KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — Mohd Zulfakri Jolkeppli doesn’t exactly have the conventional long distance runner’s physique.
In fact, he considers himself overweight.
Yet Zulkafri, who goes by the moniker @atanholiday on Instagram, is one of many plus-size runners now getting sponsorships from sportswear brands, something that would have been odd just a few years ago.
Zulfakri, who runs up to ultra distances like 50km races, is a pacer for Adidas.
“Honestly it’s something that I didn’t expect. I just tried my luck and applied (when they needed pacers) for a running event. In the form I told them I want to be an Adidas runner because I want to be famous,” he told Malay Mail.
“It was actually said in jest. But somehow they said yes. I was stoked,” the runner added.
The move was obviously calculated on Adidas’ part.
The rationale is quite simple: make running inclusive and more people will take up the sport, and ultimately buy their products.
Zulfakri’s contract with the German sportswear giants required him to use all means necessary to promote the brand’s running gears, and his biggest selling point is his physique itself.
Being a sponsored plus-size runner helps dismantle the longstanding myth that only fit people can run or race.
“Under the contract I have a KPI to meet. I have to promote their products but how I do it is up to my personal method. For me I tend to join running sessions with different running groups as much as possible, so that’s where I’ll do the promoting,” he said.
“It doesn’t really take that much effort. How I do it is just by running with this group using, say, Adidas’ latest shoes and strike up conversations about them. Beginner runners usually would come up and ask about them, so that’s how I tell them what the shoes are for, and why you should get them.”
The weekend catwalk
Running has become a massive business.
In 2024, the running shoe market in Asia is expected to generate US$5.5 billion (RM25 billion at current rate) in revenue, with a projected annual growth rate of 1.42 per cent from 2024-2029, according to several market analysis reports.
In South-east Asia, the athletic footwear market alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.40 per cent from 2024 to 2032, the same reports said.
The Covid-19 pandemic was likely one of the crucial drivers pushing up demand, as more people feel the need to stay healthy.
For many, what better way to do that than to start running, considered to be the most accessible sport because anyone can just lace up and go for a jog.
But in an age when broadcasting personal life on social media is the norm, running has become more than just sport — it’s turned into a kind of athletic catwalk where people try to impress or “one-up” each other, and one the ways to do that is by showing up in the most latest and expensive running shoes.
This is likely among the reasons why social running groups are mushrooming around the Klang Valley, with each district more than likely to have one or two of its own running communities.
Unlike performance-based groups, where the ultimate flex is pace and finish times at races, social groups are more about, well, socialising and this laid back approach to running is what makes these social groups appealing because there is no pressure to perform at a higher level.
“There are definitely more people running and running social clubs today,” said Khairul Azwan, a long-distance runner sponsored by Puma, a coach and a member of the elite running club The Running Saga.
“And I think yes these groups, using social media, do in a way make running seem cool. People join because they like being a part of a group, and there’s some element of competition (in the social sense),” he added.
“There is this joke among runners: when someone asks you to show up in your most expensive clothes, runners would usually turn up in their running clothes. So you get the idea. Groups and weekend events are when they get to show off a little of what they have.”
It’s about the price tag
Sportswear brands have been cashing in on this need to impress.
Four years ago, the average intermediate runner would have at most a two-shoe rotation, one for daily running and another for racing, with the latter being the most expensive.
Today’s beginner runner, however, could spend thousands of ringgit a year on running shoes alone just so they could fit in.
That doesn’t include items like GPS-watches, sunglasses and other apparels, which could fetch a few hundred each.
“Then I used to scout for the cheapest shoes at outlets. I’d spend a bit more on my racing shoes,” Zulfakri said.
“Runners now buy because of hype and what’s trendy instead of based on the purpose of the shoes, so they can spend up to a thousand ringgit on, say, racing shoes to do daily runs when they can actually spend less on shoes that are meant for daily runs.”
Ultimately this means good news for shareholders.
Asics, the Japanese sportswear giant that had built its name from producing running gears, for example, reported a 33 per cent increase in revenue (¥1.8 billion) for its Malaysian market.
Statista projected that revenue from running shoes alone could reach more than RM100 million by this year and a yearly growth rate of 0.24 per cent.
