Trail Snacks- Issue 25, 2024
Welcome back to Trail Snacks. You hungry? Me too! The content has been lacking the past few weeks and I’m excited to see what comes with next weeks UTMB.
YouTube
One of the first from this years Western States is the Adidas Terrex team video, 100 Reasons Why.
Adidas is one of the first brands to really go hard on the team aspect. When they attend a race they really love bomb it and their orange kit is everywhere. They pace each other, crew each other and genuinely seem to like each other. Not gunna lie, it makes me want to be a part of their club and buy their shoes! I want in on that vibe! It’s a cool thing that you don’t see other brands leaning into.
That being said, it used to be Salomon that were the team and brand to beat. Now I struggle to name their athletes.
But no one does video content like Salomon TV! They have been the pioneers of premium trail running content for so long and they haven’t skipped a beat. You might not see as many of their athletes on podiums as in previous years with the dominance of brands like Hoka and Adidas Terrex but their video content cannot be matched. Enter the latest episode of Salomon Tv. The editing is sharp, the photos are incredible and the story doesn’t lag.
Also can we appreciate for a second they they caught Courtney falling on her but? Maybe she is human after all.
Also from Salomon TV, this short, sweet but highly relatable reel on Aussie runner Claire Obrien Smith, the flat lander taking on UTMB.
Anyone else’s Instagram feed full of Inauthentic athlete ads?
I mean do people really think Tom Evans is dancing to shake it off?
Then there was Cat Bradley’s half baked post for Athletic Brewing.
I’m sure it’s hard for athletes and creators to come up with ways to post about the products who support them. Often the contracts require a certain number of social media posts per month but if you are going to sign those contracts and take that money, let’s put some thought into it. And brands don’t ask all the athletes to do the same thing. They do know that there are only so many elite trail athletes and most fans follow them all?
But there are some cool FKT’s happening at the moment with Jeff Browning (@gobroncobilly ) attempting the Colorado Trail and Tara Dower (@tara.dower) attempting the Appalachian Trail. Both are insanely long and their instagrams and following the tale.
And this post from Hillary Yang was refreshingly honest and relatable. Sometimes course changes just aren’t your bag and aren’t what you trained for and I vote for normalising deciding not to run if the race doesn’t float your boat anymore.
Reads
Athletes posting very specifically about their training always seems to get people talking and not just the folks on the LetsRun forums or over on Reddit. I have mixed feelings about it. It can be a double edged sword, on one side it can make you feel like you aren’t doing enough and on the other can be a nice reassurance that you are on the right track with the framework of your training, it’s just the volume is different for different athletes.
Killian posted a lengthy article about his training after he won Sierras Zenal for the 10th time and it got the podcasts buzzing.
Adrian McDonald shared a similar article via Coros after his Leadville performance.
Again, it’s interesting but I certainly wouldn’t be off doing a copy and paste.
But I’m the first to go and watch all the reviews on the new Jim shoe so maybe I’m just as guilty.
Speaking of Jim, he shared some interesting thoughts on why his Strava and training is dark over on the SingleTrack podcast this week in the lead up to UTMB.
It’s no secret that I’m a massive Jim fan girl so of course I was all over this interview but the questions about age and legacy I felt were a little on the nose.
It’s interesting that athletes like Jim get asked all those types of questions but athletes like Courtney get asked about her favourite candies? We all know she’s just as meticulous and serious about her training. Why is no one asking Jim about lollies?
Enjoy UTMB week folks, or don’t if that’s your jam, or if you are sitting on that slightly uncomfortable ethical fence like me (refuse to race it, but will take a day off work to watch the live stream) enjoy the moral dilemma that everyone in the ultra trail space is still grappling with.
As always,
’s Trail Mix (arguably the best newsletter in the trail space) hits the nail on the ambivalence head with his pre UTMB discussion.
Anyways, as always, if you see something cool, please send it over to me incase the algorithm doesn’t!
What’s up with me? Well I have about 6 weeks of training to go until the Taupo 100k so this week I ran my own little training camp. You can read all about it over at melmacruns.com
Happy recovery and I’ll see you in the lead up to UTMB.
Good point re Jim and Courtney - To be fair though, Jim’s a very measured calculated guy. Courtney has often deflected and made jokes in past interviews with more serious questions. Doesn’t mean you should stop asking though
I love me a trail running doco and lapped up the Adidas team vibe. But right now I’m working my way through the Jeff Pelletier back catalogue of races and fast pack adventures.
I do seem to have quickly watched all the female focused trail running docos though which is frustrating