Skechers Performance™ Celebrates Meb’s Epic Run in New York City
Meb Keflezighi Will Race in Limited Edition Commemorative Skechers GO Meb Razor at Final Competitive Marathon
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Skechers Performance™, a division of SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), unveiled the race kit to be worn by Meb Keflezighi during the final competitive marathon race of his career at the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 5. As tribute to his last course, his racing singlet features a graphic overhead view of the streets of New York City. And Meb will wear a custom-built version of the Skechers GO Meb Razor—the racing shoe developed through his partnership with Skechers Performance where he collaborates with the brand on the development of high performance, technical running product. To celebrate Meb’s final race, a limited edition 36 pairs of his racing shoe will be available for sale at the marathon expo, starting today, November 2.
Skechers Performance Elite Athlete, Meb Keflezighi, will run his final competitive race in New York City. (Photo: Business Wire)
“I couldn’t imagine a better city in which to run my last competitive race,” said Keflezighi. “This is my twenty-sixth marathon and 11th time running New York and it is home to a lot of memories throughout my career. Skechers Performance has also played a huge part of the last several years of my career, so being able to work with them to develop the shoes I will wear for this race is very special to me.”
Since joining Skechers Performance in 2011, Meb set personal records at the 2011 New York Marathon and the 2012 Olympic Trials and took fourth place at the 2012 Olympic Games. He went on to set his current personal record (2:08:37) during his historic win at the 2014 Boston Marathon. Prior to joining Skechers Performance, Keflezighi also won the 2009 New York City Marathon and took home the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Meb is the only athlete in history to win the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and an Olympic Medal. At age 42, Meb also currently holds the U.S. marathon masters record, which was set at the 2015 New York City Marathon with a time of 2:13:32.
“I’m still going to be running, just not at the elite level or the marathon distance…maybe in a crowd of people or the middle of the pack,” Keflezighi joked about his post-retirement plans. “I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and working on all the business projects that have been a side focus up until now because of training. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”
Meb’s final race will not mark the end of his relationship with Skechers Performance as he will continue to serve as an ambassador for the brand and consult on product development and innovation for the brand’s award-winning line of Skechers GOrun performance running shoes.
“That we’ve shared in Meb’s journey has been an incredible honor for the Skechers Performance brand,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “More than an amazing athlete on the course, Meb is truly an inspirational role model to all. We are so proud of his accomplishments and look forward to him continuing as part of the Skechers Performance family as he enters this next phase of his career.”
To celebrate Meb’s final race in New York, Skechers Performance has also released two limited edition versions of the Skechers GO Meb Razor that pays tribute to New York City. The “Transit” collection is an ode to the streets of New York City and the grid system that runners will follow on their 26.2 miles journey. The “Indulge” collection draws inspiration from iconic cuisine of New York and features images of some of the foods that marathon runners will treat themselves to once they cross the finish line. Both limited edition versions are available in men’s and women’s sizes and will be on sale at the marathon expo as well as select Skechers retail stores throughout New York City and online at Skechers.com.
Purchases made at the Skechers Performance booth at the marathon expo can be rounded up to the next whole dollar with the difference donated to the MEB Foundation—Meb’s charity that promotes health, education, and fitness for youth.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 160 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, 2,438 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit skechers.com and follow us on Facebook(facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the uncertainty of sustained recovery in Europe; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the six months ended June 30, 2017. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
SKECHERS USA, Inc
Kelly O’Rourke, 310-424-8366
kellyor@skechers.com
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc
Released Nov 2, 2017 • 8:00 am EDT