Nike Launches ‘All Conditions Racing Department’

Bryon Powell has the story here for iRunFar:

Hinted at on the ground during the 2025 Western States 100 but now official in the lead-up to this week’s UTMB, the Nike Trail Team is now called the 22-member All Conditions Racing Department. More broadly, it signals what appears to be Nike’s trail running products merging into the brand’s existing All Conditions Gear (ACG) sub-brand. If we recall correctly, while ACG included Nike’s true trail offerings back in the 1990s, in more recent years, ACG has appeared to be a fashion-first label in the “gorpcore” world.

A couple of thoughts from me on this:

• I’m glad Nike is taking another stab into making an effort in the trail space. It’ll be fascinating to follow and see how serious they are this time around.
• Some of their marketing is clearly “Satisfy-inspired”. This seems to be the way brands that can’t lean into their own outdoor heritage are positioning themselves in the market. A bit more punk and edgy (read: strike-through text and photos that got the photocopier treatment – very David Carson!) than focused on classic adventure spirit.
• Orange. Maybe we find a new color that can show the world that an urban brand wants to enter the outdoor space. Everyone is doing orange. And I love orange, so I should not mind it, but man it’s overdone. Find a new color, folks.

Where does all this go?

It will be fascinating to follow, for sure. But will this turn into more than just a seasonal “capsule” of products and a short term promotional effort to match? Will Nike invest more into the sport than just sponsoring a few athletes and leaching off of big events through ambush marketing to gain traction?