This notion has been floating around our trail media world and I’ve been sitting on it for a bit trying to make sense of it all. Matt Trappe wrote about it on his Substack ‘A Matter of Brand’. (The article is now for paid subscribers only, so I can’t link to it, sadly.)

My initial response was that it’s just plain false.

• Running is one of the oldest sports.
• Skateboarding is one of the newest sports.

• Skateboarding has always been an underground, counter culture sport.
• Running is one of the most established, mainstream sports.

• Skateboading is about tricks.
• Running is about endurance.

But then I spoke with a younger filmmaker working in the trail running space and it got me thinking. Many our media creators and influencers have been growing up with skateboarding films, and the brands and culture around it as their inspiration. And while I don’t believe the sport, as an activity performed by the athletes, can be compared to each other, I do think that the media creators are being inspired by skateboarding culture in the way they are telling today’s modern running stories. This can be witnessed especially in the popularity of the city road running clubs which have been courted by brands left and right. These clubs are dating scenes. Folks meet to run for fun, not for competition. Fashion is an important factor and showing off indie brands which are NOT the established giants in our sport are hot right now.

So yes, the current creators and voices in our sport have been inspired in their youth by skateboarding culture and are now bringing this to running in their adult life. Skating is hard as an old person after all. Running still works, mostly.

Creators are looking to communicate with visuals that transcend the seemingly boring motion of putting one foot on front of the other. Insert more movement, more edginess and urban fashion clothing. Running just does not have the tricks.

Via press announcement:

The Trail Running Film Festival is thrilled to announce that Simone Martin-Newberry, a visionary artist, digital illustrator, and essayist, has been selected as the 2025 Poster Artist.

Humbled I get to work with artists like Simone and build this incredible tradition. This is our second artist collab and I just absolutely love doing this kind of work.

I cannot wait to see the merch Territory Run Co. is working on.

Finally an AI application that might actually be useful and worth the carbon it’s using:

Satellite imagery that’s currently used for active firefighting is available at a low resolution or only updated a few times a day, making it difficult to detect fires smaller than a soccer field. To address this challenge, Google Research has been partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to expand our existing work on fire simulation and develop FireSat, a purpose-built satellite constellation. FireSat provides highly detailed insights, useful data for ecological intervention, and novel ground truth that will allow scientists and machine learning experts to study fire propagation and risk.

It’s always such a novel idea when a California-based tech company is actually working on making their state, which is heavily affected by wildfires, a better place to live. And possibly the planet, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, this is Google after all, it’s probably just a play to insert ads into National Forest land.

And it’s not on Substack – figure that. It’s … “on Patagonia“? Not sure how this will work, but I like it:

I’ll bring reflections and insights from a life fully dedicated to climbing. I’ll share stories and conversations with friends, many of whom have also dedicated themselves to the climbing life. You’ll hear about folks who are on the cutting edge of our sport and its various disciplines, and about those fighting to protect the places we climb. 

Is this Patagonia getting into the “newsletter game”. The brand that has previously heavily invested into beautifully made films is “pivoting to the written word”?

Newsletters, so hot right now.

As previously announced (somewhere, I can’t find where I hard read this before) there would be a new ‘major’ in the UTMB World Series for the Oceania region, and now we have the details:

HOKA Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB, the largest trail running festival in the Southern Hemisphere, has today been announced as the newest UTMB World Series Major and is set to take its place on the global stage in 2025 as one of four pinnacle events.

UTMB will be adding a 100M distance to the already sold out event held in May of 2025, and everyone is getting double the stones – nice.

And speaking of ” largest trail running festival in the Southern Hemisphere”. Even before the addition of the 100M race this event had over 7,000 registered runners. Incredible.

The ECC UMTB World Series Calendar is updated.

