This January the RunStrong family grew by two members as Fox River Mills welcomed Joseph Gray and Christian Gering to their team of trailblazers in the running community and proud wearers of RunStrong socks.

Joseph Gray is a world class elite athlete with 19 national and world championships in mountain running, ultramarathons, trail, road running, and cross country competitions since 2009. An outspoken activist both on and off the racecourse, Gray is a champion for diversity inclusion in the distance running community. He uses his platform as a world-renowned runner to challenge his peers and sponsors for accountability on hot-button issues such as performance-enhancing drug usage and race inequality. Gray is dedicated to improving racing standards not only in his generation but also future generations of runners to come, just like RunStrong.

Christian Gering is an ultradistance runner from San Felipe Pueblo and winner of the grueling 2018 Tahoe 100K (a race just over 62 miles). His time was 9 hours, 48 minutes, and 24 seconds. The win scored him an invitation to the Salomon Ultra Running Academy, representing America as the sole male runner at the exclusive weeklong clinic in Hong Kong which scouts up-and-coming elite distance athletes. He is currently training for the next big adventure in ultradistance trail running as well as running his own motivational speaking company. Gering shares with his audiences the importance of health and wellness, healthy masculinity, and body sovereignty. Gering is a proud Native runner fueled by the connection to his culture with every step he takes.

As sponsored athletes, Joseph and Christian represent the RunStrong philosophy while competing exclusively in RunStrong by Fox River’s high-performance sock line. RunStrong is inspired by Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, designed to support the next generation of Native American leaders who demonstrate healthy lifestyles, inspire youth, preserve their Native cultures, and celebrate their identities. As the first outdoorsmen and first trail runners, the Native Americans are some of the purest and most graceful runners. RunStrong by Fox River currently supports Running Strong for American Indian Youth’s mission by donating a portion of proceeds from every pair of socks into Running Strong’s programs. We are thrilled to follow in the footsteps of Joseph and Christian as they forge a new trail into the future of socially active racing.