“I don’t sleep with brands on the first date.” | Tom Evans

Take two unplanned stopovers, 35 minutes of CPR, one saved life and zero bags of luggage and you have Evans’ turbulent journey to our teaser launch event in June. This determination to honour an invite was true-to-form for him.

His running career may have started as a drunken bet, but he’s since become Britain’s best-ever performing Ultra Marathon athlete, finishing 3rd in the notoriously tough Marathon des Sables (MDS) in 2017 and taking individual bronze and team silver at the World Trail Championships in 2018. He recently left his role as a Captain in the British Army and is an ongoing ambassador for military charity Walking With The Wounded. Evans tells caytoo how he build meaningful brand relationships based on shared values.

caytoo: You’ve just arrived here from Arizona, what were you doing there?

Tom: My main sponsor at the moment is Hoka One One, a brand who’s really driving for a big race this year called Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. All of the Hoka elite athletes went to Flagstaff, Arizona and I managed to link in with the US runners and do lots of training with them. Flagstaff is a hub for professional and international athletes from all over the place, from track runners to triathletes to marathon runners.

It was a bit of research for me to go to the US and to see the market for ultra runners and trail runners and how different it is to the UK – a lot can be done to grow the UK and European markets quite substantially. It’s really interesting just having a look at the structure of athletes’ contracts and the guys who have been doing what I want to do for 3-4 years. It opened my eyes.

caytoo: What’s your philosophy on working with sponsors?

Tom: It’s really important to achieve athlete buy-in. An athlete has to believe in the company. For me it’s been as much ‘working-with’ rather than ‘working-for’. I work alongside mine, I call my sponsors my partners. I want to be as much a part of their journey as they of mine and grow as an athlete and as an individual with that brand.

I’ve got a very slow approach with brands. I definitely don’t sleep with a brand on the first date. Probably don’t even kiss them on the first date. Maybe a slight hand on the lower back. But I want to have that buy-in from that brand as much as myself. I want to know that we’re both working towards the same thing and understand each other, rather than jumping straight in. If a brand were to say “right that’s £40k for the year, go and do what you want to do”, I’d be like, great! But actually I want to work WITH you. It’s a two way process.

“I’ve got a very slow approach with brands.
I definitely don’t sleep with a brand on the first date,
probably don’t even kiss them”

I won’t just sign for the opportunities that a sponsor can give. For example, a company recently sent me a hydration backpack which just tore me apart on a four-hour run. I said thanks so much for that but it doesn’t work for me. I want to make my own pack, to test myself physically and mentally and say this is the ideal pack that I would love to race in. Let’s make a couple of prototypes. I’ll wear it for racing and then in a year or two, let’s get it on the market. I’d want that from a brand rather than choose a certain brand because they’ve offered me the most money.

caytoo: What challenges do you face in attracting sponsorship?

Tom: Like other athletes who want and need exposure in order to improve their performance, it can be very competitive. For example, if Nike is modeling a new T-shirt, it’s easier for them to throw more money to get a model to do it because they know what to do rather than some scrawny athlete who’s got horrendous tan lines everywhere and who feels a bit awkward in front of the camera.

Also, I think a lot of people take for granted how difficult the life of an athlete is. Take a 100m runner for example; you might race a total of 30 seconds for two heats and a final during a championships. But that has taken them three months of training. It’s not Monday to Friday 9-5, it’s Monday to Sunday, dedication, grafting, good times and bad times, making sacrifices. This makes it hard to find time to work on the commercial side. I went to a friend’s wedding last week and left at 10:15pm. So boring, but I’ve got to be up in the morning to train.

“I don’t like doing social media for me but it’s a necessary
evil because I need to grow my brand”

Another area is that I didn’t have social media until after the MDS, I don’t like doing it for me but it’s a necessary evil because I need to grow my brand, I need to grow my presence. A lot of my sponsorship opportunities then come through social media.

caytoo: What’s your unique selling point?

Tom: I’m the first in the UK who’s really going for ultra running. It started from a bet. I had no real running history whatsoever. I haven’t come up through the ranks on the track and the road. This opportunity just presented itself and I was prepared and willing to take that risk. I like to think I demonstrate that in my racing, taking risks and pushing my limits to see what I am capable of achieving.

I am also that much younger (26), people who do ultra running and trail running are typically slightly older. Looking at my social media, 80% of my following is within the 24-30 age demographic, which for what I’m doing is incredibly rare. I’m attracting a younger market which these brands haven’t got access to.