Speaking of apps that integrate into the Strava eco system, Suunto watches sync with your phone through the ‘Suunto’ app. That app actually displays quite a bit of data. I never looked at as an option to see if it would be sufficient for me. I’m just way to comfortable in the Strava system and know (mostly) where everything is to bother with another app – which is what Strava is banking on – but maybe it’s time to look at other apps and see what they offer, like the app my watch comes with.

But this is not what this post is about. This is about Courtney Dauwalter’s amazing new ‘Suunto Race S Titanium Courtney’ watch. Taking a page out of the Coros partnership playbook, Suunto is releasing a special watch that is really just a special strap, in partnership with one of their sponsored athletes. The watch is already amazing. I own the Race, and the Race S is just the smaller cousin, but what makes this ‘Courtney watch’ so amazing is the strap… it glows in the dark.

Together with the ultra running pro, Courtney Dauwalter, we introduce a unique design that is inspired by her infectious joy and vibrant personality, and extreme resilience to pain.
…
The lightest watch in our portfolio, Race S in titanium, is now out with a fresh, new design. Its strap is vibrant and colorful in daylight, but comes nighttime, the strap comes to life and glows in the dark, revealing Courtney’s mantra – believe, in her handwriting.

And yes, you can just buy the strap by itself.

DC Rainmaker with the story:

Based on these API terms changes, I don’t see how any apps can leverage Strava data going forward.

So, Strava does what every other social media platform has done in the past couple of years: Decided that good-heartedness is over and it’s time to crack the whip. Reddit, Twitter, they all went down that road.

I feel at times that Strava wakes up each morning, heads to work, looks out over the San Francisco Bay from their offices, and asks itself: How can we anger our users and partners today? How can we make everyone’s life more difficult today?

I’d venture that they don’t look at the Bay to come up with these ideas, I bet they just look at what their peers are doing and say “if they get away with it, so can we”. It’s lame, it’s unsurprising, and it’s time for each user to review their usage of the app and decide of there’s another way.

Yes, it’s silly off season in the trail world and we gotta focus on something here. (TRE starts tomorrow and there will be announcements of new gear). But since I’ve shared some lottery numbers for Hardrock and Western States, the Lavardo one I thought was worth sharing as well:

• Lavaredo 120K: 3,422 pre-registrations 
• Lavaredo 80K: 3,157 pre-registrations 
• Lavaredo 50K: 5,435 pre-registrations 
• Lavaredo 20K: 2,745 pre-registrations 

That’s a total of 14,759 pre-registered athletes hoping to grab a spot in one of the races.

If the numbers of bibs available stay about the same in 2025 as they were in 2024 this would break down as such:

• 120K ~1500-1600 bibs (roughly 1 in 2 chance of getting in)
• 80K ~1000 bibs (roughly 1 in 3 chance of getting in)
• 50K ~1600 bibs (roughly 1 in 3 chance of getting in)
• 20K ~600 bibs (roughly 1 in 4.5 chance of getting in)

I got my name in for the 120K and I hope I DO NOT get picked. I didn’t get picked last year and if I remember correctly the email I received, then after not getting picked twice in a row I would get an automatic entry for the following year. And to be honest, that would work a lot better with my travel plans. But we shall see what happens on November 22nd (or December 2nd for the follow up lottery).

For folks playing the game this is not news, but I still thought it was worth mentioning:
Both the Hardrock 100 and the Western States lottery are currently accepting entries. The draws happen (as always) on the first Saturday in December, which in 2024 is December 7th. Yes, both lottery draws happen on the same day. Why? I don’t know, but clearly this is the one day of the year when most American runners will skip their long run on Saturday morning and instead will be glued into one, or both of the livestreams.

• Enter the Hardrock lottery on UltraSignup. The entry fee for 2025 is $466 (including platform fees). As of this writing there are 2,986 applicants for the ~150 spots.
• For the Western States lottery process visit their custom-built web portal. The entry fee for 2025 is $475 + the online fee, this should bring the total over $500, which might be a first for a 100 mile trail race.

