Premium Running Apparel | Bandit Running

I started Bandit out of my Brooklyn basement apartment smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, 2020. The first product was cushioned running socks in white and black. I hand-packed every box and wrote a personal thank you note for supporting this little venture of mine. Each order meant so much to me and they still do.

My mailman Ramirez would meet me behind the USPS drop-off location so I wouldn't have to pay the $1 per box fee at the store. It sounds small, but it meant a lot—and more than anything, it was emblematic of the support I received along the way from friends and strangers alike. Over the course of a year, I spent every last dollar to my name—reinvesting everything I made (and had) into photoshoots, better packaging, larger orders, etc.

BANDIT IS BORN

The first batch of Bandit socks arrive to my basement apartment in Brooklyn. It was incredibly exciting and slightly overwhelming. There's Ramirez—the mailman I mentioned in the intro holding up a hoodie I gifted him as a thank you for all the help. I hope he's doing well.

CHASE THE THRONE

Cooper from Trials of Miles calls to ask if I wanted to give socks as a prize to the racers who advance to the second round of Chase the Throne (a Covid era DIY race series). Bandit gets on the feet of some great peeps in the NYC scene.

Little by little, with the NYC running community rallying behind Bandit, especially my friends from Brooklyn Track Club, the socks and the brand caught a glimmer of fire. Each new sock release would sell out faster than the last. People began asking for different products that I wasn't personally equipped to make, but it gave me hope for something larger down the line. Almost exactly a year later, I decided to take the leap, part ways with my day job, and go all-in on a mission to Evolve Running (more on that below) with a few other brave souls.

Community Spotlights Lead the Way

From the jump, Bandit's Instagram was a series of photos spotlighting our friends and teammates in the NYC running community training, racing, and setting FKTs. Shoutout to all the OGs.

Bandit x LOSTBOYS at the Olympic Trials

Tim Rossi, founder of the cult classic Lostboys, reaches out to support Bandit with socks for their Hood to Coast team. We'd soon after collab on custom socks for the '21 Olympic Trials. Rossi would go on to be one of the first full-timers at Bandit and our current Head of Experiences and Good for the Sport Projects.

The Final Release for Bandit As we knew it

The 2021 NYC capsule marked our final release as a "sock brand." I left my day job to go all-in on Bandit and announced to the world we'd be back in a few months with a big announcement...

Ardith & Nick Join As Co-Founders, Steve to Lead Community

I convince my brother Nick to jump ship from his job and join me as Bandit's CEO (he was mid-MBA with a second baby on the way). Shortly after a mutual friend (shoutout Syd) introduced me to Ardith who I asked to join on the spot during dinner as we rambled for hours on how we can innovate on products for runners. Steve Finley, also took the leap after a (clearly) very convincing post-Brooklyn Track Club practice conversation over a beer or four at Union Pool.

Bandit HQ Opens, the New Brand is Revealed

We open our HQ in Greenpoint and invite 150 of our closest supporters in to re-launch the brand and christen the space. Our friends at View Source designed the new identity and Andrew & I finished the launch video about 45 seconds before we showed it.

the first issue of our bi-weekly newsletter, the B-Mail comes out

96 issues later (and counting), The B-Mail remains our rawest expression of the brand and brings you 5-ish stories from inside and around the Bandit universe.

PROTOTYPE WEAR-TESTING AT THE SPEED PROJECT

9 months before our first performance apparel release, we took a handful of iterations of singlets, split shorts, half-tights, and race crops out to the desert to put them to the test. Whole squad remains Bandit fam to this day with John, Evan, and Ale in full-time roles at the company.

The HQ Race & Bandit Relays

Before there was the Bandit Grand Prix, we hosted some small, humble races right outside the office on West Street (no relation).

Becoming the Sponsor of The Brooklyn Mile

The race in our backyard put on by Brooklyn Running Company became a Bandit summer tradition unlike any other: run a mile as fast as you can and party at BK Backyard after.

OUR FIRST PERFORMANCE COLLECTION

Our first-ever performance collection, "Centricity", themed on a Running OS update informed by a year of community-centered feedback and insights. Ardith moved heaven and earth to get this out for Fall marathons. (Will update with pics of her on factory floors in due time.)

Bandit x NBRO

Our dear friends from Copenhagen, NBRO, welcomed us with open arms. We created a single cotton tee together and popped up under a tent in the backyard at Løberen.

Bandit Air

Joe Hale, Rich, Pebble, and myself snuck around the TWA hotel at JFK and shot Bandit Air—a small lifestyle capsule for cozy Fall marathon travels.

Our First OTQ Program

In it's very first edition, we supported four local NYC athletes (Erin, Brendan, Jean, and Lilly) to chase their dreams in Berlin of punching a ticket to the Olympic Trials.

Our First NYC Pop-Up

The beginning of a full circle moment, we popped up with our homies at Whalebone in the West Village for a NYC pop-up that consisted of heat-pressing stickers on any of your Bandit items. A couple years later, Whalebone would pass the keys over to us for our permanent Manhattan Flagship.

