To meet Hannah & Miya, two of the powerhouses behind Renegade Running, is to love them. They care genuinely about their community, using Renegade as a platform to support and empower the voices of those not typically served through the run community. They're running Renegade's shops, planning community events, earning the hard yards on the floors of trade shows, meeting the reps, building (deep) relationships, and working with brands big (see: ends in "ike"), and small (see: us)- all while still being serious runners.

What makes them rare is that they take their work, their running, and their impeccable style seriously, but not themselves. To be in their presence is to feel simultaneously grounded and lit up- they both have a cool, open energy that never freezes you out. You'll have conversations that move easily from the deeply specific (how do new moms training for ultras manage their milk supply?) to easy laughter and back again.

At Renegade, they're building the most exclusive party in running where everyone is still invited. Get to know them a little better through our (lengthy but worth it) Q&A below.

 

C: Tell us a little about yourself and your role at Renegade. 

[HANNAH]: I’m Hannah, I’m a runner and a writer. I’m from Sacramento and currently living in LA. I worked at our Oakland location for about 3 years before moving to LA a year ago to lead up the shop here. We rarely do job titles at Renegade, and being on a small team (as everyone at Courier would know), we all wear a lot of hats.

My main responsibility right now is managing the LA store and I help with the big, overarching brand projects and decisions. I also lead up the Women’s and Nonbinary Trail Team. I’m always looking for ways to bring people together, whether that’s in Oakland, LA, or really anywhere. I’m okay at logistics, I’m better with people.  

[MIYA]: Job titles are tricky at Renegade; but I head up brand and comms and work closely with Victor on creative. A few people might know me from my photography work, but I started my career first as an aspiring academic (in education policy) and then as a creative director/strategist. I left the agency world during Covid because I was so disillusioned with what it meant to sell stuff to people who didn’t need it. But when I met Victor and then Hannah soon after, I felt like I could put my skills to use for a company that I believed in. I started at Renegade full time last year because I believe in our mission, I believe in the vision, and I believe in this team. 

C: Renegade has mastered the art of feeling like a very cool party where the bouncer is actually just handing out water and inviting everyone inside. How do you two actively protect that balance of high-taste curation and inclusivity?

[HANNAH]: That image is so cute, and so Miya-coded to me. I think the perception of this balance out in the world can be tricky and does require deliberate actions in both buckets––(often expensive) curation and inclusivity––but I think to us it feels simple in that it’s the way that we are. We have all been running and thinking about running for a very long time. It’s an important form of self-expression for us. So we deeply believe in products that perform, because performing to the best of our own abilities is something we’re all still working towards, and we want to look good and feel like ourselves while doing that. We bring our whole selves to running.

We know that our community feels that way, too. That is who and what we care about. It’s not about the level at which you perform or how many products at the store you have the ability to purchase at one time. It’s a shared feeling of striving towards a goal and being creative with it. In the nitty gritty of the balance, we want the best brands in the world that are making the best products in the world.

Yes, that often means the product is expensive. And, we will never not be hustling to make sure our community has access, opportunities, and resources at every level to be the version of themselves that they love. We have something for everyone––whether that’s access to product, education, resources, or our time. We hope you’ll let us offer you all of those things. 

[MIYA]: This sounds like my ideal party. I think that sometimes people can be fooled into thinking that coolness has to come from exclusivity, when really, to me, true coolness comes from just having extreme clarity about who you are and being super confident in that. At Renegade, we know who we are and who we serve. Renegade is built by runners who really care about performance, beautifully designed things, and people.

Above all, we are fostering a deeply diverse and inclusive running community that is full of people with whole, full, rich, lives who have what they need to develop deep relationships with each other and with the sport. With that lens, it’s not hard to balance curation and inclusivity; it’s just who we are and what we care about. We are people who love to obsess over beautiful product, and we’re also people who want the sport to grow and be more accessible and welcoming to women, queer folks, and people of color.

We believe strongly that everyone deserves access to the best products and information out there so they can run their best, and that’s why we exist. We’re people who see value and beauty in what surrounds a running life—in the life outside of running. And, of course, people’s purchasing power has nothing to do with their worthiness or our commitment to serving them. So yeah, here’s a water, get in here. 

