Testing the Mercury Motion Shirts

When I started designing the Mercury Motion shirts, I knew they had to be more than just comfortable - they had to perform. That meant they needed to hold up to everything from tough workouts to crazy adventures. I didn’t want to put them out into the world until I was sure they could handle anything.

Testing started back in October 2024, nearly a year ago now. I pulled in a small crew of friends; marathoners, ultra-runners, hikers, and we put these shirts through the wringer. And when I say “testing,” I don’t just mean a few casual jogs around the block. These shirts have been everywhere:

• Pounded through brutal Midwest winters

• Sweated through the heat of Brazil

• Hiked in the Atacama desert

• Climbed trails in Patagonia

• Logged miles up San Francisco hills and Oregon forests

• Endured hot, humid Wisconsin long runs

• Even stood on the summit of 14ers in Colorado

Every step of the way, we paid attention to how the shirts fit, how the seams held, how the logos lasted, and how the fabric performed when it was soaked with sweat, blasted with sun, or layered under jackets in freezing temps. We washed them. We dried them. And then we washed and dried them again... over and over, because if a shirt can’t hold up to that cycle, it doesn’t belong in your running drawer.

Through it all, Polartec Delta fabric rose to the top. It kept us cool in the heat, dried fast, and stayed comfortable even in those long, grinding runs when other shirts start to chafe or weigh you down.

The latest prototypes have been in testing since February, and they’re still going strong. That’s when I knew I'd nailed it: the fit, the construction and the performance.

I can’t wait for you to put the Mercury Motion shirts through your own adventures. If they can handle everything we threw at them this past year, I’m confident they’ll hold up for whatever you’ve got planned next.

– Ben
Founder, Summit Design Works