Malindi Elmore and Trevor Hofbauer sign sponsorship deals with Saucony
On Nov. 17, Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., signed with Saucony – her first sponsorship deal in years. Elmore, who turns 40 on March 13, competed at the 2004 Olympics in the 1,500m and retired from the sport in 2012 to raise her family. She competed in triathlons for a few years and started coaching before returning to running in 2018, this time in the marathon. And on Jan. 6, the brand announced a partnership with 2019 Canadian marathon champion Trevor Hofbauer, the first of a possible three Canadian men to be named to Team Canada in the marathon for the Tokyo Olympics later this year.
Elmore took an unconventional but pragmatic approach to the decision to sign with the brand, testing its flagship carbon-plated marathon shoe, the Endorphin Pro, in the lab against the Nike Vaporfly Next% (which she wore to set the Canadian record at the Houston Marathon in January 2020). As reported by Alex Hutchinson in Outside, Elmore had misgivings about Nike’s treatment of its female athletes and wanted to know exactly what she might be giving up by signing with a different brand. The tests revealed that in terms of her running economy, the shoes performed about the same.