The Berlin Braves, founded 12 years ago by Joey Elgersma, helped pave the way for run clubs of today and are a legendary fixture in the global community. Part of the "Bridge the Gap" movement, the Braves along with NYC's BridgeRunners, London's Run Dem Crew, Paris Run Club, Patta Running Team, NBRO, and others, functioned to be the connective cultural tissue for runners from every corner of the world.  

Needless to say, it's an honor and a privilege for us to collaborate with the Braves and we're super grateful for the opportunity. We caught up with Joey to learn his Braves origin story and get some local recommendations for this weekend in Berlin.

Without further adieu...

Joey, tell the people a little bit about yourself, would ya?

Thanks for having me!! I'm the tall ginger giant that looks a bit like Steve Finley’s older brother and is often spotted BTS at our running and basketball events. 

I'm a proud husband, and father of two. I'm also the founder of the Berlin Braves, and run a small creative studio with my beautiful wife Mayra called: Pretty Good GmbH. I'm originally from Amsterdam, moved to Berlin in 2010 and quickly fell in love with running and the community aspect of it. 

What gets you out of bed?

Obviously my family, but the variety of projects we work on gets me going every day. I'm a guy that needs a lot of different spices and ingredients to keep going, so I feel blessed everyday that I'm still able to stir things up.

On top of that, it’s my goal to make Berlin Braves the name and platform that can live on strongly and keep inspiring—set the right example in sports for many years to come and even when I am long gone.. ✌️

Before we get into how The Braves started, let’s talk about what The Braves is… A professional basketball team? A run club? A creative studio? An elite party organization? All of the above?

All of the above for sure 😂 I was never able to define what I wanted to be when I grew up because I liked too many different things. The Berlin Braves are definitely a (semi) grown up reflection of that ;)

We are first and foremost a sports club. Actually two of them! One registered club is focused on running and the other one is basketball. 

Second to that, we're a trademarked brand that operates hand-in-hand with my creative studio across design, photography, film, graphics, art and events. This combination has been very fruitful over the years and has led Berlin Braves to become a known platform for creatives who want to experiment and do cool shit. Therefore, I see it more as our own microcosm that keeps embracing and building with those who love what we do. 

Okay, so take us back to a little place called 2012 when you started The Berlin Braves. How’d it all come to be?

In 2012, I was working for a big trade show called Bread and Butter, which was twice a year at Tempelhofer Airfield. There I ran into a Native American logo on an abandoned basketball court on top of the entrance hall. 

Coming from American sports myself, I was curious what it was... I began doing research and found that during the Cold War from 1954 through to when the Berlin Wall came down, the American allies had various varsity teams under the name of  Berlin Braves- USAF-TAB. The deeper I dug into it, the more fascinating it became to me. So few people knew about the rich American sports history in Berlin. I ended up meeting some great people who were part of the OG Braves. 

Simultaneously, I started organizing weekly runs from Mitte and Tempelhofer Field, just to connect with my friends outside of clubs and bars. Later that year, we all signed up for the Berlin Half Marathon and the registration form asked what the name of our team was...

I quickly decided to call ourselves the modern day Berlin Braves. To honor the past, but do something completely new and exciting. 

That same half marathon, I met Charlie Dark, Mike Saes, Jessie Zapo, Anders and Troels from NBRO, Jay Black Rainbow (who at the time ran Paris Run Club), and Edson & Jermaine from Patta Running Team. We were all connected through the work we’ve done with the Swoosh and that‘s where Charlie and Mike kickstarted the Bridge The Gap connection and we‘ve been nurturing that birth ever since ❤️

As was unveiled this week, our collaboration isn’t exactly your run of the mill products. What was your goal for this project & what did you want to accomplish together?

Simon Naschberger and me (shoutout to my gorgeous tiger, aka the connector between team Bandit and the Berlin Braves), we wanted to do something that has never been seen before on a marathon course and something that could really elevate the women on the Braves to the super heroines they are 🦹‍♀️🦸🏿‍♀️

He pushed me to focus on those products and after one brainstorm session together, we knew exactly which direction we wanted to go in! We made a strong moodboard and in the very first meeting with Ardith, Ale, and the team Bandit team, we were all aligned and excited. We took straight off 🚀

Fun fact: this was directly after the 2023 Berlin Marathon, so it took us nearly a year to finesse the designs and produce the capsule. Special thank you to Ardith, Ale and co. for the patience and many back and forth conversations. It was a diligent process and it paid off. We appreciate you very much! 

We spent nearly a year together on calls—working through everything from creating the product, to bringing the campaign to life, and now to hosting a pop-up together. What has been your favorite part about working together? 

The creative process with the design team for sure, and eventually receiving the samples in Berlin and shooting the campaign with Tim, John and our photographer Ruben Schmitz. The most beautiful thing is that while we all build differently, we trusted each other and just went all in. We knew very early on that we were collectively creating a debut hit album.

The most exciting part will be seeing everyone wear the capsuel during the weekend or around the world (maybe during race day or when you go surfing or on the dance floor). We see you 👀 Tag us, please as we did this one for all of you! 🫂

Berlin Speed round: 

• Favorite restaurant: Alte Wien (Schnitzel) - Sticks & Sushi and Klub Kitchen
• Favorite bar: Ask Simon, I'm old! 😂
• Favorite place to run: Hasenheide and Tempelhofer Feld and Volkspark Friedrichshain
• Favorite neighborhood: Prenzlauerberg (family) and Kreuzberg (work)
• Favorite stores: Voo Store, Supreme, Paul‘s Boutique, Superconcious, Acne Studios, Flat Mountain Living, Berlin Braves HQ

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Thank you to Joey and the Braves!