hour!

There's no rest for the wicked.

A few hours later I checked our gear, packed up the car, and hit the road en route to the Inverloch Running Festival for the weekend.

This was an event we've been looking forward to for a while. It became a bit of a family affair, with a few making the trip down to hang out and run.

We arrived Friday afternoon, found the spot and started setting everything up (as you can see in the feature photo).

It's always really nice to be setup the day before an event, it takes the stress out of getting up at outrageous hours, setting up in the dark and sweating while you see runners arrive early in the distance - often with head torches on!

But, it also adds an extra layer of effort. Extra day away from home and routine.

The next morning we cruised around Inverloch, it's a beautiful part of the world. It's a tight-knit community, and it's incredible to see it come alive.

I will give a shoutout to Sam from Adventure South.

In the Summer my family all went down to Inverloch for a few days. Sam, a legend who was wearing her R700 Vest on a morning run was stopped by none other than my Dad 😅

He doesn't need much of an opportunity, so he stopped to ask about the vest, how she was liking it and that of course, Runly was his son's brand. How embarassing.

Turns out Sam is the owner of Adventure South, a local business selling and hiring adventure equipment.

Such is the nature of country events & country hopsitality, Sam was also activating at the Inverloch Running Festival and decided not to bring the hydration vests from another brand that she stocks in her business, for us.

How kind!

I think the more independent Australian businesses and brands can support each other, the stronger we all become together.

In some ways we are competitors, but it's important we lift each other up.

And that's something I have found activating at many, many races. Indepdendent Australian brands, and their founders, are almost always keen to help others.

I've had some incredible conversations at races with other Australian-owned brand founders, always willing to help, willing to share insights and just be good people.

Now, back to Inverloch.

Saturday, which was mostly a bib-pick up day, with a couple of shorter twilight races, went well.

It was warm, muggy and a long day to be on the feet. But the event organisers did an incredible job at creating an atmosphere with a live band and race commentary.

We topped off the day by closing up and running straight to the water for a dip. Bliss.

I woke up around 2am to the sound of heavy rain. My mind is already racing (excuse the pun).

I was worried about the marquee, will it still be standing when we get there in a few hours? Are our displays okay?

A couple hours passed and my alarm went off.

It was still raining. 

We drove down to the site, still raining.

Setup with our electric lamp and head torches, only to need to pull everything back into the marquee because it was so, so wet.

Unfortunately, it didn't give.

It pretty much rained the entire day.

Despite feeding off the energy from the runners as much as we could, it was a pretty rough day for us.

Wet, tired, sore & not as many conversations as we'd like. We actually had to throw out our display because the weather had got the better of it.

I really felt for the organisers for what was such a well-run event - but you can't control the weather!

It did give me a bit of a realisation, however.

Having done three events in four weeks, it is becoming a little unsustainable for me to be personally getting to every event. The setup, on the feet all day, accommodation, setup, pack down and logistics.

It took me almost four days to dry out all our gear!

I hate to use the 'B' word, but I was pretty burnt out.

So I think going forward I'm going to need more help. 

We've got a bit of time now between our next event, with Ballarat Mara next up in around a month. That will be some festival and I can't wait.

Oh. Before I forget.

We just dropped three new sock styles on the website! Check them out here.

Run well,
Robbie