Everything I Learned About Trail Running At TrailCon And Western States

These are my unfiltered thoughts about trail running, 100-mile races, and Tahoe.

Last week I attended the back half of Broken Arrow and the full week of TrailCon. While I wasn’t able to stay in Olympic Valley through Saturday to watch Western States, I was glued to the livestream and consumed as much trail media as possible to learn who the major players were. This was my first time at TrailCon and my second trail race experience ever (my first one being UTMB in Chamonix back in 2023 when Jim won, not bad).

When I go to trail things, I’m painfully aware of how much of a road runner I am. I did all of my runs on the paved bike path, wore brightly colored LSKD split shorts, ran without any nutrition or hydration, and my runs took anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes. To be fair, my post-tib tendon was super angry at me and any sort of loose dirt footing or vert pissed it off.

Here’s everything I learned about the trail world.

I bought a “Here For The Women’s Race”shirt at TrailCon because obviously.

TrailCon Is Sorta TRE For Trail

TrailCon is not a consumer-facing event. I learned that quickly after attending the expo on Tuesday. I don’t think people were buying anything. Even the ACG booth was completely dead, and there was a whole rack of Radical Airflow left untouched (aren’t those things sold out everywhere?). I’m glad I decided not to spend money on a booth for Amazfit, because I would have been standing around for 8 hours a day surviving off $30 poke bowls from Sun Bowl, only to hand out stickers and sell no watches.

The Women’s Trail Foundation booth, however, had a lot of people congregating (they partnered with HOKA). I had to wait in line to buy a “Here For The Women’s Race” shirt and some pins. It was actually the busiest booth of the entire expo when I was there, which shows that if you stand for something, people will gather.

Welcome to TrailCon.

While TrailCon isn’t for consumers, it’s definitely the right place for industry people, media, thought leaders, and athletes. It’s a space where the trail community gathers to exchange ideas, observe innovations in product, and truly build community. That’s why it’s different from your standard Boston or NYC marathon weekend. The energy at TrailCon felt more endearing and intentional. Less “how many brands and activations and influencers can we squeeze into a 2-day experience”, and more, “how can we celebrate the history of trail running while opening our minds to fresh ideas.”

Trail Running Is Still Mostly White And Male

Despite trail running having a long history of indigenous people creating traversable footpaths across the land (like the Tongva tribe and their routes throughout the San Gabriel Mountains), the modern, commercialized trail running world is mostly white, and it’s a lot of dudes wearing $180 Salomon running vests.

I wrestle with this reality, because at its core, trail running is built on inclusion, anti-consumerism, anti-capitalism, and a dirtbag attitude. Yet, a pair of Norda shoes is $295 and the Nike ACG Radical AirFlow shirts are being sold on reseller sites like Stock X. The run club bros are starting to host trail runs from their running stores, and all of the sudden trekking through the wilderness is a status symbol of wealth and free time, versus appreciation for the outdoors.

I don’t like to complain about male/female parity unless there’s glaringly obvious discrepancy, but it turns out in trail running there’s a glaringly obvious discrepancy. In this year’s Western States field, 285 were male (77%) and 85 were female (23%). The lack of diversity was also apparent. Maybe Jenn Lichter making history and winning the damn thing will change that (video below is from Matt Trappe).

Community First: The Brand House With No Agenda

The beautiful thing is that while trail running is mostly white and mostly men, it’s filled with an abundance of talented, humble, and welcoming people who are open-minded and sincere in growing the sport. I experienced trail running’s generous, wonderful community by participating in a brand house in partnership with Skratch Labs, Arc’Teryx, and Tantrums. It was coordinated by Matt Trappe of MoB and consisted of an AirBnb with curated evenings focused on bringing people together for food, meaningful conversation, and creative workshops. No panels with seated rows of chairs or guided Q&As. Just a bunch of people hanging out and talking about life and running.

Our flyer for Girls’ Night In hosted by myself and Amazfit.

As one of the sponsors for the house, I had the opportunity to host an Amazfit event. I opted for a “Girls’ Night In”, which was a loose panel (more like a bunch of women sitting curled up on couches) chitchatting about women’s health, biometric data, and sports science research. I was joined by two very smart women, Dr. Emily Kraus and Dr. Alyssa Olenick, who talked about things like postpartum bone health, overcoming disordered eating, and utilizing wearable tech in a healthy, non-obsessive way. The conversation lasted about 45 minutes, and we all sat around and ate homemade cookies from the Cian, the Skratch Labs chef. Scott Jurek even showed up (that’s him on the far right eating a big plate of rice and veggies).

“Girls’ Night In” hosted by myself and Amazfit. Scott Jurek eating a vegan dinner on the far right.

The brand house was nice departure from the corporate panels we’re used to. We gave guests the opportunity to participate in the conversation instead of passively listening. There were no gimmicky activations or elaborate venue spaces. I connected with Zoë Rom and Kylee Van Horn of Your Diet Sucks, Steve Holmberg (formerly the Global Director of Consumer Insights and Strategy at Nike), and numerous other leaders in the industry who I can now reconnect with over email. I feel like I was laying the foundation for Amazfit in trail by making personal connections, versus slapping our logo on everything. Hopefully I can come back to Olympic Valley next year with a new set of ideas and integrated marketing plans.

Ultra Running Feels Intimidating, But It’s Not

The biggest barrier to entry for trail and ultra running seems to be the illusion that it’s only for aerobic superhumans capable of running hundreds of miles. I used to think this too. I remember being 8 years old and thinking Dean Karnazes was the greatest human specimen athletic history has ever seen. I remember feeling bad for him and hoping he wouldn’t die, because I thought his body must hurt so much and he must be so tired.

While there are certainly levels to this sport, I came away from TrailCon thinking that I could probably run a 100-miler. It wouldn’t be very fast or pretty, but with proper fueling, a good aid station crew, and lots of hours spent getting strong on the trails, I don’t think it’s as impossible as I used to believe. Unlike running 5k where I’m practically redlining the whole time, I get to stop, change shoes, and maybe take a power nap.

Spending time with trail runners last week made me realize that humans are capable of extraordinary feats, and maybe it’s not as out of reach as we think.

Roads Are Boring, Run Trails Instead

Lake Tahoe might be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. Living in Boulder, CO, I don’t have access to lakes where I can swim. I desperately miss the water. Paddle boarding on Lake Tahoe last week scratched a deep itch in my brain.

As The Wall Street Journal stated, “Runners Got Bored With the Road. So They Moved to the Trail.” While I disagree that roads are boring (I’ve run all over the world on some beautiful road routes), I’m definitely spinning my wheels chasing the same personal bests and dealing with the same injuries. There’s only so many more road miles and track 5ks I have left in me. The trails eliminate stress about pace, time, and standardized metrics. I’m used to very structured workouts with intervals and pace goals. Sometimes it’s too rigid and self-defeating. While I’ve never run a trail race, I don’t think I’d experience the same start-line anxiety that courses through my veins when the gun goes off.

Before I sign off, I also want to highlight that I signed two trail runners to Amazfit: Jacob Banta and Ellaney Matarese. I reached out to them before Western States and sent them the Cheetah 2 Ultra. I plan on continuing to bring Amazfit to the trail community and finding meaningful ways to partner. They both had great performances, placing 16th and 17th in their division.

Brb, signing up for a trail race now.