The Mile and Stone newsletter has a short interview with Näak’s cofounder William Walcker in their latest issue and a couple of things jump out:

At the moment, yes. Näak generates almost 100% of its sales from trail running, and all our energy and investments are linked to this discipline. 
…
Our ambition is to become nutrition number 1 in endurance sports.
…
(W)hen your ambition is to become number 1 in your discipline, there’s no other way to do it than to become a partner of the world’s number 1 event and circuit. We quickly came to an agreement, because UTMB was quick to see the advantages of working with us, thanks to our extensive range of products and, above all, our shared ambitions to develop and democratize trail running for as many people as possible.

Näak’s growth and success has surprised me initially and is still surprising. When I initially mentioned their partnership with UTMB I wrote:

Pretty crazy rise to prominence if you ask me. I wonder if anyone bankrolls them in the background?!

But more than the assumed VC funding this brand received the other piece that’s fascinating to watch is that I don’t really know anyone who truly loves Näak or swears by it. I’m not suggesting that their product is bad, but I think their marketing strategy is very different than other brands that have in recent years launched on the market. Especially in the nutrition game the initial marketing splash is all about “revolutionary innovation”: We discover how ingredient A is benefiting you and turned it into a product you can buy in order to succeed in your next race.” Näak is sponsoring athletes, but their message is just “I’m using it” not “My entire nutrition game has changed”. Näak is sponsoring UTMB and people have no choice but to use it and get used to their products, taste and brand. It’s probably a fairly expensive marketing campaign but it’s a game focused on market share, not on being the best. In my technology world the comparison I can think of is that Näak is sort of like Android. Not iPhone, not the product that demands to be loved and wants to be the best (and there is often the most expensive) but the one that works, and is everywhere. Or another analogy from the car world would be that Näak is the VW Jetta, or Toyota Corolla. (There are probably more up to date comparisons, but here I am aging myself.)

Where does this leave the other brands:

Well, as we’ve seen with Spring Energy recently, betting on “being the best” can be tricky and is generally really hard. Sometimes brute market forces and big marketing investments pay off and being everywhere is good enough.

The other strategic thing to consider is that Näak seems to be winning the game offering everything. Tailwind Nutrition for example only has liquid nutrition in powder form – it comes in a dozen flavors, but for most athletes it’s just not enough and they have to supplement their nutrition game – even if their marketing language is “It’s all you need. Really”. Even Courtney has Feed sponsorship and uses Spring alongside Tailwind. So, while Näak only has two flavors of their drink mixes they also offer bars, purees, gels, waffles, nut butters, soup mixes and recovery drinks… ummm, and coffee and cricket powder, I guess. Are these products best in class? I don’t think anyone suggest that they are, but if a race wants to partner with Näak (or vice versa) Näak is able to provide the entire nutrition game. And if an athlete wants to try Näak, they can get into the brand through whatever product they either love, or look for to supplement their already existing nutrition games.

Clearly Näak is doing something right.

BBC reports:

Event organisers said more than 840,000 applications had been received, smashing the previous record of 578,000 set by last year’s ballot.

The London Marathon is the largest marathon in the world, with 54,218 starters and 53,700 finishers for their 2024 edition, which was held just this past weekend.

Given what I just posted about the growth of trail running I now wonder if trail running is growing on the back of a general running boom, or if the “new” visuals of trail running is driving people to running in general.

Judy Leand for Sports Destination Management:

Trail running, which combines Americans’ love of the outdoors with their enthusiasm for running, jumped from 13.2 million participants in 2022 to 14.8 million in 2023, a one-year increase of 12.3 percent, according to the SFIA’s 2024 Topline Participation Report. What’s more, the study found that in the three years spanning 2021-2023, trail running participation soared 25.6 percent.

If a ‘destination management’ outfit is starting to pick up this trend and recognizes trail running next to the usual mountain biking and pickle ball trends, then maybe tourist destinations and land managers will begin to recognize the economic value, paired with the minimal stress on infrastructure that trail running represents. Race directors with their ideas and plans for trail races should be welcomed with open arms by said folks. Trail running is good for the local communities.

Local favorite Seven Hills Running Shop on Instagram:

These shoes should make Hoka add a new category to their cushion spectrum: Responsive, Balanced, Plush…Ultra Plush. Beyond their usual Plush. 

