By Mathias Eichler
Sponsor:
The Trail Running Film Festival presented by Brooks -
Back on Tour for 2025.
The Trail Running Film Festival presented by Brooks -
Back on Tour for 2025.
The UTMB World Series today announces the first new race to their calendar: Puglia by UTMB is the fourth event in Italy and joins Lavaredo, Chianti, and Monterosa Walser Waeg. Puglia will be held in November and is already on the schedule for this year, 2025. From the technical Director Pierdavide Losavio in the press email:
“Our trail through the Regional Natural Park of the Gravine is much more than just a race: it is an immersion into the heart of a wild and unspoiled territory. Under the gentle November sun, between centuries-old olive trees and the hidden treasures of the Gravine, every step is an invitation to savour the untamed beauty of Puglia. Here, effort goes hand in hand with wonder, in a golden light that embraces the landscape. It is an authentic adventure where good weather, nature, and passion come together to create unforgettable memories.”
Exact race distances will be announced shortly with registrations opening in mid-April.
With their full calendar unveiling a few weeks ago I wasn’t sure if they were slowing down in adding new events, as this calendar felt pretty final – for this year at least. Clearly I was wrong.
The ECC UTMB World Series Calendar is updated.
I posted about this effort a few weeks ago when it had first launched and made myself a note in the calendar to check in how the progress of the campaign just before its conclusion.
As it stands right now with less than a day to go there are 98 backers with $9,446 raised, but way shy of the goal of $66,019 to get the project to print. Just 14% was reached.
I’m not here to gloat, but find it fascinating that the Barkley Marathos book a few years ago had no problem getting funding but both the UTMB book last year and the FKT book now – all done using the same crowdfunding mechanism and published by the same publisher – failed to reach its goal. More so, one would think that UTMB and FKTs have a much larger appeal than the seemingly obscure Barkley Marathons book. But, before I draw some possible conclusions I wanted to share some numbers to compare:
The pledge goals were higher for the two failed campaign, but not significantly in a way that it would’ve made a difference and gotten the project funded.
The pledges or pre-order amounts for each book were about the same:
715 people backed the Barkley book, while only 243 the UTMB one, and less than a 100 for the FKT book.
Why was the Barkley one that much more popular? Is it the mystic around the event? The allure of the thing outside our reach? The fabled storylines of the few people who actually finished the event? Does a book lend itself better to celebrate such an “old school” event without livestream? And one that in and of itself uses books as a fundamental element during the race? Was this campaign marketed better? Hit the market at a different time? So many questions and I have no answers. But I truly wish I could own all three of them.
Also via LinkedIn (and auto-translated):
On March 29th, I will set off with my brother-in-law Stéphane Causse — violinist at the Paris Opera and ultra-trailer — for a “slow travel” through Europe, Asia and Oceania. Starting from France, to reach Sydney by crossing Turkey, Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia. No planes (or almost), but trains and buses. We will take the time to let the world pass slowly through the window, to feel the distances, to meet those who live where we pass.
This journey is inspired by the reflection carried out by UTMB Group on the place of travel in our sport, at a time of ecological emergency. Travelling is an invaluable asset, but it’s time to question our habits.
They setup a fun webpage using Polarsteps where you can follow along on their journey: UTMB Slow Path.
Via their LinkedIn profile:
Lately, we had an exciting AI video session with our creative agency stilbezirk testing how AI can help us in creating video content.
The videos of Hannes Namberger running looked awful. My reply to them:
It’s like getting running shoes from TEMU.
I mean look at this stuff… it looks amateurish, cheap and really not great.
Chianti was the first of two UTMB World Series events this past weekend, Valhöll Fin del Mundo in Argentina the other. The Chianti Castles 120K race, a Western States Golden Ticket event had folks talking for weeks. Several elite men found themselves in Italy’s wine country of Tuscany to chase their hope of getting to race Western States this year. Among them Jim (who didn’t need the ticket as previous year’s winner) Walmsley, Kilian (just became a father for the 3rd time) Jornet and Vincent (now we know who he is) Bouillard. They finished in this order and that big exciting race didn’t really happen, but everyone who wanted it got their Golden Tickets. For everyone else, there were a lot of rolling hills, vineyards, and lots and lots of muddy pre-season trails.
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
All in all Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB saw a total 3,742 starters and 3,454 finishers. 834 (24%) women and 2,620 (76%) men reached the finish line and earned themselves their respective stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).
