Month: January 2019

High-profile athletes join star-studded team for 2019

HOKA athlete Marie Perrier crosses the line with the flag of Mauritius

Host of high-profile athletes sign on the dotted line to join star-studded HOKA team for 2019. 

Leading triathletes David McNamee and Susie Cheetham (UK), Anja Ippach (Beranek) and Nils Frommhold (Germany), and Denis Chevrot (France) have joined the team for the year ahead, while the acquisition of French trail-running stars Audrey Tanguy amd Marie Perrier adds further strength to our trail roster.

Download the full list of 2019 HOKA ONE ONE EMEA athletes

Our European athletes delivered the best-ever year for HOKA ONE ONE in 2018, with 106 victories and 183 podium finishes across road, trail and triathlon. With more strength and depth added across all disciplines, it promises to be another boundary-breaking year.

Triathlon

More than 39 international and national-class athletes now make up our impressive team of triathletes for 2019.

Rejoining the triathlon stable this year are UK talents Emma Pallant (pictured below ©James Mitchell) and Joe Skipper, German sensation Boris Stein (pictured bottom of the page ©Peignée Verticale), leading French athletes Manon Genet, Charlotte Morel and Cyril Viennot, popular Swede Patrik Nilsson, Italian Alessandro Degasperi and Spanish athletes Saleta Castro, Enneko Llanos and Emilio Aguayo.

HOKA athlete Emma Pallant crosses the line at 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 Barcelona

Teaming up with HOKA from January 2019 is IRONMAN UK champion and two-time IM World Championships bronze medalist, David McNamee.

“It’s been incredible to feel my legs fresher than usual after hard workouts.  This, with the brand’s desire to continually improve, has me looking forward to the years ahead.” David McNamee

The 30-year-old from Scotland, who also finished second at the IM 70.3 Barcelona last year, has run sub 2:50h marathons in all four of his Kona appearances and clocked the third-fastest time (8:01:09) in Kona history in 2018.

“I’m really excited to start my partnership with HOKA,” says David (pictured below ©James Mitchell).

“Having tested the shoes over the past months, it’s been incredible to feel my legs fresher than usual after hard workouts.  This, with the brand’s desire to continually improve, has me looking forward to the years ahead.”

HOKA athlete David McNamee in the pool

Fellow Briton Susie Cheetham is another marquee signing who brings a wealth of talent and experience.

“Several of my heroes have had some of the best ever IRONMAN run performances wearing HOKA, and I’m incredibly excited to play my small part in such a superstar team.” Susie Cheetham

Susie has competed at the last four IM World Championships and has six podium finishes at various IM events to her name. She has no fewer than five victories over IM 70.3 distance and has recorded an IM marathon time of 3:00:47.

HOKA athlete Susie Cheetham profile picture

“Having trained in HOKA ONE ONE for some time now, I really love how my body has responded to the shoe,” explained Susie.

“Several of my heroes have had some of the best ever IRONMAN run performances wearing HOKA, and I’m incredibly excited to play my small part in such a superstar team.”

Breaking boundaries

Two high-profile German triathletes are partnering with us for the first time. Former IM 70.3 European champion, Anja Ippach, boasts five IM event wins and a fourth-place finish at Kona, and has made HOKA her footwear choice this year.

HOKA athlete Anja Ippach

“HOKA stands for innovative shoes and we share the same mindset of daring to push boundaries,” says Anja (pictured above ©Martin Rehm). “It’s great to have a shoe partner who believes in me and who helps me to run faster, further and longer. It’s very much ‘Time to Fly’.”

Joining his compatriot within the HOKA ranks is Nils Frommhold. The 32-year-old has five IM wins to his name, as well as a top-six finish at Kona.

“It’s great to have a shoe partner who believes in me and who helps me to run faster, further and longer. It’s very much ‘Time to Fly’.” Anja Ippach

Another established triathlete that will run with HOKA for the first time this year is Frenchman Denis Chevrot. Denis has competed in the last four IM World Championships and has racked up an impressive nine podium finishes over IM 70.3 distance.

“I’m really happy to join a young and creative brand which is always innovating to improve its products and the performance of its athletes,” says Denis. “I am sure it will help me to run at the next level and my global results will be better. I am proud to join the HOKA family”.

Trail

In 2019, there will be more than 24 European athletes representing HOKA across national and international trail events.

The team includes existing HOKA athlete Amandine Ferrato. Amandine (pictured below ©Peignée Verticale) will be joined by exciting new additions Audrey Tanguy and Marie Perrier. Between them, they make up the top-three female trail runners in France.

HOKA athlete Amandine Ferrato in action at the 2018 Trail World Championships

Audrey rose to prominence after winning the TDS race at last year’s UTMB.