C: What is a current trend in women’s running culture that you are absolutely loving, and one you wish would disappear forever?

[HANNAH]: I think there’s a lot more information (and science!) around properly fueling for training, especially for those with female bodies and hormones. And it feels like it’s being introduced and understood in really expansive ways, like, “Look at what you can do, and how much more you can do, if you fuel your body properly and consistently,” and I love to see that.

This is a lesson I learned the very, very hard way a few years ago and I’m passionate about people understanding proper fuelling and having healthier body image in sport, and maybe not having to take such a winding, confusing path to get to a healthier place, so this feels like a huge win to have the image of a well-fuelled athlete be more mainstream and the norm, and to have more accessible information available to people that need it.

Also, I think more people are feeling safe to be transparent about their pregnancy journeys while training and equipping other athletes around them with information and shared experiences on that journey. I love that big time. 

[HANNAH]: I don’t know if I have any surprising takes on trends I want to disappear altogether other than the usual and hopefully obvious ones. But I think something I’ve experienced and am pretty sick of is how of little substance events “for” women can feel. Or like the idea that if a run is a women’s run, that means the run is short and easy by default. I went to a women’s summit put on by a very big shoe brand (I’ll save them this time, but probably not next time) a couple months ago and brought some of my friends.

Afterwards, I felt bad that I even invited them. It felt like such a waste of time. This brand sat us in an auditorium and we listened to very little that was beyond surface level or any practical information we could take back for ourselves or our community. It was so just, “You go girl! Get out there!” I hope this goes without saying that I am all for inclusivity and all I want is more women and nonbinary people running healthily and happily. But I want practical information and real conversation.

It’s so typical to brand something as female empowerment but not actually give us anything we need to succeed. We want to know the latest science behind performance. The fundamentals of strength training and the pros of lifting heavy 1-2x a week. We want to ask what we should eat right after our workout to recover, or how to tell where our sweet spot in weekly mileage is. Women are incredible athletes and can do extremely hard and exceptional things. Please keep up! 

[MIYA]: I am loving the come-as-you-are ethos and camaraderie of women’s running right now; there are a lot of communities forming that comprise women from all walks of life that are welcoming and inclusive. These spaces have a through-thread of un-gatekeeping and de-mystifying running.

I think the trail team that Hannah built is a stellar example of this—women at different stages of life and different levels of running meet to run together and support each other, and to share knowledge and resources, and to grow together. All while training for big, hard, scary endeavors. That’s a beautiful thing.

Like Hannah, I really hate the girlbossification of women’s running. The “be confident, be yourself” messaging that happens allll the time in women’s running is lazy. I think it cheapens who we are and what we can do, and it’s so patronizing. Especially when what holds us back in running is not a lack of confidence, but systems that exclude us by design, and people who are unwilling to address those systems.

As it relates to the running industry, brands create these narratives around women’s running that are so outdated and that really flatten us as people and as athletes, because often we’re an afterthought from start to finish. Adding girlboss messaging is an easy coverup for half-baked product and/or for a half-baked marketing campaign. 

C: You are proving that you can be serious, high-output athletes without losing an ounce of personal style. Tell us about how you choose your fits and what they say about you personally:

[HANNAH]: It really depends on the day for me. I definitely dress for how I feel or how I want to feel. In my every day wardrobe and for training. If I’m tired for my morning run, I’m usually in a big, soft cotton long sleeve and high-cushioned trainers because I want to feel like I never actually left my bed for this 7 mile run. If I have a tougher workout, I’ll wear something tighter fitting and probably go monochrome black because I want to look and feel sleek. If it’s a social run with friends, I might try something new and more creative––like a lifestyle piece that I make work for running since the actual run part is more casual and this setting feels like a good place to test something new out. I think there’s also this aspect of ritual to it all.

I’ve been competitively running since I was a pre-teen and I’ve always been a little superstitious when it comes to racing. I’ve always had some kind of pre-race ritual. And it usually involves having some kind of garment or trinket that I carry with me in my races. It’s not always a piece for fashion or expression, more something that’s just for me. It only matters that I know its meaning and that I know it’s there with me. 