Next up is Tenerife Bluetrail in Spain on March 27-29, 2025.
While all eyes were on Chianti, Italy this weekend another UTMB World Series event went down in Argentina. The Valhöll Fin del Mundo offered six sold out races, all in an incredible remote and beautiful setting.
Find all UTMB coverage on my dedicated UTMB page here.
For full results visit the UTMB website, below the top runners by race:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Women:
Men:
Valhöll by UTMB saw 2,264 starters and 2,146 finishers. And while these overall numbers seem respectable, compared to last year’s event this is over a 1/3 drop in participation (2024: 3,535 starters). The event overall had another respectable gender split, with the shorter distances having a higher percentage of women at the starting line making up for the less ideal representation at the longer races. In total 863 (40%) women and 1,276 (60%) men reached the finish line and earned themselves their respective stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).
Next up is Tenerife Bluetrail in Spain on March 27-29, 2025.
Komoot was Germany’s most popular trail and mapping service. And it was just acquired by Bending Spoons, Italian “app-acquirer”. Ray Maker with the pessimistic (realistic) view:
Komoot Acquired: History Says This Won’t End Well
Bending Spoons owns WeTransfer and I enjoy using the product, so maybe I am not as pessimistic as if Komoot would’ve been acquired by a Silicon Valley private equity firm, but in all reality the writing is on the wall:
In all of these cases [previous acquisitions], Bending Spoons has simply taken companies that are generally software-as-a-service/platform-based, and then pulled the website into their existing IT infrastructure and laid almost everyone off.
Fantastic move, bosses, fantastic move. According to the comments, not even the employees knew about these negotiations… and you wonder why people start talking about guillotines again?
Seemingly inspired by the success of Mountain Gazette another American outdoor magazine gets resurrected and published as a ‘high quality – in print only’ magazine subscription. I am, for obvious reasons connection Summit Journal to Mountain Gazette here, but I don’t mean this in a ‘copy cat’ fashion. This is brilliant and I want more of it. Especially in the light of Outside magazine turning itself into the complete laughing stock of the outdoor journalism world, it’s great to see people taking chances on new-old ideas.
And man, I love that Summit Journal logo.
PS: Back when Summit was sort of defunct I published under The Outdoor Society brand (also now defunct) an annual book called “The Summit Book”. We published two editions, one for 2016 and one the 2019. These books were self-published, had tons of typos, and overall weren’t amazing, but man, was it a thrill to put this together. One of the highlights of my graphic design career.
UltraSignup is diving deeper into the media space with a second podcast offering. After the ‘The Trailhead Podcast’ they are launching ‘The Buzz with Buzz Burrell‘. So Buzz gets a second show with a different angle. The ‘A New Voice in Trail and Ultrarunning’ is a bit cheeky, since Buzz’s voice isn’t really new, but here’s what they are aiming for:
This isn’t just race results and training advice—it’s about the soul of the sport. It’s about the thinkers, the historians, the innovators—the people who have shaped trail and ultrarunning in ways that go beyond podiums and splits.
….
As trail and ultrarunning continue to grow, The Buzz is here to make sure the conversations that matter don’t get drowned out. So whether you’re a veteran ultrarunner or training for your first trail race, tune in, you might just hear something that changes the way you see the sport.
We are promised unfiltered conversations, and I am curious if they can deliver. Will be fun to tune in and see. Launch date is March 25th.
A new magazine, or probably rather an ‘experience’ by the creators of The Speed Project:
Discover how the run turns life’s chaos into fuel for growth as this latest issue (scheduled to update on a yearly cadence in March) brings 194 pages worth of visceral raw content, grounded in the theme of unrest and surrounding the run & and it’s sphere of influence.
If you look at the kind of magazines that are out on the market you can immediately tell that this one’s gonna be different. There are others (as I’ve recently learned) that fit that cool niche. Will be interesting to see how this one is going to present the so basic ‘act of putting one foot in front of the other’.
The grueling and fabled race is happening right now at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee.
Currently folks are out on their first loop and us, sitting at our screens back home don’t even know yet who all the runners are out on course. What an event.
Her words, not mine.
On the latest ‘Rest Day’ episode of Freetrail Corinne Malcolm points out that at the upcoming Golden Ticket races – and last chance to snag one of these coveted tickets – the Canyon Endurance Runs 100K is already sold out. And well, her point is that race directors should/need, to always hold bibs back for anyone (anyone elite enough) wanting to jump in last minute, to chase a Golden Ticket.