Unsurprisingly the numbers of lottery applicants and tickets in the lottery for the 2025 Western States break all records. I am linking here to Mel Macfarlane’s Substack who shared the news in her Trail Snacks Issue 31, as the Western States race director Craig Thornley still posts these stats on X/Twitter:

We have exceeded our record number of lottery applicants and ticket counts with registration open for another 8 days. Over 9400 applicants with more than 65,000 tickets. The drawing is on Dec 7. We will start exactly 369 runners in June.

Again, these are unsurprising numbers and only put more pressure on the Western States board to try to figure out how to continue to respond to the growing interest in our sport. What’s the more interesting part here is that WS still uses X/Twitter as communication tool. At a time when even Keith Dunn, the unofficial/official Barkley Marathons spokesperson, who had used Twitter exclusively during the event over the past few years, has moved on to BlueSky.

I was just involved in a lengthy conversation online about who the GOATs in our sport are and that made me wonder what François D’Haene is up to. The answer:

Running your first 50K is always going to be an intimidating experience, but it’s a little easier when you’ve got an ultra-running legend for company. At the @tsaigu 50K in China’s Zhejiang Province, @francois_dhaene paced and supported Salomon China employee Fred through his first 50K.

Pacing at a 50K in China. Which is exactly what genuine nice guy like François would do, and probably also what his sponsor asks him to do, as China is becoming a huge market for Salomon.

Run the Alps expands beyond the Alps:

Join us for a springtime trip to Provence, France! We’ll run through olive groves, pine forests and along herb-lined trails, spending our nights in historic villages as we take in the local culture, amid cool temps and without the crowds.

With the mountains still covered in snow in most regions this just sounds lovely for an early season excursion.

Episode 312 with Alex Rienzie:

On September 2, 2024 Michelino Sunseri set a new speed record on Grand Teton in 2h 50m 50s. It was supposed to be a new FKT, beating an old record that has stood for over 12 years. What ensued afterwards turned an epic run into a much talked about news story, a social media fire storm, and an eventual lawsuit. Friend of Michelino, Alex Rienzie was out on the trails that day and shares his observations and some background info on all of it. Alex joined Singletrack on his own initiative and any views expressed are his alone.

LINKS

• Alex Rienzie’s detailed report on Grizzlies and Avalanches
• Michelino Sunseri’s Strava upload of this run
• Fastest Known Time – Grand Teton
• Cover photo by Connor Burkesmith

Announced on LinkedIn (and auto-translated):

We’re excited to introduce the all-new Statistics tab, which provides a comprehensive view of data before, during, and after each event. 
…
The statistics are scalable and available at all times, giving you in-depth analysis throughout the event. 

The stats the LiveTrail technology gathers and displays are truly ahead of any competition. Their data is what powers UTMB races and sets the standards of what it means to be able to follow an ultra event live, online. The company behind that technology is run by several family members of the Poletti family who also are involved in managing the UTMB World Series.

Announced on Instagram with:

Sign up for early access to the Kboix01 preorder (limited stock) at the link in our bio.

I linked here to the Instagram announcement as I couldn’t find the relevant link in the bio of their Instagram account. What I did find is the link to the product announcement:

The NNormal Kboix 01 is a modular, multi-sport shoe designed with three interchangeable midsoles to adapt to various terrains, intensities, and body types.

Will be fascinating to see how this futuristic design will hold up in the real world. And maybe even more so what the launch price will be. Do you think it will be over $300 for a pair?

While I’m talking about NNormal, I really appreciate their new repair program:

Partnering with the global network of Vibram-certified cobblers, we now offer free minor repairs on all our shoes.

If you want to view the link to the repair program overview, be sure to stay on the country specific pages of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where the program currently is offered. This does make me think of how often I replace shoes due to issues with the outer part of the shoe, like the soles. Usually I consider a pair of shoes to have run its course when the foam feels dead or the inside, especially the heel cup is torn to shreds.

