340 Mile Speed Project Record, Salomon Next Gen, + Pro Trail Runner Salary Data (Singletrack News)

Marathon des Sables is underway in the Moroccan Sahara, and this year's field is one of the most talked-about in recent memory. Ryan Sandes, Magda Boulet, Maryline Nakache, Ludo Pommeret, Des Linden, and yes, Harry Styles are all on course across six stages and 155 miles of largely unsupported desert racing.

Salomon made waves this week with the launch of their "Next Gen" program, a structured athlete development pathway for trail runners aged 18 to 25. Nine athletes were selected from 17 invitees through a rigorous process including lab testing, performance trials, and interviews. They get the full pro treatment: coaching, camps, nutrition, mental performance support, and international race entries. Christian Meier will lead the program. With Trail Team and Trail House already in the conversation stateside, we ask whether anything in the US compares.

Will Peterson also announced an AT FKT attempt this spring, going northbound and self-supported, targeting 50 to 55 miles per day. Given his resume on the Long Trail and White Mountains, this is the most credible attempt of 2026 so far.

We also cover:

• Biel Barros breaking the Speed Project Solo record (340 miles in 67:15)
• A full preview of Gorge Waterfalls, Lake Sonoma, Calamorro Skyrace, and the UTMB weekend races
• Injury updates on Katie Schide, Caleb Olson, and Francesco Puppi (who ran a 38-minute VK in a cast)
• Canada moving locations for it's national trail championships through 2028
• What French elite trail runners actually earn, per a new survey of 74 athletes

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• Janji - premium trail running apparel

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This episode of the Single Track Podcast is brought to you by Precision Fuel and Hydration, the official nutrition partner of the show. So here's the situation. I am nine weeks out from the Scout Mountain, 100 miler up in Pocatello, Idaho. And over the next few weeks, I am introducing longer runs into my rotation. We're talking four, five, six-hour outings. One of my go-to products in the field will be Precision's 300 gram flow gel pouches. That's 10 of their standard PF30 gels in a single resealable pouch. It makes carrying a lot of nutrition really simple. Oh, other thing, it is the same gel, but it's re-engineered to flow more easily without even adding water. So sometimes I'll bring their flow bottles too, and I'll put about 120 grams in each. It makes hourly consumption easy to track too. Anyways, of all else, go to Precision's website, check out their fuel and hydration planner. I have a link for that in our show notes. That's going to get you squared away planning wise for your next big race, too. And if you end up getting some product, use code SINGLETTRACK for a nice discount at checkout. This episode is also brought to you by Norda, the official footwear partner of the show. By chance, did you see that they released new colorways for the 005? That is right. Laser and Comet Colored both look sick. They make the lightest, fastest, most stable super shoes, even more cooler and fun to run in. Go check them out at NordaRun.com. This is the Monday, April 6th edition of Single Track News, joined by friend and colleague Alyssa Clark. Alyssa, how are you doing this Monday morning?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

I'm doing pretty well. It's hard to believe that we are into April. I feel like we are just ramping up for race season. I feel like April is the month where like we've had little tastes of it in race seasons here. How are you doing, Finn?

SPEAKER_00 1:49

I'll be honest, I'm like just coming off the disabled list. The last four days I had some crazy upper respiratory thing. And then even before that, like all of March, I had like a little bit of something going on. So you might be able to hear it a little bit in my voice, but I'm on I'm on the other side of it. Like I haven't run the past couple days. After this recording, I'm gonna head out for a nice stroll on the BST to test the systems. But uh yeah, March, March was weird on the sickness front. Um, but let's roll into it. First up here, Marathon de Sabla, the world-famous stage race in the Moroccan Sahara is underway. As of this recording, they are on the second stage. There's notables like Ryan Sands, Magda Boulay, Marilyn Nakash, Ludo Pomerate, Des Linden taking part. Over six stages, and this is for folks that aren't in the know, over six stages. Runners complete 155 largely unsupported miles carrying all food and supplies. Organizers provide some water checkpoints and shelters each night for camp. Uh, Alyssa, your thoughts here, but generally your familiarity with Marathon de Sabla.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