I guess I am… ‘ignorant’ might be the word here? But I don’t understand why pro runners can’t register early? Sure, if they fail to get a ticket at one race, they might want another chance later in the “Golden Ticket season”, and pre-registering for several races, just in case, seems costly, but isn’t that sort of part of your elite race calendar planning? Don’t sponsors pay for race entries?
Well, Canyons 100K isn’t really sold out Charity bibs, or ‘UTMB Cares’ entries are still available for that 100K Golden Ticket race, but are $763, ouch.
Maybe it’s a blind sport that UTMB has? At the UMTB Finals, with a larger field, there seems to always be room to “squeeze one more elite runner late in the year onto the entry list”. Or maybe UTMB doesn’t really care to offer this at Canyons, since these entries are for “Golden Ticket chasing”, and that after all is for Western States and not the UTMB Finals. So maybe this expectation should come from the Western States organization, or it should come from sponsors of the Golden Tickets HOKA. But, whatever the reason is here, this seems to something that can be easily solved without requiring big structural changes? But, I am not trying to be snarky here, I don’t understand elite racing, it might just be that “jumping at the last minute into a competitive race” is much bigger thing than I make it out to be.
The team behind the film project about Michelino Sunseri’s Grant Teton FKT attempt Connor Burkesmith and Alex Rienzie just released a first trailer and website accompanying their project that’s still held upon court:
We still hope for a more reasonable resolution, and mailed copies of the Free Michelino petition, comments and signatures to NPS Chief of Staff Susan Farinelli, Deputy Director Frank Lands, Intermountain Regional Director Kate Hammond and Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins, plus the Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming Stephanie Sprecher. As of yet, appeals to drop charges in lieu of a civil compromise plus community volunteer effort to improve signage and revegetate the trail have fallen on deaf ears.
Go watch the trailer to get a taste of the story that has turned into so much more than just a run up a mountain, for better or worse.
Grayson Schaffer sharing letters to Robin Thurston on Instagram:
After the latest staff cuts at @outsidemagazine , where all of the remaining veteran editors were let go, the majority of the magazine’s longtime contributors asked to be taken off the masthead.
Here is Hampton Sides’ letter, and you really gotta link through and read the whole thing:
You need to know that there are many thousands of people, young and old, who are saddened, frustrated, bewildered, and infuriated by what you have done. Systematically, bit by bit, you have hacked the meat off the bone, fired the best minds, and jettisoned all the institutional memory. In doing so, you have turned a great if fragile publication, one of America’s best, into a crass and soulless purveyor of gear, nothing more.
The kicker really is, as Sides also finds offensive, that Thurston calls himself “founder of Outside”:
How dare you call yourself the “founder” of Outside, a magazine that was created in 1977 by legendary people who knew and loved magazines. Your tone-deafness to its history shows just how little respect you hold for the ship you’ve run.
At least he has his pronouns in his email signature, I guess.
Popular US-based short distance trail race series held in ski resorts is expanding to Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire and Killington, Vermont. This announcement comes after their expansion announcement to Washington State late last year.
All of their races are in ski resorts, all are fairly short (for trail races, especially ones in the US), and all are single distance events. All races are owned by the same company that seems to move races to different locations from year to year, rather than trying to establish an event for historical purposes.
In many ways this feels a bit like an American answer to European skyrunning. There’s a failed history of trying to bring the classic European sky racing to the US and much can be said about why it failed, but this Cirque Series is probably the closest to a ‘series of races’ that resemble the ‘Skyrunning Series’. Emphasis here on the ‘series’ part, not so much the exact resemblance of the events itself.
…for an Unparalleled 10-Day Trail Running Celebration, according to their press announcement:
With this powerful collaboration, Palisades Tahoe is set to become the Spring Trail Running and Ultra Capital of the World, offering an unforgettable experience for runners, fans, and industry leaders alike.
In Germany we would say: ‘Die backen keine kleine Brötchen’ = ‘They don’t seem to bake small bread rolls’.
Serena Solomon reporting for Radio New Zealand:
HOKA is a French American sneaker brand seen on the feet of celebrities such as Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow, and exploding in global popularity.
