Globetrotting Wiganer inspires new Adidas shoe

Dylan Harris, who founded Lupine Travel, has worked with Adidas on the multinational company’s new range of footwear.

The first one, based on a gruelling ultra-long-distance athletics event through the Middle Eastern deserts called the Wadi Rum Marathon, is out now.

And Dylan says there are two more designs taking their cues from some of his intrepid adventures to follow.

Dylan shot to international notice by organising a golf tournament in North Korea and formed Lupine Travel in 2008 offering tourists the chance to visit the closed-off communist totalitarian state as well as Chernobyl and the Trans-Mongolian Railway.

Now his incredible life of globetrotting, which has seen him criss-cross the planet, has been picked up on by one of the most sports clothes manufacturers in the world.

Announcing the collaboration, Dylan tweeted: “My trips to weird places around the world have acted as the inspiration behind a new series of Adidas trainers.

“Worked with Size on all three of the set, the first are out today....Based around the Wadi Rum ultra marathon...”

Dylan helped Adidas choose the destinations for the three trainers and then worked with the sportwear behemoth on the marketing, arranging photo and video shoots to launch them in each of the countries involved.

The first shoe celebrates what must surely be one of the toughest athletics challenges on Earth.

Based in the searing heat and sandy conditions of Jordan, the ultra-marathon sees runners complete an arduous 260km course over five days.

The event starts in the world-famous historic city of Petra before winding through the mountain tombs and into the desert.

The trainer pays tribute to the race and its location with sandy hues across the mesh and orange stripes.

Appropriately Adidas has also incorporated a number of high-tech features to ensure the shoe is rugged and suitable for use outdoors.

Dylan’s announcement of Adidas being inspired by his work generated a fair bit of buzz on social media, with quite a few Wiganers jokingly sending him their shoe sizes to try to get hold of a pair.

Details of the other two pairs of trainers are yet to be unveiled.

Lupine has hit the headlines a number of times in 2019 with announcements of a train journey from Wigan to North Korea and trips to Syria and Rockall, a tiny lump of rock way off the coast of Scotland, generating a great deal of publicity.

Find out more about the firm at www.lupinetravel.co.uk