The Running Event 2026

Thank you for joining us at TRE 2026! We love getting to be a part of this awesome event and meeting people like you! Below you’ll find downloadable presentation materials and handouts along with our full lineup for the day!

CLICK HERE TO BOOK A MEETING WITH US DURING THE SHOW

PRESENTATION MATERIAL

Deep Dive: Kpi Kitchen: A recipe for the kpis that actually matter

9:30-11:00 AM Room 301B Most retailers track KPIs because someone told them they should – not because they know which numbers actually move their business. KPI Kitchen, a 90-minute working session from Karnan Associates, helps run specialty retailers cut through the noise and build a KPI “recipe” tailored to their own store.

This session will walk through the core ingredients: the most commonly used retail KPIs, how each is calculated, when to lean on it, and what healthy ranges look like for a specialty run business. From there, the conversation will shift to selection and build – helping retail leaders identify which metrics are actually worth their attention, then work directly on their own KPI recipe: KPIs to track and measure, target outcomes, and how to coach a team toward hitting those targets.

Every attendee leaves with a “recipe card” featuring common KPIs and benchmark ranges, plus a completed template built during the session that participants can implement in their business immediately.

FEATURED SESSION: TWenty lessons from twenty years of run specialty

12:00-1:00 PM Stars at Night Ballroom 1&2 As The Running Event marks its twentieth anniversary, some of the most influential leaders in run specialty take the mainstage to reflect on what has stood the test of time. This special presentation kicks off the event by looking back on two decades of running – the business decisions that paid off, or didn’t, the fundamentals worth repeating, and the hard-won lessons that still apply today. Along the way, the panel will share what it’s taken to build resilient businesses and careers, and lead through more than two decades of change and growth. Moderated by Jim Weber, former CEO of Brooks, the panel features Betsy Hughes, Co-Owner of Track Shack; Parker Karnan, Founder of Karnan Associates; Ted Metellus, Chief Event Production Officer and Race Director of New York Road Runners; and Jenny Simpson, Chief Running Officer of Fleet Feet. Whether you’re a retail store owner, buyer, event director or emerging brand, you’ll leave with twenty proven, ready-to-apply ideas – and the inspiration to bring these lessons back into your business.

Finding Your Stride: Women’s Leadership Panel and Networking Event

2:30-4:30 PM Room 303A Women are redefining what running looks like and who it’s for, and this session explores what that means for brands and retailers. It opens with a candid panel discussion among brand and retail leaders, moderated by Maggie Butterfield of Karnan Associates. Panelists will unpack how owning your strengths, setting intentional boundaries, and putting trust in your team build stronger leaders. From there, the session shifts into a networking event hosted by empowerun. Attendees will connect with panelists and peers to dig into how that leadership is shaping product, retail, community, and representation across the running industry, and to work through their own leadership questions.

In the spirit of moving forward together, attendees will leave inspired, better connected, and equipped with practical strategies to grow themselves, their teams, and the industry.

There will be a coffee break from 3:15 PM – 3:45 PM. Feel free to come and go: join for the panel, swing by to network, or stay for both. All are welcome.

Reading the Floor: Turning Sales Signals into Buying Decisions

2:30-3:15 PM Room 302A Placing the order is the easy part. Knowing what to do once the product hits the floor is where buying gets hard. Too often, buyers set their plan and then lose visibility until it’s time to reorder or mark down – missing signals that could have prevented a sell-through problem, unnecessary markdowns, missed sales, or aged inventory. 
 
In this 45-minute session, Ben Anderson of Karnan Associates walks through a practical framework for what effective buying management should look like throughout the selling cycle. Using a small set of core KPIs, Ben will show retailers how to drill down with purpose – looking both backward at sales and forward at the plan. In addition, two real-world case studies drawn from footwear, apparel, and accessories will bring the framework to life and show how the right questions lead to better buying decisions. 
 
Attendees will learn how to:

• Drill down with purpose, moving from department-level questions to SKU – and size-level fixes

• Recognize when a class or SKU is under – or over-allocated, and determine the appropriate response 

• Turn signals into action by knowing whether to reorder, chase, hold, or mark down

Attendees will leave with a handout mapping the full process, so the next time they sit down to evaluate a category, they know exactly where to start, what to look for, and what to do next.