Don’t Turn Into the Bike Industry

A panel I had missed at TrailCon was titled ‘How Trail Running’s Top Leaders Think About Growth, Culture, And What’s Next’. It was moderated by Ian MacGregor, CEO of SkratchLabs with panelist Renee Augustine, General Manager Arc’Teryx, Monica DeVreese, CEO at rabbit, and Mark Garonzik, General Manager at ACG.

All the panels were in the blazing heat, so I chose to skip it. But I mainly did because I couldn’t get over the title of the panel “trail running’s top leaders”. ACG has been in the sport for 5 minutes. Arc’Teryx clearly is an outdoor brand, but also barely had a hand in shaping the sport over the last few years. Several of the folks on the panel don’t have any results on UltraSignup themselves. But sure, let’s call the “top leaders of trail running” to discuss our sport.

I was reminded of this panel when scanning LinkedIn this morning – yeah, I can’t help myself. There Ian MacGregor continued the conversation with the following prompt:

We’ve watched a lack of critical thinking decimate the bike industry over the last few years. A lot of great people and brands have been hurt.

Trail running is on an extraordinary run right now. Participation is up. Investment is flowing in. Brands are scaling fast.
…
What is the trail running industry celebrating right now that we might look back on in a few years and realize was actually a warning sign?

So okay, that is indeed a good question worth pondering. A few of the answers in the comments mention the importance of maintaining the trails. In a previous post I mention the need to expand the offerings at TrailCon to entice regular folks to actually show up. Let’s add a “trail work day” to TrailCon, brought to you by ACG. Others speak to the dangers of the recent price increases by brands flirting with the “triathlon consumer” who surely can afford the $300 running shoe. Not sure if brands like ACG and Arc’Teryx are gonna listen. Two comments I’d add:

• The brand’s teenager problem needs to stop – for the good of the sport.
• I am wondering if we’re investing too many of our sports’ dollars into livestreams and broadcasts and that the ROI will just never materialize for the brands and they eventually pull back leaving the new fans behind. We might end up sitting on hundreds of old Starlinks if this gamble doesn’t work out. And then we’ll ask ourselves if our community was really served by this.