Hello Sam, can you quickly introduce yourself?
What’s up Distance! My name is Sam Parsons and I’m currently a professional runner for adidas and work as creative director for Tinman Elite.
How did athletics come into your life?
I use to bike to my local swim club growing up and our coach worked us so hard every summer. A lot of those local summer swim leagues don’t take practice too seriously and it’s just a “for fun” type of summer thing but man, we had early 6am practices and we’d even do core and running to get into better shape after practice was over. I was a pretty decent swimmer but always crushed everyone on the runs. It’s where I developed my competitive drive, learned about how to push your teammates, and just be willing to put in the hard work. I saw my sister run cross country, and I thought it was cool so I ended up following in her footsteps once I was 14.
2020 has been particularly complicated, have you managed to draw any positive from it on a sporting level?
Honestly, from a running and life standpoint it was awful for me. I lost so many family members, I struggled with anxiety, lost confidence in myself, and dealt with depression that I hadn’t experienced in my life before to that level. It seemed like it was always one thing after the next. So it’s hard to draw positives from it if I’m going to be completely honest. On top of all that, I had some nagging achilles stuff that just seemed to drag through the whole year and refused to go away until recently. Running is a huge outlet to happiness when everything else goes to shit so with the achilles it even took happiness away from my one escape. With all that being said, I spent so much time growing the business side of our team, brought on an amazing assistant coach, and I’m now hungrier than ever to race like a mad man…because that’s what I am at this point haha.
What are your goals for 2021?
My goal for 2021 is to just pour my heart into this. I have an opportunity to make an Olympic team, and that’s something I never thought I’d even get close to achieving, so the fact that it’s a possibility is still crazy to me. So, my goal this year is to pour it all out mentally, physically, emotionally to chase that dream and have some fucking fun along the way so when I look back in 10-15 years I can say I gave everything no matter the outcome.
What's your favorite distance? Your best race memory?
My favorite distance is anything on grass in a Cross Country race. My favorite running memories are those moments before the gun goes off for a Cross race, in a huddle with my teammates, ready to go to battle for one another after putting in the work with them for months. I live for moments like that in this sport. One moment in particular was crossing the finish line with my teammate Meron Simon to qualify for NCAAs. That was so special for me to share that moment with him after everything we had been through together as teammates and friends.
Can you tell us a bit more about Tinman Elite?
We are just a fun-loving group of guys that wanna do things a bit different. We wanna make content and clothes that others don’t spend time on to empower others. We wanna race our way. We wanna work hard day in and day out. We wanna leave the sport better then we found it. We wanna push the envelope on everything we do from our business to running. Above all we wanna connect with all levels of runners across our sport. And we wanna have a damn good time along the way.
What bad habit do you have at Tinman that we shouldn't reproduce as amateur runners?
Hmmmm I’d say respecting your body and what it has to offer DAILY. I’m such a competitive person that getting dropped in a workout or moving a workout back a day or even missing a day of training, to me, feels unacceptable. I’m a pretty emotional person and I let that get the best of me. So I’d say to RESPECT what your body is telling you. IF you are flat out tired, sore, or something is bothering you… don’t sweat missing the one workout or that one run just because all the homies are out there pushing or whatever. You will be better off taking it easy and living to fight another day.
What does it mean to be creative director for a running team?
It means that any new clothing collection, collaboration, shoe release, marketing rollout, or video goes through me at some point. I have an amazing team of creatives that I work with to bring everything we do here to life. It’s a full time job… I don’t watch Netflix or play video games all day like a lot of normal pro runners... it’s always forecasting product, designing the next collection, brainstorming ideas for a launch, meeting with sponsors, and making marketing and social media calendars. Our interns like to say that my real job title should just be Director of Ideation because coming up with some idea out of left field is what I’m basically doing most of the time. I love it… maybe more then I do running sometimes. (Don’t tell adidas that though).
We see you wearing Noah, Aimé Leon Dore, a vintage Atlanta Olympic cap, how do you define your style? What advice would you give for running with style?
I have some friends who work at Aimé and Noah, and whenever they hook it up I always love to rep it. Both of those brands are so inspiring for me to grow as a creative. I’m constantly watching what they are doing with their rollouts and how they go about their new product unveils is something I always try to emulate with our running ethos injected into it. I’d define my style as “high end thrift” which I know seems counterintuitive hahah. A lot of what I wear is from flea markets, but it’s usually paired with something more expensive like some new adidas kicks or some nice pants with a $2 hat or shirt I came up on. I just like wearing stuff that people haven’t seen before or can’t get anymore so I’m obsessed with retro stuff that have been worn in to have faded colors and lose fit.
You live in Boulder which is not as famous as Iten but which is a place where many international athletes go to train in camp. Can you describe your daily routine there?
Boulder is the spot man… it’s a special place. I’m not a city kid, I like the quiet and the people here. It’s the closest thing to a European city I can get in the USA so until I move to Europe I’ll probably be here. Daily routine would be: wake up in the morning head out to run, make some breakfast, spend the day meeting with my brand and product mangers, then in the afternoon depending on the day get some physio treatment, get in the weight room, then head to the pool to aqua jog before winding down for dinner then bed. (Check out my day in the life video here).
You are close to Tom and Max from District Vision, what's your favorite product from their brand?
Tom and Max have been huge influences for me, they’ve helped mentor me in my mindful practice, and advise me on building my own brand with Tinman Elite. They’re just people I look up to and I know I can turn to whenever I don’t know how to do something in the industry or just need them to walk me through things. They gave me a pair of the Ngata speed blades with the rose lenses when I first visited their little place in NYC before they moved to LA. I wore those just about every day during my first year as a pro, so I gotta go with those as my all-time favorites.
You also are an Adidas athlete, what are the best Adidas shoes according to you?
Yes, I’ve been wearing adidas for over 8 years now on my feet. My favorite adidas shoe by far (excuse my bias) is the TME Boston 10 we’ll be releasing this summer. I’ll be sure to send you guys some pairs for the shop.
Thanks a lot for your time! Which American or German athlete should we contact for our next interview?
Interview my teammate Jordan Gusman. You won’t be disappointed.