Hoka in their own marketing:

We threw out the rulebook when creating the Skyward X. Pushing soft and smooth to the extreme, this cushy new trainer features a revolutionary suspension system with a convex carbon fiber plate that allows the suspension system to compress and spring back with each step. A soft, highly resilient PEBA foam sits closest to the foot for a lively, cushioned ride, while a super critical EVA frame provides a stable base for your easiest miles yet.

This is getting into e-Bike territory for running shoes… price-wise as well: $225 for a pair.

The 2nd Golden Trail Series race of the season happened this weekend in Sichuan, China. In an effort to be more logistically sustainable and to make it easier for runners, the Golden Trail Series is trying to group events geographically together. So, after Kobe Trail in Japan the Series travelled to China for a race for the first time. Greg Vollet, interviewed by Dylan Bowman on Freetrail, mentioned that the reason for Salomon bringing the Golden Trail Series to China was that the CEO of the parent company Anta Sports, a Chinese outdoor good brand, wanted a stop of the Golden Trail Series in China. And so it was.

One thing that’s interesting when comparing results of this Golden Trail Series race the Mount Yun UTMB event is that the Mount Yun podiums were almost completely swept by Chinese runners, were in this race, neither on the women’s nor men’s side any Chinese runners made it into the top 5.

The historic Zegama-Aizkorri in Spain is next on the calendar on May 26, 2024. This will be the first time this year we’ll see Kilian Jornet racing, who’s opted for shorter and more local races, expect a personal project in the early Fall that he hasn’t announced yet.

Too much going on this weekend, but iRunFar has the results and race summary:

When all was said and done, Martina Valmassoi (Italy) and Ben Dhiman (U.S., lives in France) took home the women’s and men’s victories.

This was the second World Trail Major event this weekend, yeah, busy race weekend indeed.

The Canyon Endurance Runs by UTMB went down this weekend (April 26-27, 2024). After a slew of press announcements over the weeks leading up to itthe American Major, first time live streamed went off without a hitch as long endurance trail races go. In a full weekend of trail racing, this event, especially here in the US, definitely took the lion share of online chatter (it also helped the Courtney had already won her Mt. Fuji race before the races in Auburn, California even took off). Catherine Poletti was present again at the start/finish line adding to the “finish in downtown like in Chamonix” feel of the event. Canyons 100K was also the last race on the calendar offering Golden Tickets into Western States.

Below are the top runners, for full results visit UTMB live:

100M (164KM – 8 STONES)

Women:

1. Elena Horton – US – 21:35:56
2. Jacquie Mannhard – US – 22:35:52
3. Sonia Ahuja – US – 23:11:53

Men:

1. Canyon Woodward – US – 18:54:32
2. Nicholas Lightbody – CA – 19:14:17
3. Nick Orr – US – 19:55:51

100K (101KM – 6 STONES)

Women:

1. Katie Schide – US – 09:10:10
2. EmKay Sullivan – US – 10:01:26
3. Anna Kacius – US – 10:24:37

Men:

1. Rod Farvard – US – 08:44:30
2. Drew Holmen – US – 08:51:09
3. Petter Engdahl – SE – 08:55:31

50K (50KM – 4 STONES)

Women:

1. Dani Moreno – US – 03:52:24
2. Jennifer Lichter – US – 03:57:49
3. Tabor Hemming – US – 03:59:44

Men:

1. Eli Hemming – US – 03:25:23
2. Daniel Jones – NZ – 03:28:03
3. Cole Watson – US – 03:32:51

20K (24KM – 2 STONES)

Women:

1. Bailey Cossentine – US – 01:55:52
2. Amanda Wiggenhorn – US – 01:58:55
3. Natalie Chirgwin – US – 02:01:41

Men:

1. Talon Hull – US – 01:25:59
2. Richard Skogsberg – US – 01:31:04
3. Eric Hamel – US – 01:32:06

Combined, the events had 1,987 racers and 1,723 finishers. Below are the numbers broken down by distance and gender:

• 100M Starters: 291 – DNF 105 – Finishers 186. Women: 33 (18%) – Men: 153 (82%)
• 100K Starters: 586 – DNF: 141 – Finishers: 445. Women: 118 (27%) – Men: 324 (73%)
• 50K Starters: 642 – DNF: 12 – Finishers: 630. Women: 203 (32%) – Men: 427 (68%)
• 20K Starters: 468 – DNF: 6 – Finishers: 462. Women: 221 (48%) – Men: 240 (52%)

In total the event saw 1,723 finishers, 575 (33%) women and 1,144 (66%) men reached the finish line and earned themselves stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).