The name HOKA is a Māori word meaning “to fly,” but you’re unlikely to know that. The company, which took in close to $3 billion in sales last year, does not attribute the name to Māori on its website or in a nine-minute company origin video. The brand’s logo, a bird silhouette, and its tagline – “fly human fly” – alludes to the Māori meaning of its name. A short video on HOKA’s ‘About’ page – as well as many social media influences promoting its products – pronounce the name wrong, saying the word ‘hoe-kah’ instead of ‘hoar-kah’.
All of these things are never a problem until they become one. We live in times when companies could and should be more aware of this, and proactively react. It’s not like they are hurting on cash to dedicate some resources to ‘make this right’.
The company can make amends by disclosing any engagement with Māori or engaging Māori now if they have not done so in the past, said Nathan Riki, a Māori cultural consultant. The company should also consider benefit sharing with Māori, which could look like contributing to the revitalisation of te reo Māori or committing to improving Māori health outcomes.
“It’s got to be a two-way street in terms of ‘what we are taking or what Māori are giving to us, but actually what can we give back to Māori?’ So there’s a lot of things that an organisation like HOKA could do to actually give back to Māori in this country.”
It’s not hard, you borrowed, now you give back. That’s how this works.
On a second thought, what just occurred to me is that Kathmandu is a New Zealand brand named after a place… well, not in New Zealand. KMD Brands, the New Zealand parent company of Kathmandu recently acquired OBOZ, a shoe company from Bozeman, Montana.
Here’s how Kathmandu speaks about the origins of they name:
We’re from New Zealand, but we call ourselves Kathmandu — a bit confusing, eh? There’s history in that name, though. Kathmandu was once thought to be fabled and inaccessible, a bucket list destination for those dreaming of magical vistas and scaling mountains. It’s the place that inspired the creation of this very outdoors brand.
While Kathmandu is much more accessible now, the destination still evokes the same sense of majesty and intrigue to us. New Zealand is our home, but Kathmandu is part of our roots and inspiration.
This is usually how this starts, right?
A few years ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine from Germany who didn’t know that Patagonia is a company not actually from… well, South America.
Sent via press email in the same week as many of its editors are quitting in anger:
Are you dreaming up the next big thing for the outdoor industry or active lifestyle space? Entries are now open for Outside Ignite, our new pitch competition debuting at the Outside Summit, and a prize worth $100,000 is on the line. Seed Stage to Series A startups are invited to apply by April 11.
Translate: We’re out of ideas, please bring us yours.
Gordy Megroz, contributing editor for Outside joins others in an open letter to CEO Robin Thurston, and shared on LinkedIn:
Dear Mr. Thurston,
We are writing to express our dismay at the layoffs of Outside’s longtime editorial leadership and budget cuts that place an undue strain on the hardworking staff that remain. We are equally alarmed by directives from the company’s leadership asking editors to refrain from investigative journalism and political coverage.
Despite the vast sums of money you have raised to consolidate the adventure media industry, your company now seems intent on destroying what Outside once stood for: bold, spirited journalism. We are not on board for that. Effective immediately, please remove our names from Outside’s masthead.
We have a deep regard for Outside’s almost fifty-year tradition of ambitious storytelling, which was created by hundreds of dedicated journalists. Evolution is necessary; dispensing with journalistic rigor is not. We urge you to return to the values that made Outside successful, and that it must embrace to navigate an uncertain future.
I’ve been bold and outspoken about the failed leadership at Outside for a while now, but this clearly comes from someone with inside knowledge, and makes it all the more painful. If it is really that bad, then I was correct all along in my observations, but more so, it’s clear that Outside is over, gone and done. Pour one out for yet another beloved community brand destroyed by an overconfident tech guy. We see a lot of this lately, don’t we?
Aaron Shimmons, Troy Meadow and Yours Truly are back at it:
Another packed show! Sabrina Stanley joins OnlyFans as an “OnlyFans Athlete”, Kilian Jornet speaks up on IWD, On Running enter the scene at TrailCon, Transgrancanaria and the World Trail Majors and last but by no means least, the Golden Trail Series reshapes with the flower format. Thanks to Troy Meadow of the Midpacker Pod and Mathias Eichler of Singletrack & Electric Cable Car newsletter.
Find the show on Youtube and wherever real podcasts are played.
ECC links for further reading:
I created an (albeit so far very short) archive for our ‘Media Pass’ shows, in case you want to catch up on pervious shows.
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