I mean, I think it's one of the original, the OG races of trail running. Um winning Marathon de Sol was, I think, back in the day of not far off of you know, a UTMB win, uh Badwater win, there was there's a lot of weight behind it. It could be the thing that got you a contract. And so I love that it it seems to be pulling pretty big names to it. I mean, I don't think they've ever lost that, but I think this year in particular with Des Linden being there, and it's exciting to see. I think that it's uh it is just such a challenging race. The sand element also you can be a great runner and then put 25-30 pounds on your back, and wow, is it a different game? And also stage racing is just I mean, I think stage racing is one of the hardest styles of racing because you are just in a pressure cooker from the second the gun goes off for five, six, you know, however long it lasts, five, six days. It's not the gun goes off, and then you decide when you're going to sleep, you decide how far you're going to run. It is regulated, and I think that's such a different mental challenge.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Couple thoughts from me. Yeah, on that last part there. I would be so curious to know who has the most optimized post-stage recovery protocol in between stages. And then, second, uh, over the years, that how how pivotal this race has been in the sport. I mean, the one that I always go back to is this was the race that I think Tom Evans was dared to do by friends, and he finishes third or fourth back in 2016 or 17, and that catapults him like full-time into the sport. So it's it's it's played a key role for quite a while.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Um I think it's one of the legendary races of kind of the London running scene and the UK. The UK loves this race, and so I think it's one of the ones that comes up kind of for us in some ways of Western states or Badwater Leadville. This is the race that people know if they're going to know of any ultras in the UK. So that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Okay. In terms of major racing, it was a bit quiet in our world this weekend. There are a few to highlight here. First, Biel Barros delivered a record-breaking performance at the Speed Project solo. It's part of a new partnership between Hoka and the Speed Project. He completed that 340-mile route from LA to Las Vegas in 67 hours and 15 minutes. He broke the previous course record of 75 hours. Uh, interesting that Hoka now sponsors the event. I'm also reminded that we we talked about Beale, I think last year on the Long Run Archives, you and I, when he announced his partnership with TSP second, Harry Subertis, a name that many steeped in the multi-day racing scene will instantly recognize. He won the Capital Backyard Ultra. He completed 64 yards, which is roughly 267 miles to win it. He's uh that is a Lithuanian record. He's Lithuanian, and it is unclear to me at the moment, but I I want to say that that gets him an at-large spot in Big's backyard, which is sort of like the world championship later this year, if he wants it. Your thoughts on either of these two results?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

I mean, I was quite astounded with the uh speed project result. That is that's quick. And that is not is it through a mountain range? No, but that is incredibly desolate, difficult terrain. Um, I believe that there was the woman's record was also broken. That's what I'm trying to pull up right now. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes, I think so. Yes. Um, I'm trying to pull up her name. But uh is Harry doing I believe he's doing Cocodona again, correct?

SPEAKER_00 6:53

I don't think I think he's taking a year off from Cocodona this year, of course. You know, won the race two years ago famously, making that pass on Jeff Browning just below Eldon in the final couple miles, and then he was there last year, uh went out super hot, you know. I mean, really dictated the race in the first day, and then faded, but again, so tough, held it together. I think uh fourth, fifth place finish.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Impressive. Okay, pulled it up. So uh Imogene Charlotte Body Bodie, who's a Solomon runner, set a new record for the woman. She did it in 77 hours 54 minutes, so taking it by four hours 47 minutes, and she was second overall. So huge shout out to Imogene as well for that incredible performance.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Okay, this is this is an example where if if someone just puts it on the teleprompter, I'm reading it, but then excluding everything else. Uh Hoka sent me this press release, and so of course I'm just like single-minded talking about Beal and totally forget. So, anyways, hey, press releases still matter.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Um Yeah, they do. I'm always I get some of the HOCA press releases too. And uh yeah, it kind of cracks me up. I feel like I'm back in the 70s.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

Next up, Will Peterson, friend of the podcast, announced via his Instagram this past week he will be making a fastest known time attempt on the Appalachian Trail later this spring. He'll be going northbound, hoping to average 50 to 55 miles per day, setting a new time. He's going self-supported. He references both Jeff Garmeyer's and Tara Dower's time, so he might be going for the overall mark. I shouldn't know the execs because I'm actually guest hosting an episode on his pod from the backcountry later tonight. So that shows my lack of homework going into this. Um, we're going to talk about the granulars there. Will is pretty stout in the multi-day distance scene. At one time, he held the unsupported and supported long trail FKTs, as well as the unsupported and supported White Mountains Diretissima FKTs. So uh yeah, well qualified. And there we have it, the first legit attempt of 2026 on the Appalachian Trail that I am aware of, at least. Your thoughts here.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