[MIYA]: I need to preface what I’m about to say with the fact that the clothes I reach for are all well-designed and that you won’t find me in shorts with weird seams or slimy-feeling socks. That said, I think the faster (and older) I’ve gotten, the less I feel like I need to prove anything to anyone else. Maybe it’s because I run early and no one even sees me except my friends who have seen me put together all sorts of laundry day outfits, but even when I am in blocks where I am training seriously, I don’t take myself too seriously. Especially on easy days, I am just kind of pulling out what feels good on that day—cotton tees usually. When I’m running easy, I want to wear something that is not super performance-oriented.

For me right now, wearing a hyper-technical outfit to jog around feels so overkill (but no judgments if putting that on is what gets you out of bed!). I am pretty diligent about training and I take running seriously, but at the end of the day it’s not that serious. When I am working out or on a long run, I am more intentional with my outfits. I want to feel fast and be unencumbered. So those outfits are more technical, but I still try to land pretty far away from taking myself too seriously.

Style-wise I feel most myself when I am playing in the tomboy realm with a hyper-feminine edge. So if I’m going to be seen by the general public while I run, I like to choose pieces that create that balance. 

C: You two are essentially the gatekeepers of taste for Renegade’s Oakland and LA shops. When you’re testing a new piece of gear, what is an immediate, non-negotiable dealbreaker? On the flip side, what makes a product earn a permanent, holy-grail spot in your rotation?

[HANNAH]: The initial fit and how something falls on my body is extremely important to me. I’m unfortunately not quick to give apparel pieces a second chance if this fails. (But I will think deeply about how and what parts were uncomfortable for thoughtful feedback.) Shoes I will give a few more chances to for some reason.

I love when things immediately feel good, and I encourage customers to listen to what feels good and motivating and joyful right away with products, too. I LOVE when products feel like I’ll be able to just take it and go run 10 miles in it, and barely think about it. Useful, resourceful, beautiful, something I don’t have to think about so I can just think about my run. Or not think at all! Those are my big buckets to check. 

[MIYA]: I know it’s cliche, but for some things like sports bras or shorts, not having pockets is a pretty big dealbreaker for me. There are too many great products on the market to not be intentional about how your clothes function, and having pockets is a huge part of that. Also fabrics that don’t feel great are an immediate no. If I am putting a product close to my skin, I want it to feel really nice. 

I think you can tell when someone has designed a product because there is a running boom and they want to capitalize on that, and when someone has designed a product because they have a point of view, they love running, and they love runners. The holy grail products are the ones that have an interesting aesthetic point of view and then you put them on and you’re like “yeah whoever designed this loves runners.” 

C: What do you want Renegade to still be doing in 20 years that it's doing right now?

[HANNAH]: This question makes me emotional. When I think through all of Renegade’s biggest pivots or growth spurts, they have stemmed from a need or observation of a staff member or a close community member. Our decisions have always been grounded both in what our people absolutely need in the current moment and what’s in their wildest dreams of the future. So I just hope that we continue to stay grounded in that same way with our eyes, ears, and hearts open to the visions of our dreams and the dreams of those closest to us. I don’t think that will ever lead us astray. 

[MIYA]: One of the things I love about working at Renegade is that everyone is empowered to always do what we think is right—we’re encouraged to make decisions based on what we feel is ethical, makes us feel proud, and takes care of the people we need to take care of. It makes Renegade really special, both as a place to work, and a place to experience. I hope we never lose that.

C: What's something a customer has said to you that you've never forgotten?

[HANNAH]: I love this question. There’s so many amazing people that I’ve met through Renegade, and so many moments with them that have literally taken my breath away and where I’ve been like, “This is exactly why I do this.” One that I’ve been holding tightly to recently is a letter from a woman on my trail team. A line that brings me to tears every time I read it is, “It’s such a privilege that I can experience the world you create.” Like, are you kidding me? That is the most beautiful compliment I could ever receive.