“I’m so excited to become a new member of HOKA’s family in 2019,” says Audrey. “For me, HOKA is one of the most important brands in trail running. First for research and technological advancement in trail running shoes, and secondly for all the famous athletes inside the team. I’m sure that we’ll live great adventures together in the future – in France, Europe and the United States.”

“For me, HOKA is one of the most important brands in trail running. First for research and technological advancement in trail running shoes, and secondly for all the famous athletes inside the team.” Audrey Tanguy

Former UTMB winner Ludovic Pommeret, two-time Grand Raid de la Réunion champions Julien Chorier and Andrea Huser, and Germany’s Ildiko Wermescher are also on the world-class team.

Another key new addition to our team of trail athletes is Harry Jones. The Welshman, who boasts 48,000 YouTube subscribers, has won numerous ultra-trail races across the world, including The North Face 100 in Thailand and the TransLantau 100 in Hong Kong.

HOKA athlete Boris Stein on a training run in Mallorca

Road

Split across half marathon, marathon, cross country and track disciplines, our road team will consist of 13 athletes in 2019.

The team, headlined by international marathoner Benjamin Malaty from France and German marathon champion Frank Schauer, also includes Tokyo 2020 hopeful Thea Heim (Germany) and a breadth of established UK road runners.

Download the full list of 2019 HOKA ONE ONE EMEA athletes

Photo credits: James Mitchell, PEIGNÉE VERTICALE, Jacky Everaerdt (Activ’Images) and Martin Rehm

Marathon man training in the home of champions

HOKA athlete Frank Schauer training on the trails in Kenya

German international and HOKA elite athlete, Frank Schauer, has been training at high altitude in Iten, Kenya in preparation for a spring marathon. Find out what training Frank has been up to over the last few weeks, what it’s like to train at altitude and why it is such an inspiring environment.

It’s the third time that I’ve been to Iten, Kenya as part of my marathon preparation. Iten is the stronghold of running. You see hundreds of Kenyans as well as athletes from all over the world training here every day. Among them are Olympic medallists, world champions and national record holders. It’s a very inspiring environment.

HOKA athlete Frank Schauer trains on the track in Kenya

I choose to come to Iten as it is at high altitude, around 2,400m above sea level. It’s a great place to build the aerobic base for the marathon. There are not many places in the world where you can train at this altitude. It’s also very tough terrain but the environment is varied. It’s hilly and is filled with difficult trails. Back home in Magdeburg, Germany, I run a lot of my kilometres on the streets and the only climbs are bridges!

HOKA athlete Frank Schauer trains with teammates in Kenya

I’m in Kenya with some of the best marathon runners from Germany and sometimes we train with marathon runners from Switzerland too. My day starts at 6:00am. Usually, we start training around 7:00am, depending on which workout is planned. We train for around two hours, then at 10am, I have some breakfast and afterwards take a nap. Lunchtime is around 12:30pm. I then go to get a massage before training starts again at 4:30pm. At 7:00pm, we’ll have dinner at the hotel restaurant before having a chat and playing some cards. I tend to go to bed around 10:00pm.

HOKA athlete Frank schauer with his training group in Kenya

I’m doing a lot of ground work in Kenya, running between 200-230km every week. There haven’t been any special workouts, although tomorrow morning I will go on the track to do intervals. The workout is: 8x1000m (faster) alternating with 7x1000m (slightly easier). I’ll aim to run the faster ones at 3.15/km and the slower, recovery ones between 3.50-4.00/km. Last week I did it in 3:18s and 4:05s. Now I have to go a bit faster.

HOKA athlete Frank Schauer trains on the roads following a car

It’s tough to do the quality workouts on a dirt track. The ground isn’t even and it has stones and potholes. You have to concentrate on how you set your foot the whole time, and get more tired because of it. I have never felt very good while training at such high altitude. But I know that I am getting some good work done – and usually it has paid off in the end.

The view in Kenya

In my downtime here, I don’t do much besides sleeping. Training is hard and there is not too much to do. Sometimes I just enjoy the view. It’s good to concentrate, but sometimes it can get a bit boring. Some athletes have problems with their stomach because of the different food and lower hygiene standards than we’re used to in Europe. If you are in Europe, you can’t believe how good it is for us and how fortunate we are in comparison.

Dinner time HOKA athlete Frank Schauer

The kids are so inspiring in Kenya. They come running with you if you pass them and they are happy. Every kid asks “how are you?”. It is a bit annoying after a while, but also adorable. Even if you run past their home, the children run to the fence and ask you. I think that must be the first sentence they learn in English at school. Sometimes they also just call us “Mzungo”, which means “white men”. Truly, Kenya is another world.

Photo credits: Frank Schauer