The Sam Parsons Story
Let’s get something straight right now. John B didn’t make bandanas cool. Sam Parsons did. Years ago.
If you haven’t heard of Sam Parsons, it means you aren’t in the running world. And that’s okay. But for those who are in the running world, you should know Sam Parsons. If you don’t know now, you will soon.
Sam Parsons is a founder of the elite running team Tinman Elite, a group started in 2017 with the goal of pushing the sport of running forward. In a sport long dominated by legendary track clubs such as Oregon TC and Bowerman TC, Tinman Elite are the new kids on the block, and they are ready to not only compete at the highest level but also change the sport of running forever. Sam is a leader in this revolution, but he wants you to know that there is a whole lot more to him than just some quick legs.
Sam is the Anti-Running Runner, a visionary for the sport that doesn’t care so much for following the way things have always been done.
I was relaxing on the beach for family vacation. Crime podcast playing, toes in the sand, I was in paradise. I felt my phone buzz.
“You free right now?” responded @par_sam_sons on Instagram.
My heart immediately started racing. I had dm’ed Sam earlier in the week, just taking a shot in the dark. I had followed Sam for a while, and always thought he was up to something cool, especially fashion-wise. I had asked if he’d be willing to do a short phone interview sometime for my small blog about his non-running endeavors.
My first thought was that I was on vacation, unfortunately, I’m not free.
My second thought was “It’s not everyday a professional athlete responds to your dm. Yes, I am free.” I responded quickly that I could make it work, and before I knew it, I was giving him my phone number and hopping on a call to talk to my favorite professional runner, for what he does off of the track.
Sam designs much of the clothing that Tinman Elite wears and sells, and this was what really got me interested in what Sam does. Just from his Instagram, it was easy to tell that there is a lot more to Sam than running; he has passions and interests that in many ways running is secondary too. In our forty-minute conversation, I had the pleasure of diving into the creative mind of Sam Parsons.
“From your knowledge, is the design and creativity that Adidas has given you rare for an athlete?”
Tinman Elite is the first professional team of its kind to have the creative freedom for its clothing that Adidas has given them. It wasn’t a part of the original demands of the sponsorship but came as the team grew legs in its early days. Part of the team’s philosophy, to push the sport of running forward, was put some of the power back in the runner. The Tinman guys looked at the foundation of the team, the “what, why, and how”, and saw clothing fitting into it. Sam, an avid fashionist, would jump at the opportunity to design team merch.
“Do you have any design or fashion experience?”
“Formally, no. But challenged creatively, yes”, Sam says. Sam studied Business Administration at N.C. State, and sounded pretty similar to how I talk about computer engineering: lack-luster. However, he pushed himself in his creative passions, trying out new things in his closet and in experiences like interning for Adidas. To Sam, design and fashion were outside-of-the-classroom hobbies and interests until he snuck himself into a graduate-level course in the N.C. State College of Textiles. I chuckled as Sam told me about how he just showed up and wasn’t found out until he submitted a midterm project with everyone else, and the professor allowed him to stay in. But really, this is the out-of-the-box thinking that makes Sam the creative that he is. Sometimes you have to pave your own path, and he knows just how to do that.
“Can you talk about your creative process? Any inspirations?”
Just like everything that Tinman does, it comes back to the mission and purpose. Does it progress the sport? Does it embody the spirit of the Tinmen? And a lot of it comes down to knowing the consumer. Sam knows that the TinMob (Tinman Community) is predominantly young runners, a group that Sam and other members of the team are not too far removed from. The truth is, Sam has a much higher standard for his clothing than his fans do, and that’s a good precedent to have. It’s not about selling, it’s about spreading the Tinman spirit. Sam adds “we’re just scratching the surface,” as they really just started from Adidas basics and are only now starting to branch out to patterned shirts, accessories, etc.
“Why does Tinman do drops?”
