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Did you know there is an official Nike café in Vancouver? Well, technically only for this weekend.
For marathon week, RunAsYouAre has teamed up with Nike to take over TV Dinner from now until May 3, turning the retro-inspired Kits spot into a hub for runners, crews, and anyone orbiting the race. It also marks the first time Nike has rolled out a full café concept like this in Vancouver, with more of a community clubhouse feel than a branded pop-up.
TV Dinner already feels like a time capsule, with stacks of old TVs flickering overhead and interiors that play into 80s nostalgia. It is part café, part grocer, with freezers stocked with local favourites. It is the kind of place you wander into for a quick coffee and somehow end up staying longer than planned, which makes it a natural fit for marathon week.
For the takeover, the space becomes the RunAsYouAre x Nike Café, with a menu designed around how runners actually fuel. There is a “before the run” side focused on simple, easy-to-digest options that you can eat without second-guessing it mid-stride. On the flip side, the “after the run” menu leans more hearty, built to properly replenish after long kilometres. A limited-edition lineup featuring local faves Dicky’s Dumps, Juice Truck, and Whisked Away rounds things out, giving the space even more local flavour alongside the global brand presence.
Beyond the café, the weekend stretches across the city with 17 different run clubs hosting shakeouts and community runs with RunAsYouAre. Instead of a single central event, it creates a steady rhythm in which people move between crews, routes, and hangouts throughout the weekend. You might start your morning with one group, end up at the café with another, and still run into familiar faces along the way.
Even if you are not running, the setup makes it easy to dip in. TV Dinner sits just a short walk from the cheer station at Cornwall and Burrard, where DJ Rico Uno and the Good Noise Choir will be posted on race day. Yes, really, a choir.
That balance is what RunAsYouAre continues to get right. The focus is not just on those showing off their Strava, but on the wider culture around it, including the people who show up to watch, support, and take part in their own way. Marathon weekend becomes less of a closed loop and more of an open invite.
As always, there is also a tee worth lining up for. This year’s limited edition drop is a three-way collaboration between RunAsYouAre, Nike, and Bryce Aspinall. Known for his character-driven illustrations, Aspinall brings a playful, hyperlocal lens to the design. The graphics draw on familiar city markers like the SkyTrain, the Main Street poodle, the Gastown Steam Clock, and the A-maze-ing Laughter statues, highlighting the in-between moments rather than a finish-line shot.
All of it ties back to the same idea. Marathon weekend is not just about the race. It is about where you end up before, after, and somewhere in between, and for a few days, that place just happens to look like a retro café on Burrard with a swoosh on the door.