From the Oval Office to the marathon start.
Bill Clinton's morning miles. Tom Fleming's New York victory. Harry Styles on a Manhattan training run. A century of New Balance running history in one guide.
How to read this guide: A training shoe sighting is different from a verified race-day shoe. We identify the models supported by reporting and note when a celebrity's exact marathon shoe is unknown.
120 years of New Balance running history
From specialized arch support to the five-borough marathon, these milestones explain the brand's place in distance running.
A running brand before celebrity sneaker culture. New Balance's story begins in Boston in 1906. Its shoes were part of the New York City Marathon long before today's celebrity charity teams and branded race-week events.
Arch support beginnings
William J. Riley starts New Balance in Boston, building supports and orthopedic footwear around the idea of more stable, comfortable feet.
First running shoes
New Balance makes a spiked running shoe for the Boston Brown Bag Harriers, a local running club.
The Trackster
New Balance introduces the Trackster in multiple widths. Its own history identifies the Trackster as the first New Balance shoe to cross a marathon finish line in 1961.
Tom Fleming wins NYC in the 320
Tom Fleming wins the New York City Marathon in a New Balance 320, according to the brand's historical archive. His 2:19:27 victory is the last men's win on the original Central Park-only route.
The 320 earns acclaim
Runner's World rates the New Balance 320 its leading running shoe, helping establish the brand in the expanding running market.
The 990 arrives
New Balance releases the 990, a performance-running model with a then-unusual $100 retail price.
Bill Clinton's New Balance jogs
Photographs and contemporary reporting document Clinton jogging in New Balance shoes during the campaign and his presidency.
New Balance and NYRR
After an alliance announced in 2015, New Balance becomes the marathon's official athletic footwear and apparel sponsor in 2017, a partnership continuing for the 2026 race.
History sources: New Balance company history; New Balance Japan archive (1975 shoe); New York Road Runners' Tom Fleming Hall of Fame; New Balance sponsor history.
Before the celebrity sneaker era
Two documented connections link New Balance to running culture and the original New York City Marathon.
Bill Clinton: the president who jogged in New Balance
Long before the modern sneaker-influencer era, Bill Clinton was photographed running in New Balance sneakers. Getty Images has an archival photograph from November 14, 1992 showing the president-elect holding New Balance shoes for a post-golf jog. Photographs also show Clinton running along the Santa Monica waterfront during the 1992 campaign. Although some later captions label that 1992 shoe as a New Balance 1400, New Balance's own archive dates the M1400 release to 1994. We therefore do not assign a confirmed model to the 1992 jog. A 1993 White House photograph published by GQ shows him in New Balance after a jog.
His New Balance connection extends beyond a single pair. Sneaker News identifies the New Balance 1500 among Clinton's regular 1990s sneaker sightings, and documents Clinton and Al Gore wearing the New Balance 997. Specific photographs and model identifications vary by event, so these are historical sightings, not a claim that one model was his only running shoe.
Clinton's runs were substantial. In September 1994, The Washington Post reported that he routinely ran three to five miles in the morning, often near the National Mall and Capitol, at approximately an eight-minute-per-mile pace. He also wore other running brands: contemporary reporting in 1992 documented him wearing Asics.
Sources: Getty Images 1992 archive; GQ's 1993 photograph; Sneaker News footwear identification; Washington Post 1994 running profile; Los Angeles Times 1992 reporting.
Tom Fleming's 1975 New York City Marathon win: a New Balance milestone
Fleming connects the company's shoe history directly to this race. The New Jersey runner won the 1973 and 1975 NYC Marathons, both held entirely in Central Park. New Balance's Japanese heritage page specifically identifies his 1975 winning shoe as the New Balance 320. NYRR records his 1975 time as 2:19:27. That was the year before the marathon first expanded to all five boroughs.
For the New York City Marathon guide, Fleming offers something more meaningful than a modern celebrity shoe sighting: a documented New Balance victory from the event's original era.
Sources: New Balance historical archive; NYRR Hall of Fame; NYC Marathon history.
Celebrities who ran in New Balance
Training runs, marathon finish lines and Team New Balance appearances. Each profile separates the documented model from the wider affiliation.
Dylan Efron: running the 2026 NYC Marathon with New Balance
New York Road Runners lists Dylan Efron, known for The Traitors and Dancing with the Stars, among the celebrities entered for the November 1, 2026 TCS New York City Marathon. Its official announcement specifically identifies him as running with New Balance.
Efron told Page Six in July 2026 that he uses the New Balance 1080v15 for high-mileage training. He named a different brand for racing, so the 1080v15 should be described as his training shoe rather than his confirmed 2026 marathon race-day shoe.
Sources: New York Road Runners 2026 celebrity lineup and Page Six interview.
Harry Styles: New Balance 1080v14 on the streets of Manhattan
On March 11, 2026, Harry Styles was photographed running in New York City wearing white New Balance 1080v14 sneakers. GQ and Canadian Running both identified the model. He finished the 2025 Berlin Marathon in 2:59:13, but the New York training sighting does not mean he wore New Balance for that race.
The detail many runners will recognize is his choice of a cushioned daily trainer for a regular run rather than a lightweight race-day shoe.
Sources: Canadian Running and GQ.
Matt James: New Balance SuperComp Trainer at the 2022 NYC Marathon
Former Bachelor lead Matt James has a clear race-day shoe connection. Outside's 2022 New York City Marathon footwear report identified him in New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer shoes when he finished in 3:46:45. James is also listed among the celebrities entered for the 2026 event, although his 2026 race-day shoe has not been established.
Sources: Outside's 2022 race shoe report and NYRR 2026 announcement.
Zdeno Chara: New Balance's marathon-running hockey legend
Former NHL defenseman Zdeno Chara ran the 2023 NYC Marathon with Team New Balance. Before the race, he discussed his preference for the FuelCell SuperComp Elite v3 and the cushioning and carbon-fiber construction he valued as a taller, heavier runner. This is a documented shoe preference, not independent proof of his exact race-day pair.
Sources: Chara's New Balance interview and ABC7's 2023 participant coverage.
Harry Hudson and Laura Dreyfuss: Team New Balance in 2023
Singer-songwriter Harry Hudson and actor-singer Laura Dreyfuss both represented Team New Balance at the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon. Official race reporting lists Hudson's finish at 5:30:55 and Dreyfuss's at 6:33:38. Their specific running shoe models have not been independently confirmed, so we are not assigning them a pair.
Sources: NYRR's 2023 results summary and ABC7 lineup.
What should everyday runners take from these choices?
There is no single celebrity-approved marathon shoe. The 1080 family appears here as an everyday training option, the SuperComp Trainer as a high-cushion performance trainer, and the SuperComp Elite as a race-focused family. Your training, fit, and comfort matter more than a famous runner's footwear.
If you are comparing shoes after marathon weekend, explore New Balance running shoes at Confluence Running, including current models, sizes, widths, and earlier versions. For race-week plans, visit our 2026 New York City Marathon Guide and New Balance race-week guide.
