adidas Explores Definitions of Fast Through a Selection of Very Different Runners

‘Fast is not just about speed. It’s personal.’

Everyone has their own reasons for running. And the word ‘fast’ can mean something different to each and every runner. Fast is personal: one runner’s ‘fast’ might be very different from the next runner’s idea of fast.

This rich territory is explored in adidas’s latest blockbuster global running campaign titled ‘Faster Than_’. The global marketing push has been created by Amsterdam’s TBWA\NEBOKO and the initiative covers mainstream media, digital, social, product branding and in-store activations. The campaign is led by a hero film that brings the concept together by reframing the idea of fast, starring a unique mix of characters, each with their own take on running – and on what fast means to them.

Among the featured runners are Martinus Evans, a 300lb distance runner who turned his doctor’s negative body comments and laughter into a motivational tool; Noah Lyles, the current Men’s 200-meter World Champion; emergency liver transplant survivor turned World Champion runner Ellie Lacey; and marathon legend Kathrine Switzer, who famously became the first female numbered entrant to the Boston Marathon in 1967 and was controversially pushed off the course by male runners but battled on and finished the race.

Watch the hero film here:

Watch Martinus Evans’s film here:

Watch Ellie Lacey’s film here:

“Fast means something different for everyone. But you’ll never be fast – by your definition or anybody else’s - if you never get out there and run.” - Martinus Evans 

The wider campaign is informed by research insights. As part of the Why We Run study adidas looked into running communities around the world to better understand what moves people to run. The study found that it's no longer simply about being the fastest, instead, runners have become more focused on the other benefits of running, with 87% of those surveyed sharing they now run with the aim of personal betterment.