By Mathias Eichler
Delicious, limited summer flavor by Tailwind Nutrition. 'Mango Yuzu' just dropped. Get some and refresh your summer run.
Delicious, limited summer flavor by Tailwind Nutrition. 'Mango Yuzu' just dropped. Get some and refresh your summer run.
Host Jeff Pelletier interviews Dean Leslie, the filmmaker behind 8 seasons of Salomon Trail Running TV.
Totally worth a listen to (or watch on Youtube) for anyone who’s ever watched a trail running films, is a story-teller, or a filmmaker themselves. Really great background story to one of the most interesting times in our sport. A time when capturing the person behind the run and sharing the ‘why’ catapulted this weird niche sport of ours to the forefront of our collective minds, onto so many social media accounts, started the new trend in running that is sweeping the globe right now.
On ESPN’s ‘Parden The Interruption‘ Tony Cornheiser and Mike Wilbon share Rachel’s finish and wish ‘Happy Trails’ to the runners of Cocodona.
What a moment for the sport of trail running. Can you imagine being the person who just took a giant dump over this achievement by wondering if 200+ mile events really are part of our sport?
Speaking of ‘hot-taking’ at an inopportune time: Josh Rosenthal from Borderlands has some thoughts on the Cocodona Livestream:
I watched to actively observe the audience behavior itself and one thing became impossible to ignore:
Cocodona does not have an awareness problem. It has a conversion problem.
The cameras are still rolling, the historic finish with over 42K viewers hadn’t even happened yet, but Josh has watched some livestream coverage and has thoughts.
I’ve been known to share some of the same sentiments that Josh is bringing up here. Mainly that the livestream isn’t quite there yet. Something’s missing, and in a way the viewership and interest is growing despite the polish and professional appeal. That might be worth pointing out and celebrating.
The livestream currently is generating general interest viewers, people are being picked up getting their questions answered about where these runners pee, or what sun shirt is best for long runs in the desert. This is pointless fluff for the ‘real fans of the sport’ but for newcomers it might be riveting to hear and doesn’t exclude them through complicated insider lingo.
Sometimes the good is good enough and ain’t the enemy of the great?
Matt Trappe on his ‘A Matter of Brand’ blog:
Cocodona’s success aside, this year’s race brought a big win for Rachel, a win for Norda, Precision and Tantrums but, far more importantly, it was a huge win for women and the sport on the whole.
(Wo)Man, what perfect timing for Rachel to win Cocodona outright and reset the course record in such dominating fashion. Right at the time when several voices (including an influential community organizer I sparred with just the other day!) were claiming that women after all DO NOT have any chances against men in endurance sports – cause science, and of course, historic precedent – we get Rachel to win it all and reset our perspective and give everyone a chance to recalibrate. Take that chance, I strongly suggest.
Francesco Puppi doesn’t like 200+ mile trail races and feels the need to air his displeasure using Rachel’s incredible achievement as the dumping ground.
There’s all kinds of wrong with this and not just the timing of the post.
If you wish to be a gatekeeper and define what trail running should be – either as co-founder of the PTRA or as an athlete to ensure the distance you chose reigns supreme – you could find ways to facilitate that conversation and maybe learn from others in the process.
But going on Instagram to share your displeasure of a specific race distance or format – in our world of trail running that’s been enriched by new ideas popping up every other year since its inception – feels immature, unprofessional, and trollish behavior that’s uncalled for for any level of athlete.
The sport of trail running is at a fascinating moment in time. The professionalization is happening slowly, but we’re not in a place where the elite runners race separate events with full on doping controls, prize money, and federation support on the way to the Olympics, while everyone else “plays in the mountains just for fun”. What largely defines what is considered trail running is what makes a splash in the media. And that arrives from both ends of the spectrum – manufactured and financially incentivized, and the way explorers used to share their historic conquests: through sheer boundary breaking achievements that inspire the public beyond our niche.
Our sport still hold both ends closely together and that what makes it great, and unique, and worth pursuing as an elite and an amateur. The best athletes and voices in our sport can hold both of these things in balance and celebrate the humans behind it that choose to step onto the dirt and believes in themselves to do the unthinkable.
That’s worth celebrating and that’s why we’re in this sport.
