It might be possible to outrun your next rent payment — if you live with roommates.
Nike is offering a unique — and highly relevant — prize to two winners of a street race in New York City on August 29: “1 month of free rent.”
“Step to the starting line on Orchard Street for a chance to win one month of rent paid,” the company says.
Participants, who will be chosen by a random drawing, will race in a series of 100-meter dashes, advancing through an undisclosed number of heats before racing in a final round.
At the end of it all, the two fastest participants will each earn up to $4,000, which Nike is marketing as enough for a month’s rent.
For many New Yorkers, though, that might not cover it.
The median Manhattan rental price for a market-rate apartment, where the race is set to occur, soared to $5,000 last month, according to an August report from The Real Deal and appraisal firm Samuel Miller.
Should the winners of the races hail from Queens or Brooklyn, the $4,000 prize will likely be enough, but not by much. According to data from Apartments.com, the average rent for a one-bedroom in Queens is $3,605. In Brooklyn, it’s $3,082.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made lowering the city’s astronomical housing costs a centerpiece of his administration. His signature rent freeze for roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments takes effect this fall, while City Hall is pursuing a broader plan to build and preserve 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade.
Representatives for Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
The race comes as Nike tries to recapture some of the cultural cachet it’s lost in recent years. CEO Elliott Hill, a Nike veteran who returned to lead the company in 2024, has been working to refocus the brand on sports, rebuild relationships with retailers, and revive product innovation after years of losing ground to competitors like Hoka and On.
The turnaround has shown signs of progress in North America, but it’s been slow going. Nike’s shares remain well below their 2021 peak, while weakness in China and other challenges continue to weigh on the company.
