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The Vanish Carbon 3: Altra's trail identity, built for race day

Altra

Public Relations

Altra Running built its name on trail. The Vanish Carbon 3 is a super shoe built to be the fastest road shoe Altra has ever made, and it marks the brand's biggest swing yet at the road and performance categories.

Challenge

Prove the Vanish Carbon 3 could compete on race day—without losing the foot-shaped, natural-movement identity that built Altra’s reputation.

“We didn’t set out to build just another carbon racing shoe; we set out to build an Altra racing shoe,” said Kylee Barton, Head of Product at Altra. “Every element of the Vanish Carbon 3 was designed to work in harmony with the actual shape of the foot and our Altra Fit ™. The split-toe-carbon plate allows the foot to move, stabilize, and generate power more naturally, giving runners the propulsion they expect from a carbon plate while preserving natural movement and the qualities that make an Altra feel uniquely Altra. It’s race-day performance that works with the body, not against it.”

Approach

We drove third-party credibility and earned media coverage via multiple touchpoints.

Hosted 14 trusted industry writers and creators from outlets including Runner's World, GearJunkie, Outside Run and Believe in the Run for a high-impact media event in Altra's hometown of Denver
Built the event around a sunrise run on a rooftop track, a Michelin-level dinner, curated seeding kits and more personalized touches
Seeded the shoe to select writers in advance under embargo, timing coverage to land on launch day
Distributed a press release, "Altra Just Split the Super Shoe Wide Open," through five industry wire services

Results

Only two weeks post-launch, the Vanish Carbon 3 has earned 32 media placements to date, including reviews and features in Runner's World, Outside Run, GearJunkie, Six Minute Mile and T3, plus coverage in Colorado Biz and Running Insight, reaching an estimated 160 million impressions so far. Over 20 social posts from creators including Kofuzi, Supwell Running, Doctors of Running and Ryan's Running Reviews have extended the story well past launch day, and feedback from the event itself has been overwhelmingly positive.

Reviewers have taken notice:

"It's fast. Really fast." (Sean McCoy, GearJunkie)
"Altra finally has a true super shoe that excels from 10K to marathon distances, adding another rare anatomic option to the racing category." (Matt Klein, Doctors of Running)
"I never knew a racing shoe could be comfortable." (elite tester, as told to T3)