“We’ve become a brand ourselves. Not because we decided to. Because it’s a natural evolution of the road we’ve been running on. That’s what makes this next step meaningful.“
Growth isn’t clean. Running isn’t clean. And neither are we.
For more than 50 years, Marathon Sports was built one connection at a time.
Moments where we get it right for someone and they feel it immediately. A second try that turns into the right shoe. A deeper question that leads to a better answer. A customer who walks in unsure and walks out confident. Through all those runs, all those conversations, all those moments where we got it right, we’ve become something more.
For a long time, we were a company that sold great brands. We relied on their stories, their logos, their identities to help tell the story on our walls and on our shelves. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Those partnerships helped build who we are.
But we’ve become a brand ourselves. Not because we decided to. Because it’s a natural evolution of the road we’ve been running on. That’s what makes this next step meaningful.
“We’re a brand with heritage. Not a heritage brand.”
We weren’t trying to create a brandmark for the sake of having a visual element or looking different, but admittedly, we’ve outgrown the good ole clip art collage that has held us steady since the 1990s.
Do we pay homage to the runner’s silhouette, or do we want something more abstract, interpretive, with forward momentum?
“We wanted an identity that respects that history, but also looks and feels ready for contemporary run culture. That is a delicate balance. We selected Upstatement, local design agency, to guide this process. Their editorial mindset, blending disruptive design and storytelling, captured Marathon Sports’ identity and pushed us further than what felt familiar.” – Ben Cooke, president of Marathon Sports.
Upstatement must have drawn over a hundred running figures, a million variations of the letter M, and everything between the sky and the ground, including a hedgehog and banana peels.
Through it all, we kept feeling intrigued by a couple dots. A timeclock. Always ticking, moving, no matter the distance you run and where you are. The thing every runner stares at, chases after, swears at, and sometimes pretends not to look at when things aren’t going well.
Those two dots that sit between hours, minutes, and seconds are quiet, but they carry everything; effort, anticipation, hope, frustration, and sometimes utter jubilation when everything goes just right. Connect those dots, and you get a piece of our new mark.
Look closer and you’ll also see a runner breaking the tape, arms raised in that split-second mix of exhaustion, relief, and disbelief. It’s the moment every runner understands whether you’re winning a race or just winning a personal battle on that day.
These two symbols; the four dots and the upraised arms are universal among all forms of running. They are road, trail, track and treadmill and they are the essence of our sport.
To tie it all together, we chose two fonts to represent our history and our forward legacy. ABC Schengen, for clean, workhorse typographic needs, and Material, a heavy serif-font that speaks to our past logos with lots of personality. Pair it with pops of our primary brand color, a bright yellow with great contrast, easily spotted.
It’s about showing up with the same authenticity and authority we’ve earned since we began running New England back in 1975.
We’re introducing a new logo and a new visual identity as part of our evolution as a company. And yes, it will change how we look, but it won’t change who we are. If anything, it brings us closer to it.
It gives us a clearer way to express what has always been true: that we are here to support this community in a real, human, hands-on way, from the moments this community knows by heart.
As we continue to grow—more stores, more events, more ways of showing up—there will be moments that feel a little chaotic. A little messy. A little uncertain. That messiness is a part of it. A big part of it. Because growth isn’t clean. Running isn’t clean. And neither are we.
“I’ve been with Marathon Sports for 29 years – long enough to remember when we had two stores and 12 employees in the entire company. Long enough to see it grow into something much bigger than any of us could have imagined at that time.”
That’s Pat, our VP of Retail Operations, who wouldn’t know exactly how integral he is to the essence of what Marathon Sports represents, but every story he divulges here and there is a testament to the years he has put into the company; and why I needed to ask him for another. This is the perfect ending sentiment about this brand refresh. And no one else could show it better.
[Pat] One of the moments that always sticks with me happened back in 2000.
At the time, I was about three years into working here. Every year, we hosted our Boston Marathon party at the Wellesley store, right on the course at mile 14.7. The whole company would show up, everyone was invested. We’d hand out GU, shout encouragement, and just celebrate one of the greatest marathons in the world running by our front door.
It was loud. It was chaotic. It was emotional. By the end of the day, most of us could barely speak above a whisper having shredded our poor vocal chords cheering on the runners. And honestly, it was awesome.
At some point during the race, a friend who we didn’t know was participating, ran up to the store as we were handing out GU’s to runners passing by. His shoes were tearing his feet up, and you could tell he wasn’t going to make it much further. Whatever combination of things he had on his feet most definitely wasn’t working.
So we did what we’ve always done.
We brought him over to the curb. Sat him down. Pulled off his shoes. Got him into a new pair. New socks. Some Body Glide. The whole thing. And it was hilarious. It was an F1 pitstop done in slow motion.
Then we sent him back out to finish the Boston Marathon. It was a little ridiculous when you step back and think about it, mid-race shoe change, right in the middle of the Boston Marathon.
But it also felt completely natural. Because that’s what we do. We don’t just show up before the run or after the run. We’re in it with people. Sometimes literally in the middle of it. Helping. Guiding. Solving problems. Celebrating the effort. Whether they are friends, customers or complete strangers.
That moment; equal parts hilarious and meaningful has stuck with me ever since. Not because it was unusual, but because it was so perfectly on brand for who we are.
Over the years, we’ve grown.
From 2 stores to 32. And counting. From a small team of 12 to more than 500 people.
And along the way, we’ve done a lot more than selling running shoes and telling stories for great brands. We’ve built communities. We’ve hosted group runs, races, and events of all kinds in every store across the company. We’ve celebrated the High School athlete and created unique track meets for them to showcase their talents and aspirations. We’ve built races and will build more in the months ahead.
We’ve found more and more ways to be a part of the running experience, not just around it.
As long as we stay anchored to the same idea of ‘helping people keep going’ we’ll be exactly where we’re supposed to be.
I still think about that moment from the marathon. Because his situation sums up everything great about our brand. It would have been easy to miss that moment. We were closed. We were doing other things and celebrating our marathon. But in that moment in the middle of that race, we were exactly what he needed.
And that’s always been the point.
As we step into our next chapter, that’s the part that matters most.
Not the logo. Not the colors.
The work.
One run at a time. One shoe at a time. One step at a time.
