HOKA ONE ONE® Revives Tradition of U.S. High School 2-Mile Postal Competitions in 2014

RICHMOND, Calif., June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- HOKA ONE ONE®, a division of Deckers Outdoor Corporation DECK, is pleased to announce its revival of cross country racing tradition with the 2014 HOKA ONE ONE National High School 2-mile Postal Competition. In an effort to support the growth of American distance running, HOKA ONE ONE will reward high school teams across the United States for their outstanding performances in a unique, season-long challenge starting August 15.

Modeled after the "Postal" races of the mid-20^th century, the HOKA ONE ONE National High School 2-mile Postal Competition will award regional and national champions across a series of events taking place throughout the U.S. through December 15.

"There are many great high school cross country programs throughout the country – and most do not get a chance to measure themselves outside of their own state," says HOKA ONE ONE president Jim Van Dine. "The beauty of the Postal competition is that any high school can compete at any time during the season and see how they stack up against other schools throughout the country. We see it as a great way to support coaches building their programs."

Originally founded in the 1950s and run through the 1980s, the "Postal" concept comprised a nationwide series of races run on tracks during the cross country season. The results would determine an unofficial national high school cross country team champion by totaling the times of the top five runners from each participating team. The 2-mile distance run on a track ensured the accuracy of the nationwide competition and coaches from around the country would mail their team times to a central reporting body, which would name the champions.

HOKA ONE ONE's reboot of the event series will feature online results management, and coaches can submit runners' times to a customized interactive database at Runnerspace.com. Real time results will allow participants to immediately measure themselves against national and regional competition.

"We will have a national champion, but we will also have regional winners and awards for those teams who meet certain time standards," says Van Dine. "For example, having a boys' team averaging under 10 minutes or a girls' team averaging under 11 minutes is worthy of recognition."

Soul Focus Sports will produce three competitions, with one each in Northern California, Southern California and the East Coast. Coinciding with these national flagship events, regional HOKA ONE ONE National High School 2-mile Postal Competitions will take place across the country, with dozens of schools hosting local Postal meets between August 15 and December 15.

HOKA ONE ONE encourages teams to start hosting and attending local events on August 15. For more information, please visit: http://www.hokaoneone.com/postalnationals.

Two-time USA National Cross Country coach Peanut Harms adds, "A lot of coaches already have their kids run some type of track race – a mile or two – at the start of the season to gauge the runners' fitness. The HOKA ONE ONE National High School 2-mile Postal Competition will allow schools to participate in a more official manner. We will encourage schools to participate in more than one Postal competition to measure improvement throughout the season."

About HOKA ONE ONE

HOKA ONE ONE was founded in 2009 by Jean-Luc Diard and Nicolas Mermoud and was created to design shoes that offer improved performance primarily for ultrarunners. Deckers Outdoor Corp. acquired the brand in late 2012 and is investing to broaden the product line to service all runners. Due to HOKA ONE ONE's unique ability to provide cushioning while still offering stability, runners of all types may greatly benefit from its products. For more information, please visit www.hokaoneone.com

About Deckers Outdoor Corporation
Deckers Outdoor Corporation is a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel and accessories developed for both everyday casual lifestyle use and high performance activities. The Company's portfolio of brands includes UGG® Australia, Teva®, Sanuk®, TSUBO®, Ahnu®, MOZO®, and HOKA ONE ONE®. Deckers Outdoor products are sold in more than 50 countries and territories through select department and specialty stores, 120 Company-owned and operated retail stores, and select online stores, including Company-owned websites. Deckers Outdoor has a 40-year history of building niche footwear brands into lifestyle market leaders attracting millions of loyal consumers globally. For more information please visit www.deckers.com.

Contact:
Maria Hidalgo | Backbone Media
maria.hidalgo@backbonemedia.net
970.963.4873 x143

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131023/LA03170LOGO

SOURCE HOKA ONE ONE