A Call to European Trail Running Media

“The Outdoor Wall” posts on his/hers/their newsletter the following call:

A note for us, Europeans, on how we comment and support trail running in our continent. How did the US become so influent in trail running? Why do we look up to the American scene so much?

A good challenge and something I had been discussing on Singletrack with Francesco Puppi earlier in the year. And it’s one of the reason why Aaron Shimmons, Troy Meadows, and I started the monthly show ‘Media Pass‘.

They finish off their article with this paragraph:

There needs to be a new generation of actors in the sport that comes with a fresher approach to the sport willing to do things differently. As new media rise in the US and even acquire older ones, we are yet to experience the same dynamic in Europe. Like younger runners enter the field and win races every week, new European media and storytellers will emerge and reach the critical mass to build the story, influence and show off European trail running for how good it is.

I’ve got a simple answer to their question here: Don’t be incognito when presenting yourself as media. Who is “The Outdoor Wall”? Their website doesn’t say. I couldn’t find a name or byline in any of the articles they posted so far.

As the article begins with some obvious and somewhat lazy tropes about American culture I will end with one: One thing that American trail media does well is their willingness to “go for it” and “just do it”. They put themselves out there, with guts, and with hustle. The American Way^TM. Does that create a superior media product? Does it reflect or speak to the trail running culture in a better way? I don’t really know. But it does fills the airwaves with “content” and people on both sides of “the pond of America” are clearly responding to it, tuning in regularly and are letting themselves be influenced by this.