Sadly, the impetus is the death of a runner during the event. The fact that Rachel is the overall leader gets a footnote:
Entrekin led this year’s race through 48 hours, according to Run by Outside, and is attempting to become the first woman to finish first overall.
At this moment almost 25,000 people are watching the livestream of Rachel making her way to the finish in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Still in beta, but you can now search a map to find your favorite races close to you, or where you want to travel to next.
The new user interface feels inspired by the Airbnb search window – I dig it.
Picked this info from the livestream but it seems Mountain Outpost’s Race Purse can’t offer this for “legal reasons” = they most likely ran into the same problems as Run.Fund did.
Available for a limited time this summer, but I’ve had the chance to sample it for the past few weeks and I’m here to tell you it’s delicious. And even better:
Tailwind Nutrition will donate 10% of all Mango Yuzu Endurance Fuel sales to the Conservation Alliance, helping protect wild places and outdoor spaces we all rely on.
Get some for your summer runs, thank me later.
I’ve just been browsing Liam’s Cocodona 250 race preview post and something struck me. Every single athlete Liam considers for the podium and worth mentioning here is from the US. And I am not insinuating bias, if anyone is thorough researching a runner’s potential for success at any given race it’s Liam. I am just wondering given the global popularity, and name-recognition, (and livestream) of Cocodona why hasn’t the event attracted a larger international field of runners?
Announced via the Hoka and WSER Instagram accounts:
He’s back! See you at States, @walmsleyruns!
So Jim took that Hoka sponsor spot after all. This had been rumored and hotly debated among the trail nerds for several weeks now. It’s an official way to “get into WSER” so I don’t have any beef with it*, but clearly he calculated this very shrewdly. He chose not to race any Golden Ticket events to maximize his chances to show up in California fresh and rested.
On this week’s episode of Singletrack with James Lauriello I wondered that after seeing how ACG rolls up at trail events they sponsor Hoka will have to step it up for WSER and UTMB. Well, this is HOKA stepping up: sending their biggest prize pony to one of trail’s biggest shows for a showdown for the ages. This will certainly give several of the athletes who are eying the podium something to think about.
* maybe I do have some beef with it. (These sponsor bibs COULD BE GIVEN to athletes that otherwise would have a difficult time getting qualified to run Western States. Amateur athletes that can bring diversity and color to the event and to one of our sports’ biggest stages. Hoka, and in extension Jim are sending a signal here. Will this be exciting for the fans of our sport? Yes, undoubtedly it will. But Jim clearly could’ve gotten himself into the race at any of the Golden Ticket races these past few months. By taking the sponsor slot he’s not just maximizing his chances of success, but he’s taking the bib away from someone else. That’s a choice.) I wrote this down here and will sit on it for a bit more to see if I change my mind.
Alright, I thought about it some more. Hoka apparently receives 4 sponsor bibs. One went to Jim, one to Tommie Runz and the other two bibs to two amateur women runners. Hard to argue with this selection. (I kept my initial rambling thought in there, to “show my work” and thought process.
Jim posted a lengthy (post continues in the comments) entry on his Instagram explaining his situation with his injury and how he approached him taking the Hoka sponsor slot.
I asked if Hoka would be comfortable to provide me a sponsor entry and if WS and the board would be okay with this. I’m humbled and I feel small that they didn’t hesitate to have my back to help make this happen for me. I don’t feel I should get special priority like this but it’s been a hard journey with the injury and I needed to ask for help this time. All I can say is thank you. You know I’ll do my best and try my hardest out there. See you at States.
One of them the ‘Trail Hunt‘ is kind of a fun format I hadn’t seen in our trail world:
… a unique elite race in pursuit format with limited starting spots and total prize money of EUR 30,000.
The best athletes will compete against each other over two days of action. Only the fastest runners in the vertical race will qualify for the pursuit start in the trail race. A format for power, precision, speed, and fearlessness — for those who thrive when the pressure rises. Not just a starting line.
An elite only event with a prize purse, stretched over two days, where on the first day folks run a Vertical Race. The results of that race determines their start time for the following day’s trail race over 24km.
I’m excited we’re not done experimenting in our sport. Both on the spear end of it – finding competitions that attract elite athletes and spectators alike and on the amateur level where Innsbruck is offering a ‘Businesstrail’ event – for folks who work in Innsbruck and want to participate in a short ‘after work’ trail race. The organizer ‘Laufwerkstatt’ also offers a Team registration with the largest team receiving a special prize.