• US trail races are often held as shiny beacons of gender equality, or rather, the best that it can be around the world, but these numbers, while not bad are on par with China’s Mount Yun and lag behind Tarawera’s splits.
• The DNF rate on the 100M was pretty high compared to other UTMB events so far on the calendar.
• This is the last year that Canyons will be the American Major – it’ll be interesting to see how total participating will change if ‘double stones’ aren’t up for grabs anymore.

Next up on the UTMB World Series Calendar is UTMB’s Amazean Jungle in Thailand on May 3 – 5.

A few months ago I got a free pair of refurbished bone conducting Shokz headphones at the US Trail Running Conference. And as free gifts go oneshouldn’t “look a gift horse in the mouth”, right? I began using them, because I definitely wasn’t in love with my Beats Flex earbuds I had previously used. They worked alright, but not great.

Here are some observation on the Shokz:

• Connectivity via “just” Bluetooth compared to Airplay is inferior and it bums me out that Apple doesn’t open up this protocol and let other makers utilize it too.
• The audio isn’t amazing, but I don’t it to be great when out running. Where it really falls flat is when I’m running next to a busy road and the car noise completely trumps the audio pushed into my ears. There’s no cranking of the volume that overcomes that.
• The controls take a bit getting used to, but they work.
• The battery, even on these refurb ones is good enough.
• I can take phone calls and the mic works just fine.
• Here’s the most important point: They are comfortable. I barely notice them, even on long runs. They don’t tire my ears, the don’t bounce on my head, the aren’t in the way.

That last points basically wins overall other issues. This style of headphones has become my favorite way of listening to music or podcasts on walks, short runs and long runs. I never have issues with them getting pulled out of my ear, the sweat doesn’t make them unusable, they don’t tire my ears. That right there is such a huge plus, especially on long monotonous training runs. Can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a pair of headphones for running.

LIVE: This weekend (Apr 26-27, 2024) on our Global Race Series Calendar:

Americas Major (for the last year – next year the Major will be Kodiak), the ‘Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB’ is UTMB’s 6th race on the 2024 calendar, the second UTMB event of the season in the US and the 100M runners are already on the course.

I ran the 50K last year, got myself the double stones and that got me into OCC this year. These were my observations from running my first UTMB World Series event.

The course for the 100M and 100K has changed several times over the last few years and is becoming more and more a “Western States Lite” which feels a bit boring from the outside, but I don’t know the trail management realities on the ground so I won’t judge.

UTMB has made tons of improvements on their website, but the starting lists isn’t something they have fully gotten online ahead of the races yet. Freetrail is doing their Trailgating shows on Youtube and live tracking for the races can be found here. There will be another attempt (last year’s failed spectacularly) of live-streaming the finish of the 100M and the 100K and 50K races.

Find more trail races on ECC’s Global Race Series Calendar.

This coming month, in May, Run with Strava and Brooks get a discount of your online ticket for the Trail Running Film Festival Online Watch Party.

So stoked for this partnership. Cannot wait to share our films with y’all online!

Earlier this week UTMB announced their new broadcasting partnership with DAZN and a few folks have been wondering what would happen with their Youtube broadcast and their coverage on their own Live.UTMB.world website. I reached out to their press office to confirm and was told that this new deal has no effect on this efforts and UTMB will continue their coverage as before in these channels.

Speaking of which, Canyons is about to kick off.

The racing season is picking up steam, and I have a hard time staying on top of it all. Several big events are happening all over the world this weekend alone. Here are last week’s Mount Yun by UTMB results, some numbers and observations. (For full results visit the UTMB website):

UMY 100M (144KM – 4 STONES)

Women:

1. Wenfei XIE – China – 23:03:50
2. Ronghua DENG – China – 23:44:24
3. XIAOXIA YANG – China – 24:08:22

Men:

1. Jiaju ZHAO – China – 17:05:57
2. Jiqian WANG – China – 17:39:28
3. Weiqiang ZHANG – China – 19:15:32

DMY 100K (97KM – 3 STONES)

Women:

1. Anna LI – China – 11:53:08
2. Wenrong ZHENG – China – 12:03:02
3. Liping WANG – China – 12:12:46

Men:

1. Ji DUO – China – 09:36:05
2. ZHAO Hu – China – 09:47:07
3. Jiasheng SHEN – China – 09:59:37

MMY 50K (48KM – 2 STONES)

