We are Boldstance®.
A British running brand for the people who were never supposed to be athletes, and became them anyway.
Boldstance® is a British running brand created by Gold-sun Mhizha. We make running shoes for the unlikely ones. The late starter. The one who was never picked, never the fast kid, never meant to be an athlete, and laced up anyway.
We were not built in a boardroom. We were built by someone who crossed borders from Nairobi to the UK, served in the British Army, and spent years asking what a running shoe should actually be capable of, because he was once the person no one was building for.
The idea took shape long before there was a name on a certificate. Boldstance® was registered as a company in England and Wales in 2023. Company number 14859766. Every shoe we make is designed here.
We started with one shoe. The Zitanos 2.0. Years of development and 47 prototypes before we let anyone else wear it. It is available for pre-order, ships January 2027, and we are taking it to Kickstarter to fund the first production run.
That is who we are. One founder, plus the specialists he brings in for the work that demands them, building something for the people the industry forgot.
Gold-sun Mhizha was born in Nairobi in 1982 and raised in Zimbabwe. After his father passed, he left for South Africa at 21 with nothing guaranteed on the other side. At 23 he was recruited from South Africa into the British Army.
He was the unlikely one long before he built a brand for them. The discipline came after the courage, not before it.
He did not move countries looking for a better running shoe. He moved looking for a future. The shoes existed. What did not exist was a brand built by someone who had crossed those borders and run when the stakes were real.
He has logged more than 10,000 miles developing the Zitanos 2.0. Every mile was a question. Every failed prototype was an answer.
One shoe. Built right.
The Boldstance® Zitanos 2.0 is a hybrid performance trainer, developed through 47 prototypes and more than 10,000 miles of testing across road, treadmill, gravel and wet tarmac before we asked anyone to trust it.
We build it with bio based materials, and we are working toward recycled content too. We will publish the full material breakdown, and any supplier certifications once we hold them, in our first responsibility report. You can read where we stand today on our Sustainability and Ethics page.
The Zitanos 2.0 is cut on a men's last and runs true to size. Women should size down 1.5 from their usual US women's size. See the full Size Guide for conversions.
(UK 8)
stride (tested)
(£129 after launch)
production run
backers
Three things we will not compromise on.
We build for the unlikely one. Not the elite athlete, not the lifestyle buyer. The ordinary person who was never supposed to run, who starts late, starts unfit, starts scared, and stands up anyway. The industry treats them as an afterthought. They are the whole reason we exist.
Sustainability and performance are not a trade off. We build the Zitanos 2.0 with bio based materials and are working toward recycled content, and in testing it returns 72% energy per stride. We are not willing to compromise the run to hit a sustainability number, and we will show our working as we go.
We are straight with the people who back us. This is a pre-order. We are a startup. The first 300 pairs fund production. If we do not hit our target, every backer gets a full refund. We would rather be honest about where we are than pretend to be something we are not yet.
Registered. Accountable. Real.
| Trading name | Boldstance® |
| Registered in | England and Wales |
| Company number | 14859766 |
| Registered | 2023 |
| Founder | Gold-sun Mhizha |
| Press enquiries | press@boldstance.com |
| Stockist enquiries | trade@boldstance.com |
| General contact | boldstance.com/pages/contact-us |
Stand tall. Hold your ground. Dare what others would not.
We are early. We are serious. And we are just getting started.
300 founding pairs. Ships January 2027. Join the unlikely ones and you will wear a Zitanos 2.0 before anyone else on earth.