Gone are the days when you can afford to be a slow ultra runner because it’s just so competitive and the age is a huge thing. But also, having the army behind me and having gone to public school, being personable and chatty and taking time to talk to people in and around races. I think I’ve been stopped in the street a couple of times now and it’s been so exciting! I’m like, “can I take a photo of you taking a photo of me?!” I have fun with it and enjoy the journey. So my USP in summary is a military background, an ability to take risk and then the age.

“I want to be a the forefront. I want to put
British trail running back on the map”

I want to be a the forefront. I want to put British trail running back on the map. Participation is pretty high now but it is certainly growing and will continue to grow. I’d love to spearhead the growth in UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

caytoo: Who was your first brand endorsement? And how do you go about getting sponsorship?

Tom: I started in April in the middle of the financial year, so brands had already done all that budgeting. Lots wanted to give me kit, but in theory there is no money. And as of now we’re looking at talks with brands for next year. It all came from me basically emailing out saying “Hi, I used your kit for the MDS and came third, the best ever European performance in the race. It would be great to have a chat.” It takes a lot of time even through the amount of emails you just copy and paste but then cock up with the wrong brand name or something.

I’d been given kit by Runderwear, Compressport and Hoka One One last year and then formally signed a one year contract with Hoka and Precision Hydration in January this year. So we’ll be in a good position to negotiate come the end of this year. Those are the main ones and they’ll be life changing.

After my second race I started approaching a couple of management companies. I Googled and ended up coming across a company called Areté, owned by a guy called Simon Bayliff. I’ve definitely still got my relationship with brands but this partnership has meant I don’t have to have those awkward conversations. For example, I’m currently outperforming my contract. Simon has worked with some great companies, he’s got amazing contacts and can plant the seed with other brands. I’ve recently started working with Oakley and the hope is to move into that elite field. I genuinely use their products, I’ve always bought their glasses.

caytoo: Which areas of brand endorsement are missing? Who would you like to work with?

Tom: I’m finally doing some work with Red Bull who are one of my top brand choices to work with. But they don’t even look at you on a first date. They are the slowest moving, because they’re weighing up “do we like this person? Do they like us? Are they performance driven?”

“Red Bull are slow moving, because they’re weighing
up “do we like this person? Do they like us?
Are they performance driven?” “

I recently had a session with Red Bull at one of their athlete testing facilities in Manchester. It’s four hours of physio working with any little injuries you might have. I’ve then been invited out to their athlete center in Austria for a week of testing, which money can’t buy. I genuinely really like the brand. I like what they’re doing, where they’re going and where they’ve been. But I haven’t signed anything with them.

Mine and Simon’s approach is doing things really slowly and not committing too much to anyone, so for when the big opportunities do arise, it’s an easy one to say yes. For the last 10 days, Simon has had meetings with both Adidas and Nike about trail running in the UK. It’s having those options. Going back to my principles of, “do I like the kit? Do I like the brand?” I’ll think about athlete loyalty and rate the product on a piece of paper just to make sure that I get what I want. But then also the brands get what they want, rather than me pretend to be something I’m not.

“My challenge is staying as true to myself and my
morals as I can, whilst realising that getting
a free pair of trainers doesn’t pay the rent”

My challenge is staying as true to myself and my morals as I can, whilst realising that getting a free pair of trainers doesn’t pay the rent. This is how I make my living, I have to make money.

caytoo: How do your military responsibilities work alongside your running commitments?

Tom: For the last year it’s been great because I’ve still been supported by the British Army so I haven’t had to worry about making money. Up until Christmas I was still working full-time. The Army, when based in the UK, is basically a 9-5 job. Before Christmas it was Monday to Friday and I’d just fit my training in around work. I ran around 13-15 hours a week, but fitting recovery in was difficult. When I then got selected to race for Great Britain in the trail running World Championships, the Welsh Guard said, “Congratulations. For the next six weeks, do whatever you can possibly do, in order to do as well as you possibly can.” So a specified task was a podium at the World Championships and I thought, right! And I haven’t been to work since.

I actually left the army on 28 July because I’m very much an all or nothing person. Firstly, I would be doing my soldiers a disservice because they need all the attention I can give them. If I’m not able to do that then I’m failing them and therefore failing myself. Same with my running. You’ve got to be pretty selfish to be a full time athlete, make certain sacrifices and be very dedicated in certain areas. Some people can manage that really well, but I’m such an all or nothing person that in order to do something really well, I have to fully buy into it.