Women:

1. Fuzhao XIANG – China – 04:53:01
2. Ting ZHANG – China – 05:01:27
3. Na ZHANG – China – 05:09:16

Men:

1. Tao LUO -China – 04:03:39
2. Guangfu MENG – China – 04:09:34
3. Erqing WU – CNChina- 04:14:38

EMY 20K (21KM – 1 STONE)

Women:

1. Qinghua LE – China – 02:38:53
2. Sheyonghua SHE – China – 02:52:28
3. Jun LI – China – 03:22:08

Men:

1. Chaohai QI – China – 02:03:38
2. WANG Guolong – China – 02:07:19
3. Tiago VIEIRA – Portugal – 02:09:21

This was almost an entire clean sweep by Chinese runners, in a race in China of course. Special shout out to Tiago Vieira from Portugal who claimed a third place finish in the 20K race.

Combined, the events had 3,683 racers and 3,485 finishers, and another low DNF rate. Below are the numbers broken down by distance and gender :

• 100M Starters: 393 – DNF 86 – Finishers 307. Women: 65 (21%) – Men: 242 (79%)
• 100K Starters: 668 – DNF: 72 – Finishers: 596. Women: 149 (25%) – Men: 447 (75%)
• 50K Starters: 1,337 – DNF: 21 – Finishers: 1,316. Women: 409 (31%) – Men: 907 (69%)
• 20K Starters: 1,285 – DNF: 19 – Finishers: 1,266. Women: 490 (39%) – Men: 776 (61%)

In total the event saw 3,485 finishers, 1,113 (32%) women and 2,372 (68%) men reached the finish line and earned themselves stones and an UTMB index (or directly punched their ticket to the Finals in Chamonix for 2025).

When I think about this event I come to the sober realization that I really know very little about our world. Yes, the Olympics have been in China before and when it comes to truly global sports, of course they play soccer there, but I had no idea that trail running is as popular and when it comes to gender participation even quite diverse. Yes, it’s hard to travel there and so we see a very “regional event” with almost only Chinese runners (in the 100Miler, of the 307 finishers there were 294 from China). So maybe this World Series that UTMB is building is really about offering regional events for local runners to get their chance to earn their Stones for the Finals. Kinda like exactly how it has been advertised.

Next up on the UTMB World Series Calendar, and going live in just a few hours from April 26 -27 is UTMB’s Americas Major, the Canyons Endurance Runs in Auburn, CA.

LIVE: This weekend (Apr 26-27, 2024) on our Global Race Series Calendar:

The famous Mt. Fuji 100 events in Japan, the one previously named Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji (until UTMB filed a trademark dispute) and the event who’s RD’s were instrumental on putting the World Trail Majors together.

This race explores the trails encircling Mt. Fuji, spanning 100 miles (approximately 160 kilometers), connecting the rich culture and communities intertwined with these paths and their surroundings. By organizing the race that continues day and night, without breaks for sleep or rest, we highlight the significance of self-challenge and showcase the allure of trail running as a sport. Additionally, we aim to share the rich culture and unmatched natural beauty of Mt. Fuji, a valuable Japanese treasure, with the world and future generations.

Courtney Dauwalter is racing the 100miler and is in search of Japanese candy.

Here are the full entry lists for the two distances offered, a 100miler and a 70K. At a quick glance the 100miler has 2,281 racers and the 70K 1,115. The official Mt. Fuji Youtube channel has a Japanese livestream and the English livestream is on the World Trail Majors’s channel.

Find more trail races on ECC’s Global Race Series Calendar.

The long running trail running podcast ‘Trail Runner Nation’ launches an app for iOS and Android:

Trail running continues to grow at an annual double-digit pace, bringing enthusiasts from a wide variety of sports and interests. To welcome everyone in true trail runner ethos, and ensure they achieve whatever aspirations they seek, safely, we’ve built a simple, FREE, mobile app.

I downloaded the app and took it for a spin, and while I’m clearly not the target demographic here – this app is meant for new-comers to the sport – I don’t quite understand what the app is meant to be or do.

On first launch you gotta submit your email address – which is a clever way of harvesting emails – but then you’re presented with a dozen+ buttons of common ailment “chafing, bleeding, muscle cramps” etc, and each button leads to a single page with a summary of symptoms, a single sentence of solutions and what to avoid. That’s it. That’s the whole app. It’s like a blog post wrapped into an app form. Yes, the app has the advantage that this information is available offline, like in the backcountry away from cell coverage, but to go through all the hassle to get an app into the Apple App Store (Android is coming), for just over a dozen paragraphs of texts feels a bit… overkill? It’s free, so I don’t want to look the gift horse in the mouth, but I am reading the marketing page for it and I am trying to figure out if there’s more coming and this is just the beta launch or if I am missing something here?

