KUALA LUMPUR, 21 MARCH 2024 – In May 2023, lululemon announced the multi-year global FURTHER campaign to celebrate human possibility and how far women can go. As part of this FURTHER campaign, lululemon held the FURTHER Ultramarathon, the first-of-its-kind Women’s Ultramarathon from the brand. The six-day ultramarathon began on March 6, 2024, ahead of International Women’s Day, and culminated on March 12, 2024, at Lake Cahuilla in La Quinta, California. It featured 10 female athletes from its global ambassador collective, including Yoon Young Kang, an ultrarunner with Judo Black Belt from South Korea and Vriko Kwok, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Athlete and entrepreneur from Hong Kong.
“Women have historically been overlooked and underserved in athletics, and as a brand committed to helping all people feel their best, we have a responsibility to create more equity for our communities by investing to close this gap,” said Nikki Neuburger, Chief Brand Officer, lululemon. “When supported with innovation and resources, we are confident women will continue to redefine the limits of what’s possible. This is the motivation and purpose behind our FURTHER initiative.”
Key results:
- All 10 athletes surpassed their furthest distance and ran a collective 4636.327km
- Ultrarunner Camille Herron set a total of 13 records at FURTHER (pending ratification)
- Women’s Six-Day World Record at 901.764km surpassing the previous record by over 352km
- Women’s World Best for 300 miles (59:54:28), 400 miles (88:34:26), 500 miles (118:19:17), 500K (62:50:17), 600K (81:23:38), 700K (98:33:59), 800K (117:44:55), 900K (142:40:58) – surpassing previously held records by 8-19 hours.
- Women’s World Bests for 72-hour (550.542km), 96-hour (691.755km), 120-hour (807.495km).
- Entrepreneur and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Athlete Vriko Kwok from Hong Kong ran a total 303.313km, setting her ultimate personal best when she had not even run 1K continuously a year ago.
All athletes wore head-to-toe lululemon kits co-created with them to meet their unique needs. The 36 new innovations considered situational and always-on functions and are shaped by athlete insights and backed by research.
Running Innovations to Take Athletes Further
Following the FURTHER Ultramarathon, lululemon’s Run collection has also recently expanded with new products and colors suitable for various sweat activities and daily life. The new running gear is made to take your run further with weightless construction, seamless fabrics, and streamlined designs. The designs and shades will help everyone feel their best to run past their limits, with key new products listed below.
Continued Research into Unmet Needs
lululemon’s scientific research program, led by the brand’s internal research team and operated in partnership with the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and lululemon’s academic research network, will continue during and after the race to better understand human performance by advancing women’s-first research and helping close the sex and gender data gap in sports science.
The ongoing research will dive deep into topical questions such as whether female ultrarunners have superior fatigue resistance compared to males, and will study areas that haven’t been explored such as the lived experiences of women ultrarunners and the physiological and biomechanical effects of six days of running. All findings will be published over the next two years, with initial findings to be published in the Fall of 2024. Takeaways will serve as a catalyst for additional research on female and women athletes and inform lululemon’s pipeline of women-first innovations.
The participating athletes of the ultramarathon came from around the world:
- Montana Farrah-Seaton (Age: 27): Ultrarunner, strength and conditioning coach, model from Melbourne Australia ran 508.26km
- Stefanie Flippin (Age: 34): Coach and ultrarunner, BIPOC Advocate, Doctor from Evergreen, Colorado, USA ran 180.552km
- Camille Herron (Age: 42): Ultrarunner, World Record Holder from Tucson, Arizona, USA ran 901.764km
- Kayla Jeter (Age: 34): Runner, Strength & Wellness Coach from Chicago, Illinois, USA ran 377.101km
- Xiaomeng Jia (Age: 38): Marathon Runner, Entrepreneur from Beijing, China ran 483.672km
- Yoon Young Kang (Age: 44): Ultrarunner, Judo Black Belt, Joy Seeker from Seoul, South Korea ran 504.159km
- Vriko Kwok (Age: 32): Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Athlete, Runner, Entrepreneur from Hong Kong SAR, China ran 303.313km
- Mirna Valerio (Age: 48): Ultrarunner, Author, Adventurer from Winooski, Vermont, USA ran 229.540km
- Devon Yanko (Age: 41): Ultrarunner, Coach & Mentor, Food Entrepreneur from Howard, Colorado, USA ran 504.159km
- Leah Yingling (Age: 32): Ultrarunner, Biomedical Engineer, Women’s Advocate from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA ran 643.738km
Find FURTHER event in Malaysia
In April 2024, lululemon is thrilled to invite runners of all levels to ‘Find Further’ at our Run event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This unique experience goes beyond mere miles, fostering personal growth and community connections through activities like run, pickleball, training sessions, and nutritional talks, with refreshments provided. All proceeds will be donated to Buku Jalanan Chow Kit, supporting education and a healthy growing environment for underprivileged children. Early bird registration is now open at a special rate of RM 70 per session from 19th – 25th March 2024 for interest. Regular registration will open on 30th March 2024 onwards. The event details as follows:
Date: April 20, 2024
Time: 6:30am-10:00am
Location: Pickle Social Club, Bukit Kiara
Date: April 21, 2024
Time: 7:30am-10:30am
Location: TRX City Park
Date: April 27, 2024
Time: 7:00am-9:30am
Location: Taman Bandaran Kelana Jaya
The products will be available across the stores from 19 March 2024 onwards. For more information on FURTHER, the lululemon Ambassadors taking on this feat, and to track the athletes’ distances throughout the ultramarathon, visit https://www.lululemon.com/further.
For more information on FURTHER, visit https://shop.lululemon.com/story/run-further.