I think the conversation between self-supported and supported is very interesting on these longer trails because the logistics of getting support into athletes, I think the PCT is a bit harder than the AT, but the challenge of relying on support and then actually providing the support is just very, very difficult. And so, in some ways, and I think Jeff has spoken about this, the self-supported does allow for a bit more ease and flow of just what the trail presents you, you take. You stop and you stop, you go and you go. Of course, incre like incredibly difficult, but I'm just curious if there is the benefits perhaps of the self-supported will bring them closer.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yeah. It's a really interesting question. Yeah, I don't think it's obvious that supported in all cases is an advantage over self-support. I think it does come down to personality as well. But uh, you know, one interesting thing that as we'll follow Will's attempt, there are a few sections, even though this, yeah, there's some crazy stat that the AT uh at least certain sections of the AT are within like a 20-mile drive of 55 million Americans, so it's a very socially accessible trail. But there still are, especially up in like New Hampshire and Maine, sections where uh the margin for error on resupply is so low. And uh, you know, I think as soon as Will crosses the main border, there's gonna be a section between like it might be Rangely and Caratunk, it's over 100 miles, where um if he wants to go uh, you know, off uh off trail to resupply, it's like 10 miles one way. You know, so he has to be very strategic about where he resupplies, and uh, I mean, all those miles count too, you know, so that's part of the name of the game. But he's a great, he's a great uh contender for this. Okay. Next up, many of you have probably been following Solomon's team training camp on Grand Canary these past few days. It looks like they are basing out of Agayet in training on the middle sections of the TGC course, which is pretty cool. But equally, or perhaps even more interesting, Solomon has launched a new quote unquote next gen program aimed at developing young trail talent aged 18 to 25, helping bridge the gap between emerging athletes and elite international competition. Alyssa, this is something you and I have talked about uh almost every week now for the past couple weeks with Trailhouse and Trail Team. Uh a few months ago, I believe, they brought on 17 athletes who were invited to uh uh sort of go through this pretty rigorous selection process, VO2 max tests, uphill and downhill performance trials, interviews assessing motivation, long-term potential. From this process, they took nine athletes for the inaugural cohort. And basically, you know, to cut to the chase, these nine athletes get treated like the pros do in their preexisting program. Christian Meyer, who has guested on this podcast before, he's gonna serve as the head of the program. Um yeah, I mean, Alyssa, we've we've talked so much stateside about the trail team, trail house, now this. Um, I do want to get your take, but maybe first a question. Uh at the moment, based on what we know for the entire scene here, does this look like immediately the standard for raising athletes? Is there anything in the US that compares?

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Yeah, I so Solomon setting the standard for younger athletes coming in. I mean, that this is not resources, yeah. Re yeah. This is not a new card for Solomon. I mean, Solomon has had development teams off and on since I feel like I started in the sport maybe even sooner, where I remember like, hey, you were on the development team and then you got moved up, or and they would have races to uh decide who was going to be like if you won Ultra Piernew. I think that was one of the feeder races into the Solomon team. I know several athletes that were in the the youth team, and then sometimes they'd get moved to global, sometimes they wouldn't. So I feel like this is another iteration of Solomon saying, Hey, we're going to go back to the youth movement and focus on that. I think probably that those years of developing and honing and just the power behind Solomon, I think the only true rival to that would be Nike, depending on how much weight they want to put behind it. I do think Solomon, if we're looking at pure mountain sports, Solomon has the upper hand. It depends if Nike can put the money behind the people to bring in. But I think Solomon has the data, the research, the understanding of what makes one of the the best mountain athletes in the world. So I just think this speaks so much to the Olympics and the fact that it's coming. And that programs, organizations, companies are seeing this very clearly and saying, All right, we're gonna do it. We're gonna invest and we're gonna stick around. And I think the you know, rising tides lift all ships. I think we're absolutely seeing that right now. And I hope that it sticks. I hope it's not just we're gonna try it for a year. Uh, we'll see, because trail running takes a lot of long-term development. And I think that this is exciting because I I do think it's going to stick this time.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

I'm glad you brought up Solomon's history and the precedent there. Uh you reminded me uh the Young Gun program in the mid to late 2010s. I think people like Corinne Malcolm came out of that program. Uh Marion Hogan, Dakota. Yeah. So there's uh a lot of precedent here. These programs work. They they they yield great results, great athletes. Um, okay. We had we do have a lot of great racing happening this coming weekend. It's almost overloaded uh specifically. I've got tabs on Gorge Waterfalls, Lake Sonoma, Kalmora Sky Race, Desert Rats by UTMB, Istria by UTMB, looking first at Gorge, notably. This is their first year in partnership with ACG, and not surprisingly, these races are loaded with ACG talent. Your thoughts on the 100K, 50K, 30K fields, any matchups you're intrigued by, overall storylines.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

