The Runner’s Runway

PRESENTED BY ZOOM

Happy Thursday, Future Party. Here’s something that may come as a surprise — games are still being made for the SEGA Dreamcast. The latest is a survival horror game called White Creek. In case you don’t remember (or are too young to remember), the SEGA Dreamcast was discontinued all the way back in 2001. Yet, people are still able to make games by hacking its GD-ROM format, which lets developers create games on standard CDs without changing anything about the console itself. That’s something that would never happen today.

New running apparel and footwear brands that prioritize fashion and performance are picking up speed in popularity.

Why It Hits: Running has become more than just fitness — it’s now a bona fide social gathering. As a result, athletes are looking their best for the occasion. Like streetwear before it, the ability to show off your personality and get your hands on exclusive items communicates the persona you’re trying to project… even when covered in sweat.

Behind The Looks: Running has never been hotter, and people are spending thousands of dollars to look cool while doing it, according to Bloomberg.

Last Lap: All this spending has led to 10% growth in US sales of running-specific apparel (nearly $1 billion annually) and 12% growth in running shoe sales ($7.7 billion), according to Circana. That has coincided with the surge in popularity of all types of running, including run clubs (sometimes backed by celebrities) and marathons. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association found that 52.3 million Americans ran or jogged last year.

At least everyone’s getting their steps in.

Prediction: With a Strava survey finding that 30% of Gen Z plans to spend more on fitness apparel this year, expect the biggest trend in fashion to be clothes that work just as well for running as they do for everyday life. No one has time to change.

Chat in one app, docs in another, scheduling in a third.

Every subscription adds cost, and every app switch breaks your focus.

Zoom Workplace brings meetings, chat, phone, mail, docs, whiteboards, and scheduling together in one platform — with Zoom AI built in to summarize meetings, draft messages, and keep follow-ups moving.

That means one login, one bill, and the reliability you already trust from Zoom.

For small teams, consolidating your tech stack could mean real monthly savings compared to paying for separate point solutions.

See how much of your tech stack you can retire.

Simplify now.

An upcoming Qantas route will connect travelers directly from Australia to London or New York, creating the world’s longest commercial passenger flight.

The Big Picture: Over the past few years, travel has gotten a major upgrade — air taxis are starting to roll out, people can travel to the edge of space, and supersonic flight is getting closer to a green light. While the destination will always be the most important part, the journey is becoming an experience in its own right.

Behind The Trip: When Qantas’ Project Sunrise is ready to roll, its flights will last a whopping 22 hours.

Final Destination: There’s already plenty of interest in these new flights, if online activity is any indication. Qantas’ recent test flight from Melbourne to Toulouse, France, was tracked by 3.6 million people on Flightradar24, making it the second-most tracked flight in the site’s history. The only flight to draw more attention was the Royal Air Force flight that carried Queen Elizabeth’s coffin in 2022, which attracted more than 5 million viewers.

The test flight covered 12,460 nautical miles in 24 hours and 24 minutes, potentially making it the longest nonstop flight ever. Qantas is now working with Guinness to determine whether it officially set a world record.

The Future: Longer flights mean more pressure to offer reliable internet access, so expect the bidding war between satellite service providers to heat up.

The skin around your eyes ages decades faster than the rest of your face.

Collagen declines, hydration drops, and the skin becomes thinner and more fragile, leading to fine lines, crepiness, and a loss of firmness that’s hard to ignore.

OneSkin’s OS-01 EYE Cream was formulated specifically for this ultra-vulnerable area.

Its highly potent concentration of OS-01 Peptide™ — a patented molecule developed by longevity scientists to target senescent cells, which accumulate faster in the skin around the eyes — delivers visible results: smoother texture, fewer fine lines, and more resilient skin.

In lab studies, OS-01 EYE increased collagen by +130%, helping support the structural foundation healthy skin needs for firmness and volume.

And with 100% of participants reporting an improved overall appearance and 96% reporting better hydration, the results speak for themselves.

Support stronger, healthier-looking skin around your eyes with OS-01 EYE.

50.8% of you voted No, I’d rather buy my devices in yesterday’s poll: Would you ever rent an Apple device instead of buying one?

“It has become difficult to move through the modern world without a cell phone. If these devices have become so expensive that leasing looks like an attractive option, we’ve lost the plot. This is just another slippery slope that increases economic disparity.”

“Leasing is a sign that a product is now too expensive for the market the product serves.”

“Basically feels like what I’m already doing via my AT&T plan.”

“Given how quickly phones change and battery life slowly dwindles, I feel like I’m buying one every few years anyway, so I’d consider leasing one. It’s really sad that we’re even talking about having to lease a phone.”

“Sure! If my Apple phone were lost or stolen, and I needed a replacement quickly at a low cost, this would be a great option.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🤘 Sony Music, UMG, Warner Music, and nine other record labels are pushing to disqualify AI-generated songs from the charts.

🎥 The Sundance Film Festival plans to expand the number of films and TV shows it accepts as it prepares for its inaugural event in Boulder.

🏌️ LIV Golf canceled its season-ending finale as the Saudi-backed pro golf league runs out of money.

👀 OpenAI’s rogue AI hack affected more than just Hugging Face — the models also gained access to four other platforms.

🤖 The US government has banned the import of new Chinese-made humanoid robots… which, apparently, also includes Roombas.

🚗 Waymo is getting the green light to drive on freeways again.

💻 LinkedIn is rolling out collab posts as it pushes further into the creator economy.

🤳 Gap wants to turn its employees into content creators.

📱 You can now chat with Meta’s AI in your Threads DMs.