Bandit x Hué Thi Hoffmaster

An artist collaboration well ahead of it's time (for us). We worked with world-renowned painter, Hué Hoffmaster on a small "Upstate Capsule". Of anything we've made, this stuff might fetch a niceeee return on StockX these days.

Our Brooklyn "Flagship" Opens in Greenpoint

View Source, the small design shop that did our branding, were leaving their office down the street from Bandit HQ. At a modest $2,800/month rent, we decided to try our hand at opening brick & mortar. While it's not the grandest flagship of all time, we'll always have a soft-spot in our hearts for it.

Greenpoint Runners Begins

Our beloved Greenpoint needed a run club to bring neighbors together. Four easy miles every Saturday morning followed by coffee & bagels. Come one, come all.

First LA Pop-Up In Venice

This was our first real pop-up experience. Learnings were had. One of them being, the spiritual connection between NYC and LA running communities was incredibly strong. Today, we have a permanent flagship in Silver Lake.

Inaugural Bandit Soccer Capsule

Once a year, we create limited edition home & away soccer kits to celebrate the sport that got us into running in the first place. The first year, we hosted a 4v4 tournament at The Ground in Chinatown.

Which way to Boston?

Our first Boston Marathon pop-up, “Good Hill Hunting”. We setup shop in a tiny space on Newbury and debuted our first edition of “post-race portraits”, which have now become a staple of our pop-up weekends.

Joe Greer Joins the Squad

Legendary film photographer and helluva runner, Joe Greer, tweeted he has a dream of signing a contract with a brand to both run and shoot. We got on the phone with him no less than an hour later and the rest is history. Joe’s wife Maddie took some portraits of Joe for the announcement.

The Unsponsored Project Debuts

The very first edition of the Unsponsored Project supported a handful of runners, including Courtney Okolo, at the USA Track & Field Championships. A brainchild of Tim Rossi, the Unsponsored Project flipped the professional running model on its head to give overlooked athletes the best shot to chase their dreams.

"The Program" Launches to Support Local Marathoners

With help from our new partner (at the time) ASICS, “The Program” launches to support local marathoners training for NYC. We now have Programs in Boston, LA, and Chicago and have supported thousands of runners across the finish line with low-cost group training and resources.

The Seadog 120 with Noah

We teamed up with our NY neighbors, NOAH, to race two teams from Brooklyn to Amagansett. It was vibes galore. While the Seadog was a one-and-done, experiences like this helped shape our thinking as we grew and ultimately introduced the Bandit Grand Prix.

Following our cotton tee collab in 2022, we returned a year later with our Copenhagen family, NBRO, to create the race kits ahead of their hometown half. CPH has and will always remain one of our favorite cities in the world to hangout and run in.

Jordan Year in Chicago

This one felt like a creative breakthrough and helped pave the way for future world builds. Our hero runner, Ty Liv, channeled his inner prime Mike Jordan for a recreation of the 90’s Bulls locker room.

The World's Marathon

The video started tight on a subway seat as a runner (Bandit OG—Smooth B) sits down in his race kit and finisher medal on. The camera pulled back revealing the subway is actually a set he’s getting his medal portrait taken in. Our first time “breaking the wall” creatively, which would help inspire our 2026 LA Marathon campaign.

OTQ Program at CIM

Coming off the first year, an evolved version of the OTQ returns at CIM with a small group of trusty Bandit runners helped pace athletes to hitting the standard. One of the most legendary videos in our history came to be with OTQ’er Duriel Hardy clinching the time with 1 second to spare.

Supporting Local Athletes at the Olympic Trials

The final leg of our OTQ Program took a handful of inspiring local athletes down to Orlando for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Youngster, Habtamu Cheney, made a top 25 finish paving his way to a bright future in professional marathoning.

Our Manhattan Flagship Opens for Biz

In the same space that hosted our first-ever NYCM pop-up, we opened our first true flagship store with our pals Rhythm Zero to run the café side. John became “Construction Worker”, a legendary character that we should 100% bring back.

Bandit for SVG at the 2024 Paris Olympics

We received a DM from a dear friend who said his coworker, who was moonlighting on SVG’s Olympic Committee, was in need of a new brand to make their team kits. We jumped on the opportunity and outfitted the two track athletes, Shafiqua Maloney and Handal Roban. Shafiqua went in ranked 28th in the world and left 4th, narrowly missing bronze and the country’s first-ever medal. It was a Cinderella story unlike any other.

Bandit x Berlin Braves

Three years in the making, we teamed up with our family at the Braves to create a capsule that celebrated the connection of NYC and Berlin brutalism. Word has it Joey’s still wearing the balaclava today.

Marathon Course Design Corp.

Bandit x ASICS for NYC '25

Risking It All In Iceland

The LA Flagship Opens Next to Renegade

The World's First ASICS Performance Run Collab

The First-Ever Bandit Grand Prix

Loyal to the Soil

Yaseen Abdullah Custom Kit for the World Championships

Bandit x Berlin Braves II

Chicago Simulation Research Center

Run City

TO BE CONTINUED...

Come back soon for updates on 2026...