Tim Tollefson celebrated the new year shoveling a lot of snow, dreaming about a summer of possibility, and changing his shoes.
After six years with Hoka, Tollefson, 37, the well-known elite American ultrarunner from Mammoth Lakes, California, signed a new multi-year sponsorship deal with Craft. It might seem like a curious move this time of the year, but, in reality, most athlete sponsorship contracts in running are one-year partnerships that end on December 31. That typically gives brands the upper hand in these situations because they can have an easy out whenever an athlete doesn’t have a great year of results, or they no longer fit with their marketing goals. It always comes down to the money, though sometimes it’s in the athlete’s best interests to start fresh, to leverage their recent results and social media platform to find a better deal with a brand that better fits their racing goals.
Because there are more brands partnering runners than ever before, and presumably more sponsorship money available, top-tier distance runners who are still at the top of their game—like Tim Tollefson, Allie McLaughlin,…