I come from a writing background and a word we often use in craft is “world-building.” As a writer, you want to create a world on the page for your readers that they don’t want to leave. That they feel safe in, inspired and exhilarated by. That they could see themselves in. Sometime last year it clicked for me that I was doing the same, or wanting to do the same, with my work at Renegade. I started using that same word. I wanted to build real, tangible worlds all around us that were better versions of what we’re seeing and given right now. So this line that she wrote in such a sweet letter to me really just took my breath away at how acutely it recognized my vision for this work. Oh to be seen by other women! <3

[MIYA]: I get comments about how my work makes people feel that are really touching; knowing that I make people feel seen and help them see themselves as strong and powerful is surreal. It’s everything you could ask for as an artist—not that you made someone look cool but that you made them feel seen. I love my work at Renegade for this exact reason—the goal is not to make people look cool, but to make them feel seen. It’s incredible how the work takes shape when you start with that goal

What is the one topic of conversation that will immediately distract each other from the pain of a gruelling climb?

[HANNAH]: I feel like starting a sentence with “Did you see…?” because Miya and I are both painfully on and of the internet and nothing can pass by the two of us.
[MIYA]:People acting out of line/saying dumb shit/doing dumb sh*t on the internet is always the go-to distraction for sure.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen the other eat before 9AM?

[MIYA]: I can’t remember if the cup o’noodles and snickers combo when we crewed/media teamed 30 women at Kodiak was before 9am but I feel like it was definitely between 10p and 5a and that counts, right? I also know Hannah has seen me have a cup of coffee, a protein bar and a slurpee post-run.

The song the other person would play when it’s 3pm of day 2 of a tradeshow and you need a lil hype?

[MIYA]: 3pm of day 2 of a tradeshow means Hannah is craving silence so it would be more like finding a corner where she can sit and not talk for a sec.

C: WHO IS THE PERSON THAT WILL:

Show up to the airport with 3% battery 10 minutes before boarding?

[HANNAH]: Definitely me, and then asking Miya if she has a power bank I can use.

[MIYA]: This is a lie, I definitely feel like there’s a 50/50 chance it’s either one of us and either of us could be carrying a power bank. Or if it is true, I am handing Hannah my power bank and asking her to check where our gate is because I have deleted the confirmation email

Accidentally turn a casual run into a threshold workout?

[HANNAH]: I actually think neither of us because we are both extremely diligent with our rest and recovery time. 

[MIYA]: I never do this anymore; I think it can be a weird power play to turn an easy run into speedwork. I have nothing to prove, and I value my longevity in the sport too much to incorporate unplanned speedwork into my week.

Instigate a deeply chaotic, late-night business pivot?

[HANNAH]: Honestly both of us. We spiral together very easily. But it’s usually fun, and we often come out of it with an extravagant plan or idea. Or a big conclusion on something. Nothing and no one is safe when Miya and Hannah have some seemingly still moments together. 

[MIYA]: Both of us are fairly regimented people overall, but we are also both deeply curious people and committed to Renegade and to our community. So I don’t think either of us are chaotic pivot people but both of us will instigate a crazy brainstorming session for how to build and improve.

Talk their way out of a parking ticket outside of the shop?

[HANNAH]: Maybe me? But then again, I’ve given so much money to the city of Oakland for parking tickets, I think they should dedicate a parking lot to me or something. 

[MIYA]: Hannah. I never see them coming. And if Hannah gets a parking lot, I should get the kiosk.

Forget their nutrition on a 15-miler and have to scavenge from the other person?

[HANNAH]: Probably me. Miya always has snacks. She never forgets them.

[MIYA]: This is definitely a Hannah-specific trait of mine. When I am out with other people I am known to not bring enough gels/water. But we do kind of have an auntie/niece-type relationship so I generally carry extra snacks for her.

 

Send a 10 minute voicenote

[HANNAH]:  BOTH. And often to each other! 

[MIYA]: We should have a podcast with how many long voicenotes we send.

 

FINAL Q: If you could put a billboard up right outside of Renegade tomorrow that everyone that passed had to read, what would it say?

[Both]: Probably “You R Loved”.  

Photos by: @sydneylewisphoto
Follow: @renegade_running