Yeah, well, I think we have to note as well that there's quite big prize purses on the line for Gorge in particular. Uh, with Gorge, I believe Shay Aquilana's in the 100K. Uh yeah, I mean, Shay's previous winner. Very excited to see what she can do. I know in the 50K, we have Tara Dower lining up, which girl loves to race. Uh, so some exciting names there. And then Desert Rats, Heather Jackson's going back. Um, one of my teammates, Claudia Tempse, who just came in second at uh Transgrand Canaria, is making her US tour. She's going to Desert Rats and then running canyons. So we convinced her that maybe it'd be better to fly from California to Colorado because there's really long spaces without any gas stations uh in that stretch. But I think uh yeah, just so much. It's like I can't even, my mind can't even comprehend all the reasons happening because they're all and they all fell on the same weekend.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Wild. John G. They are the official apparel partner of Singletrack and with warm temps in Salt Lake, basically here to stay. I re-upped the other day on late spring and summer apparel, specifically their mist colored run all day tee, their five-inch carbon colored AFO middle shorts, and another pair of their best in-class trail half tights. That's probably gonna get me set up for Race Day at Scout Mountain in June. I have to decide between the tights and the shorts. Honestly, probably go in tights. Anyways, go check it all out at johngy.com forward slash pages, forward slash single track. Using that link specifically helps us a ton. So does mentioning us in their post-purchase survey. Single track is also brought to you by Raid Research, the official equipment partner of the show. I have talked a lot about their LF2L belt in episodes past, but maybe not enough about some of the specs that make it my favorite belt on the market. Here are a few. First, the water maximization for belt size. I like that they innovated with a 650 milliliter flask instead of the standard 500m. It's also got this special locking cap so it doesn't leak when pressure is applied to the nozzle. And it is compatible with a lot of the filter tops on the market, like the Caterdyne and Hydropack 2. Second, the belts pole carry setup. This is critical, especially now that we're in mountain running season. This 2.5 millimeter elastic cord that comes with it creates fantastic security and adjustability when I need it. Go check it out, raidresearch.com. That is spelled r-a-i-d-e research.com. Yeah, I'll give you a few specific matchups that I'm excited about. First Engorge and the 100K men's side, Drew versus Jesh. Very excited. And plus, I should add, our very own fast media guy, Brett Hornig, has hopped in 100k. He's racing, so dang good at racing. Do not overlook him. In the 50k women's side, Jen versus Tara versus Bailey Kowalchik. Very excited for that trio to line up. And then I think my favorite matchup of that entire weekend at Gorge is actually Lauren Gregory versus Taylor Tuttle in the 30K. I think most folks on this show know Lauren Gregory, how talented, um, and what a great year she had last year winning the Golden Trail World Series final. Um, maybe less will know about Taylor. I think she is the next superstar in this sport, and I don't think that that's an overstatement. She's incredible. Um, she raced at Twisted Fork locally here last year. That's when she first came on my radar. But um ever since then. Incredible. A great result at Big Alta um a couple weekends back. So keep tabs on her. If you're playing Fantasy Free Trail, uh, she's she is a threat. Um and then yeah, Lake Sonoma, you know, I mean, we're gonna get to watch Lake Sonoma. Now post has a live stream for it, so that's cool. Uh, I think it's a pretty deep Terex event. A lot of Terex athletes go there. So, yeah, Cole Campbell, Hannah Allgood, Taylor Nowlin, Marcel Hosh, Emily Hoggod. Um, yeah. And then the last thing I'll say here is just Calmoro Sky Race. So we've talked a little bit over the past couple weeks about Sky Racing and the Sky Runner World series. This one's taking place in southern Spain. Great start lists, Frederick Tranchant, Stian Angermund, Madalena Florias, Serial Alonso. But again, like this is sort of a US-centric show. Basically, Morgan Elliott has been carrying the torch for the U.S. there this so far. There's no Americans, at least in terms of fantasy free traffic, if you're gonna play fantasy free trail of this event, you'll see no US representation, which is just remarkable. Um especially when you think about where this sport was at priority-wise among elite US athletes dating back to like 2012, you know. Um I I I I can't necessarily explain why there's a dearth of US athletes there, because I think there's plenty that could line up and have a lot of success. It's not like it's not something that people train here in the US, but um, yeah, just just an interesting footnote there.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a great question. I don't know really why either. Because it's not like we have lack of short distance talent in the US, but I do think there's a lot of emphasis on more of the quote unquote ultra distance. It does seem to be stronger in Europe.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Yeah, I mean, uh, one of the teams that I see this has low-hanging fruit for is the Arcteryx team. Uh uh Jasmine Lother, Jane Moss, Kyle Richardson, Lisco's on. Like those are athletes out of the box I think would have great success on this scene. Like, that's their jam. They're versatile, but that's their jam. Um, on a sombre note, we've got a lot of info these past few days on injury athletes amongst the highest echelon pro ranks in our sport. First, Katie Scheid, who has been remarkably public over the last few months, giving us a timeline and status on where she's at, dating back to last November. She's been dealing with plantar fasciitis. Her latest post shared that she just completed a PRP treatment last week. We don't know what her status is for hard rock or whether she'll pivot given where she's at, but um news there. Stay tuned. And then in a recent Substack post, Caleb Olsen shared that he experienced ephemeral stress reaction in early March. That has caused him to reorganize his first half of the year schedule. He's no longer racing at Gorge or Madeira. Stay tuned on announcements there. We do know that UTMB is still firmly in focus. That's the Primary goal as it has always been. And then lastly, Francesco Pupi, who was coming off an impressive victory at the Keanti Marathon last month, just posted that he broke his arm on a training run only seven-ish weeks after that fall and shoulder injury at Black Canyon. But here's the crazy part. He then posted yesterday that he ran a 38-minute VK in that cast. So there's your Stravo file of the week. And yeah, I guess, I guess if you add Jim Walmuse to that list, who again, you only kind of hear bits and pieces from over the past few months, it's been a tough few months for the very best in our sport health-wise. Um, but from what I can tell, everyone mentioned appears to be playing it pretty cautious, not trying to force anything which feels professional.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

