On Day 1 of The Running Event, a line snaked around the convention center as people prepared for the door’s opening at 9 a.m. Not as big or famous as Outdoor Retailer, there’s no denying that this running-specific trade show (with a small outdoor crossover section called Switchback) is getting more popular every year and punching above its weight.

People inside the industry are breathlessly remarking on the running boom happening now; but are we confusing boom with trend? All of the run crews, major marathon pop-up shops, collaborations, and special drops have led New Balance’s Andrew McCann, global product manager for performance running and training, to tell me that running has reached “peak hype.”

But through the noise, the Running Event showed why the sport really is a big tent. It had something for every kind of runner — ones that put style first, ones that run in the mountains, ones going for sub-3-hour marathons, and the endless types of runners between.

Austin is a great town, but unfortunately, I experienced very little of it during TRE. Instead of popping out for a BBQ lunch break, I clocked 26 brand meetings over the 2 days.

Some real standouts from Diadora, Arc’teryx, and New Balance are embargoed for the foreseeable future, but from the rest of the gear I saw, here are the Best in Show award winners.

I want to be so bold as to say that running vests have had their moment. No one likes wearing things on their back if they don’t have to, yet so many of us succumb to buying the trail runner’s starter pack when we first get into it: hydration vest, Ciele hat, and, usually, a pair of Hokas.

Not knowing any better, you wear that vest usually to carry just one bottle and your phone. And you probably use less than a quarter of the vest’s carrying capacity.

Now, you can get Raide Research’s new LF 2L running belt and skip ahead into a seasoned and more streamlined mountain runner.

The belt’s “no bounce” design is genius in its simplicity. Where other companies rely on a tight-fitting tube or heavy, uncomfortable external straps, the LF 2L belt hides its minimalist suspension system (a hook and loop) inside the back pocket. You can adjust the tightness of the two ends of the strap easily after slipping the belt over your waist.

That massive rear pocket is big enough for a phone and I’ve even stuck a collapsible dog bowl, treats, and a leash in there with it, too. External loops are great for stowing a jacket. The front pocket is designed for a 650mL soft bottle.

The belt’s fabric looks sort of like Dyneema but is actually a 70d stretch woven material with UHMWPE ripstop, so it will withstand brushes with stone. The anatomical design is built for a variety of body types and comes in XS-XL sizes.

“Everything starts with addressing a problem, not a price point,” Raide founder Kyle Siegel told me. For this reason, the belt ain’t cheap ($149) and costs as much as a lot of the aforementioned running vests. But the construction is hopefully so bombproof that you won’t be replacing it often or ever, and 2 L of storage is adequate for most runners.

Raide Research only has three or four products to its name so far, but the LF 2L belt has caught fire with trail runners. The brand has already officially partnered with Anton Krupicka and track and trail dual threat Anna Gibson.

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Speedland’s founders, Dave Dombrow and Kevin Fallon, earned their stripes at the biggest athletic footwear brands in the world (Nike, Under Armour). So when disillusionment set in, they set out to do something entirely different with their startup.

The major shoe companies notoriously begin product development by defining costs first and then working backward to define performance. Speedland flips this paradigm: start with performance first and then define price. Walking TRE 2024 showed that it is now the norm, but Speedland’s debut shoe in 2021 (SL:PDX) came with the gut-punching price of $375.

During our clandestine meeting at TRE (Speedland wasn’t even officially exhibiting), Dombrow pulled out several shoes from a duffel bag, one of them being the RX:FPY ($299). This visually stunning shoe also marks Speedland’s first for the road. The BOA fit wrap system that is a Speedland staple on previous trail models shows up here and becomes the first of its kind in a road shoe.

Like any super shoe worth its salt, the RX:FPY uses a super-critical foam. But this one isn’t compressed. It is essentially taken from the mold and buffed into shape, instead of being recompressed or rearticulated. This helps the shoe retain all of the performance benefits that other brands’ midsole foams lose through processing. It also results in a stunning white/gray aesthetic.

As a response to its trail runners asking, Speedland created the RX:FPY knowing that not every run (even for trail runners) happens on dirt. This obvious request has led to perhaps Speedland’s most distinct-looking shoe to date.

True to form, Speedland will keep production of the shoe small, practically made to order. More details from the company on how to order it should follow in February 2025. 

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“Downhill” is its own category in mountain bikes. Cyclists of all types talk about the descending qualities of their road bike, XC bike, and more, but it’s less commonly discussed as a standout characteristic of a running shoe.

“Ground feel” is a descriptor that sometimes gets thrown around, particularly when a trail shoe is meant to be technical and quick (think La Sportiva Bushido or Salomon S/Lab Pulsar), but it’s never the standout feature.

This is why, in addition to its incredibly loud styling (a pair of mismatched color shoes!), X-Bionic’s Terraskin X00/C ($300) is so unique: it’s a shoe being marketed for the ultimate downhill experience.

The shoe carries the most up-to-date tech like a carbon plate, a thick EVA midsole, and a seamless tongue-free upper.

A longtime technical base layer and apparel brand, X-Bionic included specially designed socks with the Terraskin X00/C; this “system” design between sock and shoe increases the runner’s efficiency while descending.

X-Bionic says the unstable “give” that a runner feels on descents is because most shoes’ uppers and outsoles are created separately. The Terraskin X00/C’s “SpeedFrame” unites the upper and outsole with a special wrapping construction. This is what founder Max Lenk told me is responsible for the “off the brakes” sensation that the shoe gives the runner.

In lab testing in Verona, Italy, the TerraSkin X00/C showed up to 27% more surface contact than major competitors on technical terrain. Showing up with an all-new promise in running footwear is bold; X-Bionic seems to have a formula for finally making the downhills the sweet reward for all of the uphill suffering we endure.

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