The full (current) list of all North American UTMB World Series events have been announced:

• 11-13 April – Desert RATS Trail Running Festival
• 25-26 April – Canyons Endurance Runs
• 25-26 Juli – Speedgoat Mountain Races
• 19-21 September – Grindstone Trail Running Festival
• 27-28 September – Ultra Trail Whistler
• 2-4 October – Chihuahua Mexico
• 10-12 October – Kodiak Ultra Marathons (American Major)

Events missing from this list are Western States (25-26 April) and Puerto Vallarta, which happened just this past weekend in Mexico and I assume no 2025 date has been confirmed yet. Puerto Vallarta will not be part of the UTMB World Series in 2025 as confirmed via the Ultra Trail Whistler Instagram account.

I added all these dates to the ECC UTMB events calendar.

As a side note: This announcement puts UTMB at five events in the US and just today Aravaipa announced the acquisition of five events in Colorado alone, adding to their growing list of events.

Jamil Coury with the Aravaipa press release:

Aravaipa Running is thrilled to announce its acquisition of the Endurance Race Series Colorado events. These cherished races, with their roots deeply embedded in Colorado’s Front Range, have been a source of connection and inspiration under the leadership of Endurance Race Series Founder Jeff Stoner for over a decade.

This acquisition adds five more events in Colorado to the Aravaipa events calendar. I lost count of how many events Aravaipa now owns and operates, but it must be around two events each weekend of the year. Incredible operation.

The event organization behind the Skyrace Kaiserkrone Trail event in the Wilder Kaiser region of Austria made this rather shocking announcement on Instagram today (auto-translated):

We are very sorry, but we have to inform you that we from B-TRAIL. Events on the Kaiserkrone Trail will no longer be doing, including the next season (2025) – well noted, that was not our decision!
…
We had a lot of things planned, but our contract, which exists until 2025 was – without a valid reason – “cancelled” by the tourism association Wilder Kaiser through a letter from the lawyer of TVB.
…
A court dispute will probably be inevitable due to the stance of the TVB.

There is obviously a whole lot more information to come out than what this announcement says, but this is clearly one of the weirdest turns of event we’ve seen so far. A race management organization is getting their permit cancelled by the local tourism agency who seems to not have authority on the land use. Trail racing is Europe is getting spicy, and silly season has officially begun.

After just one year of collaboration, the race organization behind Mallorca 5000, or Mallorca by UTMB announce they are separating ways with the UTMB World Series on Instagram (auto-translated):

After a year of collaboration, and by agreement between the two parties, we would like to announce that @mallorca_5000 and @mallorcabyutmb are officially disconnected for the 2025 edition.

The weather severely disrupted the 2024 edition, with both the 100M and 100K having to be cancelled due to strong rain. Unclear is at this point is if this disruption had anything to do with this decision.

Not sure if you’re keeping track but this is island race #3 that’s parting ways with the UTMB World Series. Transvulcania and Mauritius were previous events that split in recent months.¹ This news too comes from the local race organization while UTMB has not made any announcement as of yet.

I have not updated the ECC calendar yet as I am still waiting on a statement from UTMB on this.

1 – Update: Here’s the statement I received from the UTMB press office on this:

This year, in an exceptional way, we hosted the Balearic Ultra Cross Country Championships at the M5000 distance, in collaboration with a local club. This coming year 2025 we will not host the championship and the course of the 100k category will change. For this reason we will not hold the M5000 again, in agreement with this club and the Federation. The Mallorca by UTMB will have the 4 categories planned, on routes to be announced in January.

So, while there will be changes to the route, the local management and partnerships the Mallorca by UTMB event is going to continue as part of the UTMB World Series. An official announcement on updated routes, registration and race dates will happen this upcoming January.

 Tiffany Montgomery for The Daily:

The company announced Friday that two private equity firms – General Atlantic and Stripes – along with a cohort of additional investors, are sinking $825 million into Vuori.

That’s a lot of money for sweat pants.