So I think also, and again, I'm I can only speak to what I'm seeing is that I hope all of them feel that they've cemented their position in this world so firmly if they're incredible. And I hope that that relieves some of the pressure of needing to get back to racing as soon as possible. That being said, I'm sure they're all competitors, I'm sure they want to, but I do hope that there isn't the pressure that they will be forgotten because none of them will, or questioned of their lead in the sport. So yeah, wishing all of them, oh, that's just so tough. It's I've been following a little bit of Katie's story, and she is not normally very public, so it's been interesting. And I'm sure it has meant so much to so many people just to have her share her story more.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Yeah, and you know, if there is impatience from the masses, that's that's the masses' fault. And I think we have short-term memory loss. Like I was just I saw the other day that Zach Miller was on the Canyon's 100k star list. I'm like, oh sweet. Wait, when was the last time Zach raced? It's been so long. And I look, oh, he raced at the World Championships in late September. Like, why am I thinking that this was like two years ago? So um I think it's mostly on the audience when when we get impatient about this stuff and it's it's not the athletes' problem. Although it is, I'm sure, frustrating to have to deal with like expectations and you know, why aren't you racing every month or every quarter? Stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

The recency bias is wild. It's kind of better in many ways. Like when Black Canyon happened last year, it was just mind-blowing. At the same this year, and then by September or October, and you're or even November, you're looking at, you know, who's gonna be Ultra Runner of the Year, and you're like, oh yeah, Black Canyon happened. You're like, that was the biggest thing ever. You know, these incredible performances. And then yeah, the recency bias, I I have felt it. I know a lot of athletes were like, what the heck? I had great performances. Yeah, that's why again, hurt is a smaller race, but that's why doing well at hurt, everyone's like, wasn't that the last season? You're like, no, it's this year. It just happened in January.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Okay. Last week we talked about the Von 2 Trail. By the way, I received more info after we recorded. It was a selection event for the European Trail Champs later this year, not next year's World Trail Champs. Gotcha. But I say that because we have some news coming out of Canada starting in 2027 through at least 2028. They're switching to a new venue for their national champs, the Sinister 7 in Crows Nest past Alberta. It's known as one of Canada's most grilling ultras. That will be home to the national trail champs for the next two years for the 50k short trail and 80k long trail races. And then the vertical ascent and classic up-down races are being hosted at Rebel Stoke. Um interestingly, these events will double as selection trials for the 2029 World Trail and Mountain Running Champs. That's confirmed. Um, and then I suspect based on that, so that would that'll take place in 28 for 29. Um, this year's national champs are taking place in at Quebec Mega Trail in July, and then at Daffy de Couleur et Mont-Saint-Dan, Quebec. And I think those two races or those two events will select fields for the 2027 World Trail Champs in uh South Africa. Again, it's not confirmed, but I I believe those are the selection races. So uh someone fact-check me, but I think that that's where we're at there. So for those that are, you know, either following the Canadian scene or um are Canadian, I think that's that's uh that's the latest. Your thoughts here.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

