By Mathias Eichler
SELF CARE by Three Magnets Brewing releases Gearhead IPA in partnership with the Trail Running Film Festival. Get this delicious NA beer shipped right to your door (in most of the US).
SELF CARE by Three Magnets Brewing releases Gearhead IPA in partnership with the Trail Running Film Festival. Get this delicious NA beer shipped right to your door (in most of the US).
This week we race L.B.A. Park. Join us for our Little Backyard Adventure races in Olympia, Washington. Checked out the course yesterday (Strava File of the Week, or what?), and while there are a couple of muddy spots – in the same place as every year, overall the trails look amazing and the forest inviting.
Come on and join us this weekend!
This year the conversation about the “business side” of UTMB week seems to almost kick off ahead of the stories around the runners. Well, Kilian is confirmed, I guess that’s all we needed to know.
But Matt Trappe highlights a post by Fabrice Perrin on LinkedIn calling brands who aren’t the official sponsors of an event ‘parasitic’ – which I believe he changed the wording since the original post. But the sentiment remains using words to describe the brand’s effort as: ‘toxic, malignant, opportunistic, dishonest” (mind you, those are all the English words from the auto-translation tool LinkedIn provides).
Matt responds:
You heard it here first but I think the UTMB “ambush” crackdown is coming much harder this year.
…
Also, there’s that word again – “parasitic”. It’s been used too often in running lately and it’s not a good look for us.
Fabrice added an addendum to his posts that seems to be backpedaling some of his harsher stances:
I’m not talking about brands present in Chamonix / in a territory that activate adjacent (community runs, pop-ups, useful services, content): this is normal and often positive.
What I’m aiming for is a specific behavior: deliberately creating a confusion of affiliation (“you’re a partner/official”) via wording, visual codes, proximity or “look-alike” installations, or use of protected trademarks/properties.
In other words: adjacent = ok; Ambiguity of affiliation = not ok.
My comment to his initial post:
I understand your point of view from an organizer perspective, but also: fans/visitors love the diversity and effort by many brands offering activations/events and ways to connect and celebrate the sport. The competition is healthy and exciting.
I try to keep an open mind here. Clearly the Winter Olympics were more closely watched by Europeans than our stateside counterparts but some of the learnings from these events seem off to me. I would love to know examples where the general public got confused by the wrongful brand association and how that in turn created a negative side effects – for the public, mind you. Do the event organizers potentially miss out on revenue? Or get contractual push back from their brand partners? Sure, there are ramifications, and I don’t want to discount those. But especially in the example of the Winter Olympics, neither the IOC or any of these global brand partners are in any situation where I would feel the need to jump up and protect their precious brands values they created for themselves.
Via last week’s press email:
UTMB® World Series and Laboratoire SVR, an innovative dermatological brand specialising in sensitive skin care, today announce a three-year partnership. This strategic collaboration marks an important step for both organisations: Laboratoire SVR strengthens its commitment to sports sponsorship and confirms its ambition to become the dermatological reference for athletes, while UTMB World Series continues to enhance the support provided to runners across its global circuit.
Matt Walsh on this announcement on Trail Mix:
A dermatology partner signals a shift toward more specialised performance and lifestyle categories, the kind typically seen in larger endurance sports such as cycling and triathlon.
UTMB keeps finding interesting ways of expanding their list of partners that feel almost non-endemic but still are tight closely to the overall experience and story UTMB is telling.
Julie E. Greene reporting for local news Herald-Mail:
Organizers of the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon are considering moving the race to Frederick County due to the lack of financial support from Washington County government for this year’s event, co-race director Mike Spinnler said.
This is not just a conversation around a course alteration, like we’ve seen at Snowdonia, but the event would move counties, essentially creating a very different event:
The Frederick County route has been a backup route for the JFK 50 Mile for years in case some kind of issue cropped up with the Washington County route.
If the race moves to Frederick County, the proposed route would have participants use the same stretch of the Appalachian Trail and then go to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park towpath, exiting the towpath at Lock 29. Instead of heading west on the towpath, runners would go east for 16.7 miles and then make a U-turn to come back up the towpath for 9.5 miles. Then they would take back roads for about 5 1/2 miles to finish the race by Brunswick High.
This is a tough place for an event with such history. Runners want to run the same trails, compete at the same history event to create equal competition.