Sam is a student of the streetwear industry. And one of the biggest staples of the modern sneaker world are the shoe drops. Companies like Nike and Adidas have chosen exclusivity over quantity for many of it’s most notable sneakers, strengthening the hype and chatter around these shoes. Sam knows that the difficulty in securing an exclusive purchase is what keeps people coming back for more, time and time again, and this is why Tinman drops its exclusive clothing. After all, he’s marketing to a generation that is “always in the know,” constantly on social media. Our generation thirsts for the online experience, the instant gratification of miraculously getting a limited release tee, or spend the next weeks thinking of how you can save that millisecond needed to win next time.
This conversation came shortly after the drop of the Chunky Dunky, a Ben & Jerry’s collab with Nike, where shoes were reselling for over 10 fold what they retailed for. I brought up the shoe with Sam, who chuckled and said, “trust me Jimmy, I know about everything.” Who knows, maybe Tinman gear will start reselling for a couple of grand soon.
“I think your digital camo tee was dope.”
“It’s actually funny you say that,” Sam starts. Originally, Sam scrapped the samples of the tee, feeling that they just weren’t up to his standard. For months, they sat in a box in his place, going untouched. Slowly they grew on him until they just felt right for the summer drop. They sold out before I could get my hands on one, proof that they were popular.
“What’s in for you?”
Sam has been rocking bandanas for years, just one example of how he likes to stand out from the crowd. But currently, he’s been enjoying intersections between high fashion and thrifts. His example is wearing gold bracelet next to a silly band. Other than that, Sam’s been into color-blocking and embroidery recently, so keep an eye out for these in Tinman’s future.
“Any pushback from the running community?”
“Absolutely.” Sam knows that many within the running world see Tinman Elite as a group of young cocky runners, and that’s okay. “When you’re doing something that matters and has an impact,” Sam says, “you’re going to have your haters.” He accepts this fact, knowing that it only means he is doing something right. It’s what he signed up for. Haters, injuries, you name it, Sam is ready for it all.
“You’ve been using your voice on social media for activism, any thoughts about doing so?”
“How do you want to be remembered?” Sam knows that he has a platform, thousands of people that will see what he posts, and talks about. And to Sam, it’s about so much more than running. At the end of the day, he wants to be a part of the change. If what he posts gets through to 10 followers and makes them think, that’s a victory in his book. If making it to the Olympics or Diamond Leagues builds his platform by another 1,000 people, that’s the real win to Sam. At the end of the day, Sam wants to bring and inspire positive change through the sport of running. The more people listening, the better.
“Jimmy, if I ever just post pictures of me running, call me out.”
“Have you always been an Adidas kid?”
The unfortunate truth of the sneaker world is that you have to pick a side: checks or stripes? Sam laughed. He grew up a Nike kid, acknowledging that Nike is at another level when getting the youth to pick a side. He remembers begging for Nike Lunarglide’s back in middle school (although he couldn’t remember the name of them… real sneakerhead?) and wearing Peg’s throughout high school. Sam was even reluctant to choose N.C. State, knowing that he’d have to rep the stripes for a couple years. In the end, Adidas was the company that was most willing to align with Tinman’s values and creativity.
“Last but not least, top 3 shoes all time:”
- Adidas 1.0 Cream Ultraboost Gazelles
- Tom Sachs x NikeCraft Mars Yard 2.0 ‘NASA’
- Adidas **🤫** Tinman 2021
I hung the phone up, feeling ready to explode. Talking to Sam was one of my favorite experiences to date. He inspired me, while at the same time, made me feel like I was just chatting it up with one of my one friends. I could tell that he was genuinely excited to be talking about something other than running for once. We laughed over shared interests, I learned, and at the end of the day, I realized I might have more in common with this world-class athlete than I thought before.
My biggest take-away is that Sam is more than a runner. Athletes are more than just athletes. Sam is a friend, designer, activist, and so much more, who happens to be fast. Really fast.
