On Freetrail Tim and Dylan Ponder the Future of Trail Running – It Surprisingly Includes Their Events

First off, before reading this commentary, listen to the episode yourself (Overcast, Apple Podcast). Freetrail’s ‘Rest Day’ episodes are a great way to catch up on the news of the moment in our sport. I enjoy pretty much every one of these episodes, even if from time to time I want to scream.

The main topic of this week’s episode is inspired by the recent announcement that the UTMB Group purchased Zugspitz Ultra Trail – Germany’s largest trail running event. The founders of Zugspitz Ultra Trail, the team behind ‘Plan B’, are wanting to retire, but will stay on to manage the event. What makes Tim Tollefson and Dylan Bowman’s conversation interesting is the discussion about some potential implications of this continued expansion of the UTMB World Series.

As it often is with podcast episodes I enjoy, I have my own opinions to share. So, here are my thoughts:

Big Events vs. Small Ones

Dylan for years, and Tim more recently, have been at a heart of promoting the very thing they now seem to see a problem in. For years we heard about calls for more professionalization of our sport, driven by the very folks Dylan and Tim represent: elite runners and media personalities. UTMB who now seems to be bad for our sport, was just recently subject to endless praise and media promotion. I mean, let’s face it, where would Freetrail be, if Dylan would’ve chosen to interview “community runners at community trail races”, as supposed to take the big swing and interview elites at the biggest and most commercially successful events in our sport? Of course it’s okay for anyone to change their mind, but it might be worth acknowledging that, and making a stronger case as to what brought on this change of heart. Zugspitz clearly wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back here.
The only thing I took away from this conversation as to why these two are singing a different tune is that they both want elite runners to come to their respective events, their words, not mine. Which just sounds a bit like a personal problem, or maybe an issue of just business competition – but it doesn’t speak to the bigger issue for our sport, one worth discussing in greater detail and not just on the surface.

“Indy race directors are at the heart of innovation”

Indy race directors are at the heart of a lot of things, that I agree with, but it would be good to get some examples of what particular innovation they think of here. A 100K in the Marin Headlands is cool, but is that really innovation in our sport? I’m sorry if this sounds a bit harsh.

“We are community, and others are endangering it”

Almost every time I hear this comment it is usually a disguise for someone’s business agenda: “I want to profit off ‘the community’, the entity/person I am calling out here shouldn’t profit off it for themselves”.

The endless Grievances of the Elites

For years now elite runners (and media outlets covering the elite end of our sport) have been asking for more professionalization in our sport via an ongoing list of demands. Now the sport is getting more professional and all of a sudden it’s all about the free-flowing community and that elites should be allowed to choose to run any race they want – while also expecting that the competition at said event is first rate. If it’s all about the community, why put so much effort into catering so much to the elites. Tim even said that prize money isn’t attracting elites – which was another big grievance over the past few years that this had to happen. Now we’re told this provision is not even moving the needle. What do elites want? Oh, wait don’t tell me that, it seems to be an endlessly moving target.

Tim’s #1 race on his dream agenda: Western States

Leading by example, or something? If this is all about “the indy races, why not pick an event that is not already over-hyped and over-commercialized as it is? There are thousands of amazing race that have incredible stories worth being a part of and worth sharing.

In conclusion

All these issues are fine to bring up, but whenever I hear discussions on topics like these I wish we’d have some real journalists with well-researched point of views as supposed to just “fans with opinions and megaphones” (and their own personal business interests to protect).

---

Unfair comment? Overly simplistic response?

Maybe. But a bit more clarity and historical context, and less amnesia and knee-jerk reactions would really do our trail running media well.