The Running Industry Association (RIA) on Thursday announced the Best in Show Awards from the inaugural KICK Show hosted in Denver, CO, June 3-6.

KICK Best in Show Awards recognize excellence in new products and product updates in the following five categories: footwear, emerging brands, apparel, accessories and technology, and maintenance and recovery. In addition, there is one overall Best in Show Award. Prior to the show, all 26 participating brands were invited to submit a product for applicable categories. Once the show closed, voting was opened to the 140+ retailer attendees from across the country.

“The show’s ‘product is king’ mantra set the stage for the Best in Show Awards,” said Terry Schalow, RIA executive director. “We aimed to create a venue for retailers to connect with products, and the people who developed them, in a new, deeper way. We also wanted retailers to have a voice in selecting what products stood out to them, and give brands a marketing tool to create product buzz during the sell-in season.”

The 2019 KICK Best in Show Winners

Overall Best in Show Award:

Nike Infinity Run This new product in the footwear category was previewed by retailers at the KICK Show and is set to launch in 2020.

Product Update Category:

  • Footwear – Saucony – Triumph 17
  • Emerging Brand – Altra – Provision 4
  • Apparel – Vuori – Kore Short 5”
  • Accessories and Technology – AfterShokz – Aeropex Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones
  • Maintenance and Recovery – CEP Compression – Compression 80’s Socks

New Product Category:

  • Footwear – Nike Infinity – Run
  • Emerging Brand – On – Cloudstratus
  • Apparel – Brooks – Dare Crossback
  • Accessories and Technology – AfterShokz – Xtrainerz Waterproof MP3 Bone Conduction Headphones
  • Maintenance and Recovery – CEP Compression – 3.0 Socks

Click here to see all winning product images.

Response from winning brands:

“It’s a great honor to have two of our products selected by retailers for a Best in Show Award. RIA has been incredibly supportive of AfterShokz as we’ve emerged into the independent running space over the last few years and the inaugural KICK Show was a fantastic event to show retailers the exciting new products we have launching in 2019.”
–Kimberly Fassetta, CMO of AfterShokz

“We’re super honored and humbled to have our product recognized by such an influential group of retailers. The RIA and run specialty have provided a ton of support to Vuori. We look forward to continuing to build relevant product to support the consumer within run specialty as well as help increase the overall share of apparel within the channel.”
–Luis Alvarez, Sales Director of Vuori

Photo courtesy Running Industry Association