Our Story

Hi - I’m Matt, owner and founder of Mile/1 Running Vests. 

I started running when I was 11. That one decision shaped the next two decades of my life — four years competing in the NCAA, national titles, representing GB at European and World level, and more recently taking on Ironman.

Somewhere along the way, I ran into a problem every club seems to hit eventually: getting decent custom vests made. The choice was stark. Pay £75+ per vest and commit to a 50-unit minimum order for genuinely good fabric and seamless construction — or go cheaper, but settle for inferior material and seams that don’t hold up. There was no middle ground.

And when we did occasionally get fabric options, the club could never agree — too much choice, not enough clarity, no way to actually feel the difference before committing.

Mile/1 exists to fix all of that. Direct-to-factory sourcing means no middlemen and no inflated markup, so you get genuinely good quality — proper fabric, clean seams — without the premium price or the enormous minimum order. And instead of guessing, every club gets physical samples and fabric swatches sent out first, so the decision is easy, not overwhelming.

I know what actually matters in a running vest, because I’ve raced in enough of them to know what fails and what lasts. Mile/1 is built on that experience — and priced so every club can access it, not just the ones who can afford to buy 50 at a time.”