Trail Different*

I’m way behind in posting my observations on various UTMB related news announcements and articles that were recently released. And, instead of trying to catch up chronologically I am going to comment in reverse order.

Matt Walsh blogged on TrailMix today, largely commenting on Doug Meyer’s article in Trailrunner Magazine about the state of UTMB. On Instagram UTMB’s Fabrice Perrin commented in turn on Doug’s article, which in it of itself is worth taking into account. Doug’s article is by now a somewhat annual piece ahead of UTMB week commenting on the state of the sport and recaps some of the latest changes UTMB rolled out over the course of the summer. These changes were shared and bundled together at a press conference last week, where UTMB not only listed their efforts, but implored the media to actually pick them up and share them in turn.

So back to Matt. The piece is titled ‘The Value of Being Different‘ and just that word ‘different’ had a light bulb go off in my head. In the past when we’ve talked about the evolution in our sport we’ve often only looked at it from a point of “grassroots vs. new”. Grassroots being local and therefore good. And new being capitalistic, corporate, global and therefore bad. Matt introduces the very simple word ‘different’, and why that might seem mundane, I feel like he’s on to something.

In trail running, becoming too mainstream can actually undermine some of your appeal. If every race looks the same, every athlete dresses the same and every brand speaks the same language, the things that made the sport distinctive begin to disappear. Difference itself has become part of the product.
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This is where trail runnings tendency towards uniqueness becomes a counterweight to commerciality. Trail runners actively seek out difference (thats why they’re running off-road in the first place). They want the obscure race, the unusual route, the independent brand and the event with a personality. In that sense, the culture itself has a quasi-defence against homogenisation. The more successful trail running becomes, the more valuable those alternatives might become.

I will add to this that runners recognize this – consciously or subconsciously. And as long as trail races are feasible to fund their operations via just the bib sale this model works. Once demand on race directors grow – aka to add costly livestreams – brands need to help fund these growing demands – otherwise entry fees grow to exorbitant costs and runners will flee.

But most brands are risk averse, some might even say uncreative and unimaginative, especially when it comes to their marketing spend. Everyone looks for ROI through the same tried and true formulas and very few are willing to paint outside the lines.

So, if we trust that race directors will continue to push the creative envelope with their race format and event setups, and if they get validated in these efforts via runners actually signing up then what we need is brands willing to make some bets and come along for the ride. There’s brand value creation possible beyond the spreadsheet ROI, I promise.

*corny headline alert!