Product Details
Sunny and bustling days on the Charles River provided the inspiration for this collaboration between two American brands: Article One and Tracksmith, which share a commitment to premium craftsmanship and design. The collaboration brings together Article One’s expertise in high-quality frames and optics with Tracksmith’s innate understanding of the runner. The Charles is crafted in Northern Italy from TR90 polymer plastic with Divel CR-39 Polarized lenses. The lenses feature an extra anti-reflective coating on the back to counteract reflection from the eye and roadways. Lightweight and flexible, the Charles is designed to stay put at high speeds thanks to silicone nose and ear pads that grip and hold and a wire core skeleton you can squeeze tight during a workout and let loose after.  The result is an original and innovative frame that celebrates the lore of Italian eyewear manufacturing with specific details to enhance the runner’s experience.

The Name
Like the Marathon, the Charles River begins in Hopkinton and ends in Boston. While the course stretches 26.2 miles through eight communities, the Charles passes through 23 towns over eighty twisting miles to find its way to Boston and the sea. Following the retreat of glaciers thousands of years ago, the Native Americans who settled along the river called it Quinobequin, meaning meandering or circular. In the 17th century, the ill-fated British King Charles I renamed it for himself.

Today, the Charles is the recreational heart of the city. From sunrise to sunset, athletes of all persuasions–runners and rowers, cyclists and sailors, novices and Olympians–flock to its shores to train. With more than 20 miles of mostly flat paths stretching from the Watertown Dam to the Boston Harbor, the river offers a welcome respite from the rolling hills of the Marathon course and provides ample mileage for everything from long runs to speed work on soft surfaces. As the main artery for the city’s vibrant running community, it’s one of the few places in the world where amateurs routinely share a training ground with gold medalists.