As to where the money they race org asked for comes from:
“Hotel-motel tax (revenue) was intended to kick-start things. It was never meant to be a long-term financial support,” Barr said. “I think, in light of all the budgetary restraints and pushback from the state — everything that we’re obligated to, we’re turning every page over and looking for every dollar we can find to support the community.”
This is a common sentiment in US local politics and a classic example of how Euro races are different. In the Alps the economics around tourism are part of a long term thinking. Here in the US tourism dollar generating businesses are seen just as another single unit without considering the larger impact the event has on the community. I bet the same politicians would roll out the red carpet if some mega corp chain store would ask for tax breaks to open their first drive thru in the county.
[The] JFK 50 Mile could have an economic impact of about $1.5 million based on 1,300 people spending three days here for the event.
Those are estimated numbers, and without a study behind hit, but clearly these dollars generated don’t just go to the race organization, but to the businesses in the region benefiting from tourism. Further the event supports local nonprofits:
The JFK 50 Mile website lists over 40 charities the race supports. Many of them are youth cross country and track programs. The list includes other local charities as well as others like the C&O Canal Trust, The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, The V Foundation, The Special Forces Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.
If this event is forced to move it, it’ll hurt the community in many ways not captured in a spreadsheet.
Hannes Namberger wore this jacket at this weekend’s Transgrancanaria race. First off all: Congrats Hannes for a stellar 2nd place.
But here’s why this jacket is cool and the first piece of interesting gear I have seen in quite a while (Part of the reason is that it’s not gear made for trail running but skimo racing): The jacket has a zipper expanding along the full backside allowing the jacket to expand and to be worn OVER the vest/race pack and still allowing for access to the gear stashed in the pack.
This jacket features a special secret at the back: A long zipper can create room for your pack when needed. That means you can simply wear the jacket over the backpack and do not have to spend valuable time taking it off first. Via the open zipper you then also have quick access to for example crampons or to attach your skis.
It seems to offer very low water resistance and is really only meant for skimo races as a wind breaker, but I believe this idea could be improved on and optimized for trail running?
I need to investigate this further, and would love to test one sometime.
Merrell Andes Mountain Skyrace in Santiago, Chile takes the Skyrunner World Series to its highest race on their annual circuit, high up into the Andes mountains in South America.
Jose Manuel Quispe Mallma from Peru wins the men’s race and is now two for two in the series. Morgan Elliot from the US comes in third for a second time in as many races.
In the women’s race Rosalia Zegarra from Peru takes the win and improves her standings from third in the first race of the series. Lina El Kott Helander is second after her fifth place finish in the Carrera 4 Refugios event in Argentina a couple of weeks ago.
Find all Skyrunning coverage on my dedicated page.
Here are the current rankings and below are your top podium finishers:
Women:
Men:
Watch the race recap video here.
Next up the Skyrunner World Series travels to Spain for the Acantilados Del Norte on 14 March, 2026.
Via email press release:
The pioneering Women’s Health Programme will advance the safety, well-being and long-term participation of female athletes in ultra-endurance trail running. As women’s participation continues to rise worldwide, this initiative addresses a critical need for research and medical support tailored specifically to female athletes competing in extreme endurance environments.
The programme created by Ultra Sports Science and bloomUp, and supported by HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc, is a one-of-a-kind pilot project bringing together leading medical experts, researchers and elite athletes.
Ultra Sports Science is a recipient of UTMB’s charity bib program.
We have been giving UTMB a lot of crap late as they often appear to operate very corporate and sluggish, but quietly they do a lot of small things right and it’s worth pointing out when they do.
Yours truly on a new-ish podcast covering ultramarathon and trail running with stories from the back of the pack at your local race to the biggest podiums around the world. Had a super fun time chatting about story telling and the upcoming global tour of the Trail Running Film Festival.
In a rather quiet week on the trails we had lots of drama and fascinating storylines in road running:
The LA Marathon Will Give You A Finisher Medal Even If You Take A Shortcut At Mile 18
Temps up to 80F has organizers worried. This is there solution.
Via Letsrun.com:
The 13-minute crisis: How a struck officer led to the wrong turn at the US Half Marathon Championships.