It’s not just the running, it’s everything that goes with it; the fitness testing, the physio, the massage, the psychology, the yoga, the stretching and recovery sessions. I try and sleep every afternoon because I want to do this. I want to have longevity in my running career, not just for my performance but also I want to inspire people to do this. Even if its not purely within sport.

I went straight from boarding school to the British Army, I’m the most institutionalised person ever. I can just about do my washing. I’ve never paid a bill. I wouldn’t know what to do if a boiler broke. I Google everything. But an opportunity has presented itself having weighed everything up i’ve just dived into the deep end.

I signed up to the MDS, my first race from that drunken bet and everything has just flown from that, becoming a bit of a yes man and seeing what offers and opportunities present themselves. I want to show that it is possible. You don’t have to go down the stereotypical route.

“You have to be incredibly proactive with
the time you have between training sessions”

caytoo: What key advice would you give other young athletes today about attracting sponsorship/brands?

Tom: You have to be incredibly proactive with the time you have between training sessions.

One of my thousands of mottos and slogans is, find something you love and then figure out a way to get paid for it. If you are lucky enough to be able to do it then go at it 100% because if you don’t try you’ll never know.

caytoo: Any thoughts on Asics’ recent campaign to create a new dark running track designed to take away distractions whilst running?

Tom: It’s pretty cool. It’s different. Asics are a great brand, but from knowing a couple of their athletes they’re not supported very well. They come up with these big headline campaigns but this one wasn’t actually their idea. It was Pro Direct Running who are a big internet sales company. It was almost like a smaller version of Nike’s Breaking2, but great to get the athletes in and supporting them.

“A lot of the time, if a brand wants to shoot some content
they end up using social media influencers rather
than athletes because they go for bigger reach”

A lot of the time, if a brand wants to shoot some content they end up using social media influencers rather than athletes because they go for bigger reach. People may notice them slightly more and they’re potentially more relatable. But it just means the athletes don’t get that exposure they need to be able to perform at their best. It’s almost the vicious cycle effect. An athlete performs really well, gets sponsorship and then in order to keep performing really well, needs to maintain sponsorship. The more sponsorship an athlete gets the better their performance because they’ve got less stress. They’re not worried about bills or thinking “how am I going to pay my rent this month if I haven’t got a race”?

caytoo: As caytoo’s first official current athlete, what are your thoughts about the concept?

Tom: It excites me that myself and caytoo are two young brands, wanting to achieve as much as we can and progress in roughly the same field.

I think caytoo fighting for the athletes to get the exposure they deserve is incredible because the athlete wants to be able to focus on their performance.

Success for me at the moment is this journey, today is today. No one knows what’s going to happen six months down the line. I could have an amazing six months and win all my races or I could break my leg walking up the stairs this evening. You just don’t know, which for me is really exciting – what I can do to help caytoo and what caytoo can help do for me. It’s building that real relationship which helps both bodies move forward in the future, I think there’s a huge gap for it.

caytoo: You’re a Walking With the Wounded ambassador, what does that involve?

Tom: Regarding the MDS bet, which I did in 2017, People were saying, “you’re mental for doing it. Are you doing it for charity?” It was a good opportunity to do it for WWTW and people were incredibly generous. When I started doing well and a bit of publicity was built up around it. We raised about £10,000 just from my sister re-posting something on Facebook every day, which was great.

I stayed in the tent with the WWTW people and the community is amazing. A guy called Duncan Slater who’s a double leg amputee completed the race the same year that I did it, and I took so much strength from him. When I was finding it tough I thought “well, Dunks hasn’t got any legs” and when we’d finish he’d say, “that was great, I didn’t get any blisters on my feet today.”

When I got back after doing well in the MDS, I knew I wanted to do a bit more for the charity. I really buy into the work they do. They show that no matter how difficult life may seem at the moment, it’s still possible to conquer an amazing challenge in the face of adversity. I always run with a WWTW wristband and whenever I finish a race, I salute. That’s partly for the British Army but also to continue fostering my links with WWTW.

If you’re a company interested in sponsoring Tom, he has various opportunities in the upcoming CCC, one of the world’s most prestigious trail running events and part of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour series.

If you’re an athlete interested in how caytoo can help you better connect with brands, register here.