Thanks to a novel sponsorship agreement, cross-country athletes at John Brown University, a 2300-student NAIA school located in Siloam Springs, AR, are sporting a new look this fall courtesy of Rush Running Co.

On Sept. 2, John Brown Athletics announced Rush Running Co. had signed on to be the exclusive uniform sponsor for the Golden Eagle cross-country and track and field programs. The partnership, the third publicly announced uniform sponsorship deal for any college in the U.S., brings Rush Running Co.’s striding “R” logo to the back of John Brown’s white singlets. 

“We’re leveling up and trying to help out a local program we know and value,” Rush Running Co. owner Mike Rush explains.

Rush holds a longstanding relationship with the programs at John Brown, a college sitting between his stores in Fayetteville, AR, and Bentonville, AR. For years, Rush has handled team sales for the cross-country and track squads while athletes from the programs regularly visit Rush Running Co. stores for gear. In addition, current assistant coach Ben Ledbetter works at Rush Running Co. while a former retail staffer is currently a first-year athlete competing in cross-country for the Golden Eagles. 

Learning that John Brown’s programs would have to do fundraising to cover some of their operational essentials, including uniforms, Rush invited Ledbetter and head coach Peter Cunningham to “throw out any ideas” about how Rush Running Co. might help. 

From that brainstorming emerged the idea of Rush Running Co. serving as the programs’ official uniform sponsor. Rush didn’t hesitate to sign on. He secured some support from Nike on the apparel front and also committed to a monetary donation to further assist the Golden Eagles. 

“Knowing the financial realities John Brown and many other collegiate running programs face, it’s awesome to be contributing positively to a local program,” says Rush, who, like his wife and store co-founder, Alison Rush, was a collegiate runner at the University of Arkansas.

Cunningham, meanwhile, called the partnership with Rush Running Co. “a perfect fit.”

“Rush [Running Co.] has been a staple in Northwest Arkansas for years. They’ve been an essential part of our community falling in love with running and we’re excited that their passion for the sport will now impact us as well,” says Cunningham, in his first year as head coach following a five-year stint as an assistant at the school.

For his part, Rush hopes the partnership strengthens ties between his store, the university, its athletics programs and the greater running community in Northwest Arkansas. 

“Hopefully, it’s good for all of us and we grow our respective brands and the sport,” Rush says. “But whether sales increase or not, I’m in to do this again next year.”

 The sponsorship deal with John Brown is another example of Rush Running Co.’s philanthropic spirit and community-minded ethos. The run specialty shop, which was named the Best Running Store in America in 2018, annually provides footwear to a local high school squad and regularly sponsors races aligned with local nonprofits. This year, the shop also began sponsoring the running club at the University of Arkansas, also in Fayetteville. 

“This is what I should be doing as a running store owner,” Rush says. “If I’m not helping, then why am I here?”

Photos by Broken Pictures x Dylan Law