Saucony’s Maze relay series drives its biggest marketing push yet

For a little more than a year Saucony – the self-described “original running brand” and division of Wolverine Worldwide – has been holding a special footrace to market some of its running shoes.

One does not sign up or qualify for The Maze, as it’s called. One is invited – from a run club, whether local or remote. And the field is kept small – typically to about 50. The prize – amounting to $1,000 in London – is awarded to a crew, not one runner.

Although group events, like the relay, have long existed, running remains the epitome of cheap, solo sport. It requires less even than the beautiful game. Indeed, there’s a whole branch of running that makes do even without shoes. You rise, you run. Finito.

Saucony is not going that far. It’s in the shoe business, after all. But in marketing its shoes the brand is pulling away from the world of organized footraces, with its defined courses and, in some cases, high-tech tracks.

The Maze is a closed-field interval relay lasting an hour and run by crews of four split into pairs, who rotate their way through bursts of running. Teams are eliminated over the course of the race. Rather than cross a finish-line first, the winning team covers the most distance in the allotted time.

Why call it The Maze? Because the runners learn of the course and the rules either right before the start or at various stages of the race. Crew plans be damned. The Maze tests for adaptability and decisiveness as much as for speed. And Saucony seeks out disorienting venues.

In Paris the brand settled on a multi-storey parking garage, in London on a series of warehouses, with in- and outdoor passages. The most recent edition,in Madrid, had its own in- and outdoor split of a 600-meter loop. Moreover, Saucony clutters the course with corners, changes of surface, tight spaces. It also hires DJs and arranges for light shows. An after-party follows each race.

The shoe tie-in

The first edition of The Maze was announced on Feb. 25, 2025, and coincided with the launch of the Endorphin Elite 2 ($275). It brought together “some of the top running crews from around the world” to compete “within a distinctive arena in Paris.” Even at the time Saucony was planning to hold “similar events globally,” and the brand has made good on its word, holding subsequent editions of The Maze in Seoul, New York City, London and, just this month, Madrid.

The footraces in London and Madrid promoted the Endorphin Azura, a less-expensive shoe ($150), for which Saucony held what Wolverine CEO Chris Hufnagel calls its “biggest launch day ever.” As we’ve just reported, the brand’s sales for FY 2025 were up 31.1 percent year-on-year (30.1% at constant currency), to $533.1 million.

“To capitalize on the momentum we’ve built,” said Hufnagel in the earnings call, “we plan to step up Saucony’s brand-building efforts in 2026, making our largest annual marketing investment ever in the brand. Saucony plans to continue to sponsor key events like the London 10K, the Shoreditch Half Marathon, the Eiffel Tower 10K, and new this year, the Berlin 10K. Coming stateside with the Love Run Philadelphia Half Marathon in March, as well as organize its own events like The Maze, a series of exclusive run club races with recent installments in Seoul, New York City, and London. In addition, the brand anticipates expanding its key city strategy from Tokyo and London into Paris, with continued events and activations and the planned opening of a new pioneer store in Paris later this year.”