Trail Running Is Going Pro. Where Are the Fans?

Trail running is growing up. More money, bigger races, and a new generation shaping what comes next. But what happens to the traditions and values that made this sport worth caring about? And who, if anyone, has a responsibility to protect them?Five-time Western States champion Tim Twietmeyer and former ITRA president Bob Crowley join Josh live at ANALOG in Salt Lake City. Between them are decades of racing, leadership, and quietly building the sport. They talk about why Western States became what it is, why people return to small local ultras, and what money can't necessarily buy. It's two legends looking back with real affection for the sport, while thinking seriously about what they're handing to the next generation.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 The Value of Community00:25 Meet Tim Twietmeyer & Bob Crowley02:07 How Western States Changed Ultrarunning04:23 The Traditions That Built Trail Running08:37 Can Western States Stay a Local Ultra?12:12 Prize Money vs. Community16:17 Can Ultrarunning Become a Spectator Sport?21:13 The Rise of Backyard Ultras28:01 What Western States Is Trying to Protect31:42 Why Western States Became IconicResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccOutriderRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Trail running is professionalizing fast. The athletes are getting faster, the performances more extraordinary, and the gap between elite and everyday runners keeps widening. But while we're building a professional sport, are we building a culture of fans?At the first ANALOG Live in Salt Lake City, Josh Rosenthal makes the case for celebrating trail runners like the rock stars they are. From showing up two hours early to an empty Western States starting line in 2019 to discovering an unlikely connection to founder Wendell Robie, Josh tells the story of how a simple idea became a live show built around the people who entertain us more than actors or musicians.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Trail running is growing, but who gets to feel like they belong? Vivek Gowri, owner of San Francisco Running Company, believes the future of the sport depends on more people being able to see themselves in it. And he's using a running store to do something about it.Presented by Kiprun.Vivek works at NVIDIA and owns one of the Bay Area's most beloved running stores. We talk about why he bought a business he already loved, what Ben Dhiman's historic UTMB victory meant to him as an Indian runner, and how a women's trail race with a $25,000 prize purse reflects his ambitions for the sport. Underneath it all is a question about what we're responsible for when we love something enough to want to change it.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Why representation matters01:39 Buying San Francisco Running Company09:29 Who belongs in trail running?20:02 Building a business around community22:03 Rethinking women's trail racing28:26 What trail running needs to change33:45 What must never changeResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Dylan Bowman has spent much of his life in trail running, first as a professional athlete and now as the founder of Freetrail, one of the sport's most influential media platforms. But what happens when the thing you love becomes the thing you're responsible for building? And how do you know whether the sacrifices have been worth it?[Long Live the Local Ultra | Nov 1 | Salt Lake City]Presented by Kiprun.Josh sits down with Dylan at San Francisco Running Company for a conversation about ambition, identity, and the complicated relationship between running and the business of running. They get into the personal and financial cost of building Freetrail, the pressure of becoming a prominent voice in the sport, the strange world of trail running memes, and where professional trail running might be headed. Somewhere in all of it is a guy who's accomplished a lot and is still figuring out what success looks like.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.Thumbnail photo: Ryan ThrowerIf you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 — Cold Open: Was It Worth It?02:20 — Dylan's Complicated Relationship With Running10:23 — The Personal and Financial Cost of Freetrail15:42 — Ambition, Competition, and the Inner Critic23:41 — Building Freetrail Into an Institution29:56 — Influence, Responsibility, and the Future of Trail Running40:48 — The Future of Professional Trail Running46:35 — Backyard Ultras, Barkley, and What Defines the SportResources / LinksFreetrailSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Ultrarunning gives ordinary people a rare place to feel strong, capable and tested. You don’t have to be elite, or even particularly good at it, to experience that. I know because I’ve DNF’d plenty of 100 milers, and when I finally finished Zion 100, I was the last guy across the line.Watching The Rookie with my son made me realize why that feeling matters so much. As adults, most of us lose the arenas where we get to find out what we’re made of. Maybe ultrarunning is one of the last ones we have left.Presented by Kiprun.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 You Don’t Have to Be Good at Ultrarunning01:03 What The Rookie Made Me Realize03:46 Adults Lose the Arena06:16 Stepping Back Into the Arena12:26 Finishing the Zion 10016:31 The Dignity of Ultrarunning20:17 Long Live the Local UltraResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Anton Krupicka has spent two decades becoming something harder to define than a trail runner. This conversation is about how that happened, why he stopped caring about fitting the sport’s mold, and what it looks like to keep evolving without chasing relevance.We talk about the injury that changed his relationship with running, the move toward scrambling and climbing, his influence on trail culture, the Leadville comeback, and why La Sportiva still makes sense for the athlete he is now. More than anything, it’s Anton on identity, aging, design, and trying to stay the peak version of yourself without pretending you’re still who you were ten years ago.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Anton Krupicka on why trends don't matter 01:30 From trail runner to mountain man 03:52 When the whole landscape opened up 08:24 Identity, trends, and trail running culture 16:45 The Leadville 100 comeback 21:12 The peak version of yourselfResources / LinksUnbreakable | Western States FilmAnton's 2021 Leadville RaceSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Trail running is growing fast, but what happens to the races that don’t scale cleanly? After spending one night volunteering at the Wasatch 100 and the next day at a brand-new UTMB race, I came away wondering whether the messy, human parts of ultra running are exactly the parts we can’t afford to lose.Pacers, old-timers, exhausted volunteers, DNFs, polished finish lines, UTMB, and the strange ways a race becomes more than a race. This isn’t an argument for grassroots over corporate. It’s about why trail running needs both, what each is uniquely good at, and what disappears when every race starts looking the same.Presented by Kiprun.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps2:22 Races like Wasatch fill the human spirit.6:09 I love ultrarunning pacer culture.10:29 Someone else’s problem becomes mine.14:55 The back of the pack is where I come alive.16:52 Wasatch rewards staying.22:04 You can’t manufacture heritage.26:21 The fragile one is not the one I thought.Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