The chaos that ensured in the 48hrs after that fateful finish was something else. There were lots of hot takers with lots of hot takes. But before jumping to conclusion and proposing solutions from the couch, read the official USATF statement.
Via Runner’s World:
Just 1% of Applicants Were Selected to Run the 2026 NYC Marathon—the Lowest Acceptance Rate Ever
Makes you feel a bit better about our lotteries in the trail and ultra world.
In a new YouTube video Kilian Jornet shares his race calendar, in a way only he could: nonchalant, self-deprecating even but also with a bit of spice:
The season ahead | Very simple, not very original
What some would call an incredible challenging collection of races in a year he calls “not very original”. But what’s the most interesting bit, especially since his main race plan had already been know for a few days, is that he’s teasing “one more thing”. Watch to the very end, what a tease.
Remember that patent lawsuit Suunto threw at Garmin around the same time as Strava did their weird publicity stunt? Yeah, while Strava put their tail between the legs and walked away from theirs the Suunto one is still ongoing. And now, as expected Garmin has hit back. DC Rainmaker has the rundown and analysis of what each company wants and where they actually stand:
However, Dongguan Liesheng’s lawsuit via Suunto appears comically misguided and naive. It illustrates an entity (be it a legal team or otherwise) that did little research into how strong a patent position Garmin has relative to Suunto, and more critically, how deep in the hole Suunto would really be when it comes to a patent battle with Garmin. Suunto effectively walked into battle with a purse-sized cache of old, and perhaps non-functional weapons. Whereas Garmin showed up with a few 747s’ worth, brand-new and straight off the factory floor. Whether or not Suunto is right about the four remaining patents is largely irrelevant because Garmin can simply show other Suunto-infringing patents all day long.
What a complete shit show, and just at a time when Suunto products were getting really good too. What a waste.
Lots of hubbub over the changes UTMB just announced for their Snowdonia event in the UK. The 100K race got a large reduction in vert in the later part of the route. Folks aren’t happy that these changes make the race less ‘brutal’ and that the route diverts from the historic trails. The event further added other distances after the first wave sold out in record time.
I don’t have a good answer here. Of course if you register and pay for something and then the ‘product’ changes ‘before delivery’ so to speak, I understand people’s dissatisfaction. And if these changes seemingly are made to maximize revenue it feels a bit shitty all around. But UTMB is caught in a difficult situation (of their own making!): the demand for their events way outstrips supply – especially in Europe. If UTMB would just keep every event to their historical routes and numbers of entries capped, people would complain that it’s too hard to get into races of their series to collect the stones. UTMB’s answer, like any sensible business: create more supply. Open up more events, allow more runners to register and in turn collect more revenue. This of course creates another frustration for the runners: if an event changes too much – it’s route, or feel away from the historic precedent – is it still the desirable event people have been lining up for years? But UTMB is also an easy target. Many/most trail races have seen lots of variation and course alteration over the years. Land management, environmental concerns, and weather events all lead to deviation from the plan and force people to adapt. In the end race management is always beholden to these forces and needs to communicate clearly, while preserving the relationships with both the land owners, and the runners signing up to run the event.
A huge part of what makes trail running special, and what draws people to certain events year after year is that ‘sense of place’. Some events capture it, stories are being told around these trails and places they run through, and these races truly become iconic. If these event owners are not factoring in how important this is for runners they are missing a huge piece of what makes trail running special. Collecting stones can’t be the sole purpose for a race to exist, the event in itself needs to be a draw to be sustainable. Otherwise we’ll end up with race courses that are just repeats on ski hills.
Speedgoat by UTMB announces a new race: The Summit:
Take on the challenge of Speedgoat’s first Vertical Kilometer (VK) race.
Except, well it’s only 921 M of vertical gain in a distance of 5.6 kilometers.
From Wikipedia:
In skyrunning, a vertical kilometer is an uphill mountain running race with an elevation gain of 1,000 metres. The Vertical Kilometer World Circuit also defines it as covering less than 5 km.
That’s 8% of vert missing on a race distance that’s over 5K. You think this is a metric vs. imperial system? Maybe the Skyrunning Federation should’ve measured in football fields and elephants… or something.
Here’s the International Skyrunning Federation official rule book for a Vertical race (not a VK mind you!):
Uphill only races with minimum 800m vertical climb over variable terrain. The minimum average incline must be 20% and 5% of the total distance must be over 33% incline. A tolerance of 5% in the minimum height is accepted.
