Nike Honours Mundane Post-Marathon Pain in ‘Stairs’ Spot

Nike has unveiled ‘Stairs’, a spot celebrating the feeling of post-run pain. The commercial is the fourth in the brand’s ‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable’ campaign rollout for marathon season, juxtaposing the not-so-glamorous struggles of the runner experience with the elation that comes from pushing through.

Directed by MEGAFORCE through Iconoclast with creative from Wieden+Kennedy Portland, ‘Stairs’ highlights the everyday challenges that arise after a long distance run. Tentative steps down the stairs and the slow lowering of oneself onto a chair capture the feeling of sore, burning muscles – painful yet satisfying. Without a single show of running, the spot serves as an inside joke among the running community, its humour elevated by the choice of track: Nazareth’s ‘Love Hurts’.

The spot follows on from the campaign’s three initial instalments also directed by MEGAFORCE – ‘Sunshine’, ‘Morning’, and ‘Joy’. Each placed an irreverent spotlight on the rain, sweat, and fatigue runners mercilessly put themselves through time and time again. The key idea? If you don’t hate running a little, you don’t love running enough.

‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable’ is the second chapter of Nike’s ‘Winning Isn’t for Everyone’ work.