Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Alameda Runners prides itself on tracking down upstart companies with products and services you may not have heard of. Performance clothing is crucial to many athletes, even though there are only a small handful of companies that cater to us.

That’s why today we’re proud to introduce you to a new clothing company, Enso, which offers compression clothing. Both Ted and I currently wear a couple of Enso products, with a review currently in the works.

“Enso was initially started to bring a clean cut, strong brand to MMA to compete with the gaudy/gothic/skull and death brands like Affliction, Tapout, and the 1,000 other brands that all look alike,” Enso founder and CEO Tim Roche told Alameda Runners. “As much as we love MMA, we didn’t want to confine our brand to one market and chose to represent all athletes that compete individually.”

The company currently offers compression and athletic performance t-shirts, according to Roche, who also said board shorts, fighting sorts, yoga pants, and other products are in the pipeline. 

Opening up a clothing line — especially for the finicky athletic and MMA communities — can be an extremely difficult business to crack into.

“It’s very risky, but we’ve carved out several niche markets where we believe we can get our foot in the door with a little more ease than most brands. Basic compression clothing is dominated by Under Armour. Finally companies are providing designed compression and finding new innovative ways to print on compression material to avoid the traditional cracking/flaking of designs/logos. Enso will be at the forefront of both of these.”

Read the rest of the interview with Enso after the jump. 

The purpose of Enso is to offer quality clothing while also helping to inspire athletes.

“We’re one of the few companies that sublimates our designs to our shirts which will allow the design to out last the material in our apparel. The Enso symbol will act as a spiritual reminder to athletes that their talent is buried within and they they need to hone and practice their skills to reach their goals.”

To help promote the company this summer, Roche plans to attend CagedInk and Project by Magic in August. Next month at the Home Depot Center, Enso will sponsor several athletes during the 2010 CrossFit Games event.

Enso made an appearance at the UFC Fan Expo to show off their wares.  MMA athlete sponsorships are vital for the company in the future.

If you’d like to learn more about Enso, please visit the company’s official Facebook page and  official site.

Editors note:  If you see Ted at an event when the temperature is lower than 70 F, there is a good chance he has an Enso shirt under his running shirt.