Ultrarunning rewards people who can keep going. Biel makes you wonder what happens when stopping no longer feels like an option, and where ambition ends and compulsion begins.Biel is a Brazilian ultrarunner, Speed Project athlete, tattoo artist and printmaker living in Berlin. He has represented Brazil at the 24-Hour World Championships and set records from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Chamonix to Marseille. But the more interesting story is the force connecting his face tattoos, his art and the extreme experiences he says he needs to stay alive.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Introduction02:27 Face Tattoos, Identity + Freedom05:17 Why Ultrarunning Keeps Biel Alive07:19 TSP | Chamonix-to-Marseille Record10:59 24-Hour Racing x The Speed Project13:07 A Perfect Fit for Biel18:40 From Nightclub Cleaner to Pro Runner22:48 Art + Life Beyond Running27:39 Beyond Records + LimitsResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccAdditional photo courtesty of Tycjan TrzpioloaRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

UTMB is the center of trail running for one week every year, and somehow the people most frustrated by it keep showing up. After a week in Chamonix, I came home thinking the problem with hating UTMB is that the race keeps complicating the argument against it.The fan experience is better than the criticism suggests, TDS might be the hardest race of the week, the women are racing with ego, and some of the most interesting parts of UTMB have almost nothing to do with racing. Ten observations from inside the chaos, including what brands keep getting wrong, what Chamonix reveals about status in trail running, and why everyone should be reading Raz Rauf.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.Presented by Kiprun.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Introduction02:36 The Critics Are at UTMB08:12 UTMB Doesn’t Have a Fan Problem12:24 TDS Might Be the Hardest Race at UTMB16:26 The DNSs Aren’t About Professionalization20:38 The Women Are Racing With Ego24:57 UTMB Isn’t Just About Running28:20 The Ultimate UTMB Flex Is Not Needing Chamonix30:34 Brands: Embrace the Chaos32:21 Read Raz Rauf. Read Running Sucks.35:45 Limiting Brand Activations Made UTMB Better - The Chamonix Mayor was RightResources / LinksLike the Wind | Run Culture LiveRunning Sucks - Raz RaufBorderlands.ccRelated EpisodesCocodona Has a Fan Problem----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

UTMB is the biggest trail race in the world, but why did it happen in France? The easy answer is Mont Blanc. The better answer has more to do with culture, timing, and the kind of endurance tradition that was already there long before UTMB existed.Josh talks with Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps and author of The Race That Changed Running, about the deeper conditions that made UTMB possible, from old mountain races and ski mountaineering to the Pellettis’ execution and the way places like Vallorcine turned the race into something people gather around, not just run.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Resources / LinksRun the AlpsSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack