A new city. A bigger footprint. More than 350 brands.
As it gears up for its next edition, set for Dec. 2–4 in San Antonio, Texas, The Running Event will be bigger than ever.
Total floor space will measure 100,000 square feet, up from the 81,000 previously announced, and 360 brands have been locked in, including eight platinum sponsors. Roughly 300 of those will exhibit in the TRE section, with another 60 in the Switchback territory, which is tailored to the outdoor market and debuted its first standalone trade show over the summer.
Retail attendance for TRE is trending 10 percent higher than in 2024, with reps from 49 states and retailers and attendees from 18 countries locked in. And the exhibition hall hours have been extended as well, adding 30 minutes of additional time on both days.
Christina Henderson, the director of TRE since 2019, said that after the show bounced back from the pandemic, it has grown by roughly 20 percent each year since 2022. And it aims to continue that winning streak, even in a new location.
“We’re not trying to change TRE to be different than it has been. It has its same purpose in serving the run specialty industry, bringing people together in a meaningful way,” Henderson told FN on a call in early October. “People grew accustomed to being in Austin, and they had the things that they did every day. I think it’s really fun that we get to do new things, we get to create new traditions.”
While earnings reports from most athletic brands confirm the running category continues to grow, patterns for specialty run retailers have been much harder to define. Sales were flat for the first half of 2025, according to the Running Industry Alliance. A later report from Karnan Associates estimated sales rose 5 percent year-over-year through the end of August, with the caveat of sharper month-to-month swings when compared to 2024.
TRE director Christina Henderson
Henderson said TRE is an opportunity for retailers to strengthen each other. “Everyone isn’t doing everything perfectly, but many stores are doing things right,” she said. “A store in Brooklyn isn’t competing with the store in Washington, so they share best practices. As an industry, we want running to be stronger, so they are willing to share and lean on each other for ideas and support.”
Such opportunities will come formally through a three-day slate of education programming with the theme “Better Together: Uniting the Running Industry,” and informally during early morning runs, yoga and parties at the end of each day. Henderson said the new location could drive even more such connections, as the event center sits on the River Walk, within walking distance of each of the hotels.
Beyond conversations about getting a growing audience into running stores, Henderson also foresees there being active discussions on how to ensure interest in the sport remains high. She doesn’t like to use the phrase “running is having a moment” because of the insinuation that the moment will end, but she acknowledges compound growth can’t last forever. A sustainable middle ground will have to be found, which requires understanding why people are running and how to keep them at it.
For TRE as well, growing responsibly will also be key. “I want to take a step back and say, ‘OK, we have more people here. How are we going to connect them meaningfully? How are we going to bring them together? Because if we just keep bringing in more people, but you’re not connecting them, TRE isn’t accomplishing what we’ve set up for,” Henderson said.
As for TRE’s future, the Austin Convention Center isn’t expected to reopen until 2029 as it undergoes expansion, so the trade show may be set up for a stay in San Antonio for the near future.