Yes, for the media all these special events and classifications are hard to evaluate beyond the novelty status, but I do appreciate the creativity for an event with thousands of participants. Innsbrucks Trailrun Festival bills itself as the largest trail running event in the German speaking region, bigger than the ‘now’ UTMB-owned Zugspitz Ultra.
Episode 345 with James Lauriello:
James Lauriello joins me on a tour de force through the entire world of trail running. We chat about ultra vs. short trail and the role our trail media plays. We ponder what the arrival of ACG means and how the established brands in the trail space are going to respond. And finally we look ahead at the (re-)launch of the US Skyrunner National Series coming this summer.
Vacation Races, owners of lots of properties, among them several Ultras that sort of never really felt truly home in their portfolio of ‘easy half marathons adjacent to National Parks sold these properties to the only US outfit that could take them: Aravaipa Running. Announced on Instagram:
Aravaipa Running has officially acquired Zion, Antelope Canyon and Bryce Canyon Ultras and the Ultra Adventure brand from Vacation Races.
More info can be found at ultraadventures.com, which already links to the Aravaipa website. With Zion and Bryce now under Aravaipa ownership it takes the organization to Utah, another state conquered. This acquisition also brings together a nice set of well-known 100 Mile races, which would make for a fun circuit, or even Series. I’ll spare myself any jokes about monopolies.
Taken from their website:
We’re thrilled to establish The Run Grants to support the people, places, and ideas that give life to the sort of trail running.
The details:
We have committed $8,000 to support the Rut Grant’s inaugural season and our partners at The North Face have generously matched our commitment, bringing our total grant pool to $16,000. Grant sizes will range from $500 to $3,500 depending upon the funding request.
We’re going through a season where the trail running industrial complex seems to grow a lot while at the same time its creative interpretation of what trail running is supposed to look like. Seeing one of the ‘big events’ in our space ‘The Rut’ partnering with a big brand like The North Face to break the formula that being cheered on in our media space is refreshing to see. More of this please!
At least for this year. From the official statement posted on the UTMB website:
UTMB Group has made the exceptional decision to maintain the 2026 edition. Preparations are already at an advanced stage, the event is sold out, and 6,500 runners along with 3,000 supporters have already committed to traveling to Nice. Furthermore, numerous local economic and tourism stakeholders are already fully mobilized for this event. Honoring its commitments is a core value of UTMB Group, even if it means accepting a budget deficit and absorbing a significant financial impact following the 2026 edition.
This gives all parties a few month to renegotiate and figure out a path forward for 2027 and beyond.
A small one if you will, but a prominent and important one. Not sure if I want to call this ECC 2.0, but it’s a solid update that changes the main homepage feed and brings clarity to the different type of articles I am posting each week.
Over the last couple of years the live and post race coverage on Electric Cable Car has grown by quite a bit. Who would have thought that trail runners are interested in race results? I am now reporting on close to 100 events each year. This creates 300+ race results and over 600 podiums. That’s a lot of posts to share in the main feed. And it started to feel a bit cluttered. I wanted a better way of highlighting the results and also not dilute the main feed of ‘general trail news’.
Now the five latest event posts with race results are pinned to the top for easy access. You can click on each item to get to the full results page.
If you’re reading this from an email or via RSS subscription I encourage you to visit the main homepage of ECC to check it out. I hope you like it.
In yesterday’s episode of Freetrail ‘Canyons 100k & 50k Instant Recap Show‘ Zach mentions that he has the intention to race UTMB again.
Everyone’s wanting to get back to Chamonix eventually. I’m just keeping track here.
UPDATE: Various sources on Reddit are confirming this.
Just heard via sources that someone burned down 25 porta potties at the start line of the 100K race at Canyons by UTMB event this weekend? Still waiting to hear more details and will update when I get more information.
Added the official statement I received from the UTMB press office:
A fire was reported Friday night at the China Wall 100k start venue of the Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB®. Event staff quickly notified authorities, and the situation was contained without impacting race operations. Most importantly, no athletes, volunteers, staff, or first responders were injured. We are grateful for the swift response from local emergency responders, and we are working with USFS and local authorities as they review the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Glad to hear that this all gotten taken care of without turning into a disaster.
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