COROS just announced the Vertix 2S, an upgraded version of the high-end, all-out adventure watch. There are several minor improvements, including a new heart rate sensor which sadly reduces battery life overall.

DC Rainmaker has the full product review with the overall take-away:

As for upgrading from an existing Vertix 2? Probably not much of a reason. But if you’ve got a Vertix 1 or APEX series, this is definitely a solid upgrade.

COROS entered the marked a few years ago with a huge splash, competitive pricing, and dizzying speed of updates and product announcements. This clearly paid dividend and they were able to gain marketshare at a time when other watch makers (mainly Suunto) were struggling. Now it feel the product line is a bit more established and settled in, and as things are shaking out many of the competitors have now responded. As such COROS doesn’t feel quite like such a positive outlier anymore. Still solid, still a worthwhile product to consider, but not the darling on the block anymore.

Personally I was never a fan of the Vertix design language, that fake industrial bezel felt unnecessary and over the top burly to me, I’m curious if and how this product evolves in the coming years.

Singletrack – Episode 302:

Nick Triolo, writer, activist, and trail runner is back on Singletrack to share an update on his recent professional move and the giant leap of faith he just took. Nick and I chat about what motivates him to run, to share with others, and why he believes in beauty within our broken world. We also talk about running for a cause and the importance of story-telling in our overcrowded life full of churned out content.

LINKS

• Nick Triolo’s website
• Nick Triolo on Instagram
• Nick’s new book: ‘The Way Around‘
• Nick on Dirtbag Diaries

And The Green Runners are taking credit for the new sponsor rearrangements.

What more likely happened is that Hoka brought more money to the table to take on the title sponsorship for not just the Finals, but the Majors around the world too. Dacia is still premier sponsors and is still providing their cars as shuttle vehicles for the events in and around Chamonix.

The Trail Running Film Festival is still touring the globe, but, if you missed seeing it live or live somewhere where we’re not having a tour stop (gasp!) we have a solution for you: Our Online Watch Party and Fundraiser. We’re pre-selling tickets now and the show airs online from May 30 – June 11, 2024.

Come join us, support great filmmakers and invest into the future of trail running film creation.

Monika Glenn writing on the Tailwind Nutrition blog:

Over the last two years, the scoop was redesigned a few times, building in strength for daily scooping, ease of use and not to forget making sure it is food-safe and can be added to our drink mixes. We literally “broke the mold” with the scoop, well there was no mold, so it got designed from scratch, Tailwind paid for it and this was a big commitment.

This was one of my biggest hopes when I was asked by the Tailwind team on how they could improve their product.

Two years later, we are adding this new scoop to our pouches and have removed all plastic scoops from the Endurance and Recovery Line.

This is such a win!

Yesterday Brian Metzler for Outside broke the news that Hoka is UTMB’s new title sponsor for the full World Series and today UTMB is sending their press release with a few more tidbits of information on this new partnership:

Extending its partnership with the UTMB World Series through 2028, with the UTMB World Series, HOKA secures the Title Partner position for the circuit’s flagship events – including the Finals and Majors – which will now bear the HOKA name

This reads to me that not EVERY SINGLE EVENT in the series will be get the “Hoka” branding added, only the Finals, and Majors.

HOKA Chiang Mai Thailand by UTMB® (known previously as Doi Inthanon Thailand by UTMB), UTMB World Series Asia-Pacific Major

No reasoning is given on why the name is being changed, but the Major is getting a new name “Asia-Pacific” from the previously named “Asia”.

… and the 2025 Americas Major being HOKA Kodiak Ultra Marathons™ by UTMB®

This is big news. Last year the Major announcement had been delayed for months with UTMB finally taking the Majors back to Canyons – which is something that clearly was a fallback decision. It’s possible that UTMB had hoped to make Whistler their American Major, but due to “the kerfuffle” it decided it wouldn’t be the right move for the foreseeable future. I ran Kodiak last year and thought the location would make a great place for hosting a Major. It’ll be interesting to see if they will move the date for Kodiak for 2025 – currently it’s fairly close to the Finals.