HOKA Helps Endurance Runners Find “Shelter from the Storm”

“Well, I’m livin’ in a foreign country but I’m bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor’s edge, someday I’ll make it mine…” -Bob Dylan

“Shelter from the Storm,” is one of Bob Dylan’s best songs on his brilliant 1975 album, Blood on the Tracks. It’s also the new soundtrack for endurance runners in the HOKA camp—runners who participate in ultramarathons, which are longer than 26.2 miles and often take place in mountains, deserts, and jungles.

“As a brand driven by the joy of progress, we recognize the role community plays in the long road athletes’ take to achieve greatness. ‘Together We Fly Higher’ is about just that – celebrating the journey and those who got you there.” said Erika Gabrielli, Vice President of Global Marketing at HOKA.

The work was developed in partnership with its creative agency of record, Anomaly in Los Angeles. The new global campaign will stay true to HOKA’s core brand values as a human-first performance brand, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to inspiring, connection and bringing people together, while also motivating individuals to take bold leaps toward personal progress.

Bob Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm” is at the center of the campaign. Josh Fell, partner and CCO at Anomaly LA, said, “Bob Dylan saw the spot and liked it which is pretty much the only award we’ve ever cared about. A Bobby.”

In certain places, the song’s lyrics do lend themselves to this sort of treatment by the brand.

“I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail…”