Nathan Edmondson spent the better part of a decade racing bicycles for a UK continental team before running away, as it were, to victory in a marathon. Now he’s founded a brand of running apparel. To judge by its record in the business registry, the brand is at least for now a one-man operation selling directly to consumers.
Edra opened for business on June 29, after 48 hours of early access to its waitlist. The name derives from that of River Aire, which runs through Leeds, where Edmondson lives and trains. The logo is the river’s curve done up in stitches, and it figures on nearly every piece in the initial collection.
The business
Edra Sports Ltd was incorporated on Feb. 13, 2026, four and a half months before launch, with a registered office in Yeadon, on the edge of Leeds. Its SIC codes cover retail of sports goods and retail of clothing only: no wholesale, no manufacturing classification.
Edmondson is the sole director and only registered person with significant control, with a disclosed shareholding of 75 percent or more. (This is the maximum among Companies House’s disclosures, so it could mean 100%.) Edmondson has said that his near-term plan is to build support among Leeds running clubs and races before making any national push – perhaps in 2027.
Edra’s FAQ says only that the company works with “carefully selected specialist manufacturing partners.” International shipping – that is, outside the domestic market of the UK – is limited to “selected” countries, which go unlisted. Edra has no public wholesale relationships, per the business registry, and sells into unspecified export markets.
The collection
The initial collection, called Drop 1, consists of seven pieces split between three sub-lines: Floatlite, for racing; Channel, for training; and Convey, designed with pockets. The signature piece is the Floatlite Half Tight, which pairs Floatlite’s light weight with Convey’s rear and side-leg pockets, in which to carry gels, a phone and keys. Prices run from £15 to £75 (€18 to €88), so as not to price new runners out of the brand.
Edra specifies garment construction down to the seam but omits the sourcing. The fabrics are various combinations of polyester, elastane, nylon and cotton – all common fibers, all available from mills on most continents. No fabric carries a named textile tech, a claim of recycled content or a certification – details that brands purchasing from known technical mills tend to volunteer.
The founder
Born in 1990, Edmondson raced for the UK continental team Node4-Giordana (later Node4/Velosure-Giordana) from about 2008 to 2015, with starts at the Tour of Britain and a top-ten finish at the British National Road Race Championships. In 2020 he completed a solo Everesting at Blakey Bank in North Yorkshire, climbing 9,133 meters over 124km in 8 hours 10 minutes.
Edmondson then made his England debut in mountain running at the 2022 Home International in Alva, Scotland. In 2025 he won the inaugural Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon, in 2:29:14, roughly ten minutes clear of the field. He is the elder brother of Josh Edmondson, also a professional cyclist.
It is rare for a professional cyclist to become a competitive distance runner, and rarer still for him to win. The reason is perhaps that little of cycling’s mechanics carries over to running, however strong a cyclist’s wind might be. The well-documented cases tend to run the other way, from running to cycling – a lowering of impact. Edmondson is already a rarity in sport. We’ll see how he does in business.