According to some handy online calculator the incline percentage of Speedgoat’s ‘The Summit’ is 16%.
So, it’s neither a VK nor a classic Vertical race. If we keep doing this soon VK races will just be any “uphill only” races and the whole point of how steep it should be will be entirely eroded.
Anyways… sharing this for no particular reasons.
On TrailFans, a fanzine and platform for the trail running scene, sadly without byline:
When we walked through Chamonix during UTMB week last summer, something felt different. Not just busy. Strategic. Brand-hosted chalets weren’t simply handing out caps and gels. Founders and senior leadership had flown in from across the globe.Entire executive teams were present.
…
UTMB week no longer feels like just a race. It feels like an industry summit.
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Chamonix showed us the shift. Nike’s declaration of intent validates it.
The outdoor industry has been in a doldrum over the past couple of years. It previously could rely on higher cost sports like biking and skiing to fuel their growth, but these markets have been struggling as consumers had stocked up on all their gear during the discount boom during COVID. Then Trump’s beautiful tariffs hit, prices increased and consumers stopped spending. Except in trail running. Participation is growing still and that is a market opportunity and seems to “bring all the brands to the yard”.
Trail running stands at an inflection point. And if it is now the outdoor industry’s new frontline, the responsibility for how it evolves doesn’t sit solely with brands. It sits with athletes. With race directors. With communities. And with all of us who care about what trail running becomes next.
The big elephant in the room and one that Nike is trying to address – or rather cover up by hiding behind the ACG brand – is that trail running has been supported by brands that mostly were ‘born on the trails’. These brands that have shown true staying power over the past few decades, have supported the sport, have made an attempt to understand the culture. These brands have long-standing history in the outdoors. Nike hasn’t. But they are now reviving old advertising campaigns to pretend that they have a history in the sport.
I am not afraid of newcomers, I am not a gatekeeper, I welcome the participation. I don’t even claim to suggest that these newer brands are supposed to ask me for permission, or play by some invisible rule book. But! I am also not one that’s frothing at the mouth because of one orange shoe and a train colored in the same way. It’s cute, it’s marketing, but will it move the needle? Will all this attention be a net-positive for our sport? All that shall be seen and I will watch out for and document.
Via press release:
The Trail Running Film Festival (TRFF) is proud to announce the launch of its first-ever Audience Choice Award presented by Electric Cable Car.
Massively excited for this. Two weeks until the first screening. Get your tickets.
M.G. Siegler on his blog Spyglass:
Congratulations on saying the biggest number, Paramount. $111B for a company that a year ago had a market cap of around $20B. For a company that shrunk in their most recent quarter, and in fact, for the entire year, with revenue down 5% to $37.3B. Paramount may not be buying the Titanic, but only because they already own that IP.
We (trail media fans) sort of had this all figured out: Netflix, home of much-loved ‘Drive to Survive’ would own WBD and with it the Golden Trail Series coverage. This seemed… fun, and the correct move for the sport, and well, the world in general. Now, WBD will be owned by Paramount and that means it’ll be owned by Trump-friendly Ellison family—billionaire Oracle founder Larry and his son David.
I don’t want to me a massive doomsayer here, but it’s worth nothing that the the people who are increasing own all our media platforms are all, well, massively compromised, to say the least.
Starlink, WBD, Substack, Instagram. What would our trail media be with these services gone, or toxic enough that they really really shouldn’t be used anymore? Or do we just not care enough?
Word on the street is that this year’s Chuckanut 50K will have a proper livestream. One provided by Mountain Outpost (is there another livestream provider in the US?).
Update: Here’s the official announcement.
New book ‘Run Forever’ about to drop (not sure on an US release date yet) by British runner Damian Hall:
Is it inevitable that our running performance slides as we get into our forties and beyond? Or are there things we can do to slow or pause the decline and harness the benefits of age? In Run Forever, Damian Hall examines the reasons why our strength and speed might deteriorate, yet how it isn’t certain if we do something about it. With contributions from Renee McGregor and Pete Stables.
Fascinated that Europe still has this avenue for athletes to get book deals. Who are the big names in the US trail space that have published books out in recent years (outside of Scott Jurek)?
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