I think it's just exciting and interesting compared to the US, how much everyone else is on top of their selections and knowing what's going on and knowing what races are gonna happen and the specificity to the actual race itself. So I uh yeah, uh US, let's follow suit. Yep. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Okay. Next up, this is uh this is from Mile and Stone. They got some interesting survey data back from the French professional trail running scene. They sent out surveys to 74 pro trail French runners with, and here were the qualifications, they had to have at least 850 male and 730 female interest scores. They got 49 responses, 12 declared themselves fully 100% professional, six stated that they earned at least 100,000 euros annually, 25 reported earning less than 25,000 euros annually, 64% reported brand sponsorships as the primary source of income, 17% reported prize money as the primary source, 6.5% reported coaching, 6.1% reported influencing. So I just threw a ton of stats at you. Um we will link to this in the show notes, this survey, the survey results here, but yeah, any any interesting interpretations from this survey data?

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Honestly, not super surprising in many ways, other than the fact there's already six that are above 100,000. I'm pleased to see that. I think that is certainly growing. Uh not surprising to see that 25 are below 25,000. It's interesting to use it scores as the marker to then send these surveys out. Just as like, I think that we're in many ways still not very good at quantifying people's performances in rankings. Uh but yeah, I mean, I I remember that Jeffrey Stern actually did uh articles similarly or did stats similarly a couple of years ago in the US. And so I would be curious to see this happen again in the US as well. Um but yeah, I think it's exciting to see that more and more people are able to be a hundred percent professional and we're moving in the direction of being able to have sustainable, actually nice lifestyles from this.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

I would just add, I think, yeah, I'm pretty sure France has a better social safety net than the US does. Like I think, for example, there's universal healthcare there. So there's one less cost for the athletes. And so if 75% are earning more than 25,000 euros, still, I mean, sure, some are hovering at an equivalent poverty line, but seems like a big jump.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Okay. Quick rundown of the latest athlete signings. Sunto, uh, there's a lot here. Tara Dauer, Jen Lichter, Will Murray, Jeff Mogavero. So they add them to their team. Jacob Banta signs with Ultra. Uh Zha Shang Shen, Shen Zha Shang, I should say, signs with Solomon. Um, your thoughts here.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Yeah, well, as a Cinto athlete, very exciting to see these athletes. I feel like Cunto is, you know, they're they kind of went through a lull, they're coming back strong. They have been in the last few years. They've been putting out incredible new technology. Uh, I'm saying this all as being on the team, and it's exciting to be.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

I'm wearing the vertical. I'm not even sponsored.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Me too. But uh, I will say that the the technology they're creating, they're putting out new products very frequently. And it's exciting to see just a really, really strong team uh being already established, and now we're adding more athletes. So excited to have these athletes as uh my teammates. And yeah, Jacob, well earned going to Ultra, Hurdy's a stand-up guy. So excited to see him find a home.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

Yeah, I listened to Jacob's interview recently on Free Trail. Great guy. Also love that he comes from a media background in our sport. He was shooting content and you know, storytelling before he uh he rose to prominence professionally running fast. So cool to see that dual threat. Um, signing with Ultra. Yeah. Okay, let's close up with content of the week. What do you got?

SPEAKER_01 31:10

I well, I want to say quick. So Like the Wind traditionally was a European magazine. They have now launched in the US. There was a big event in Boulder. It looked like big attendance. Very excited to see. They are also doing another event in San Francisco coming up soon. So kind of pivoting off of Like the Wind. Uh, one of the features, Doug Mayer, loved by many in the Ultra Running community. He is the founder of Run the Alps. He's also a writer. I have this. He did give this to me. I will say, Doug and I go way back, but it's called Last of the Giants. It's a book about Tour de Jean. And I don't think that you have to know much about Tour de Jean to appreciate the book, to appreciate the sentiments in it. But it is about basically the journey of what it means to do something that you're not sure that you can do. Actually, you probably think that you can't, and who you become along the journey. This book had me crying multiple times, especially at the end. And the last line, truly, which is to be really tough, you need to make yourself vulnerable, is I think something we can all take away. So The Last of the Giants is my first one. And then the second one, right before we hopped on, Finn and I were talking about cycling. And there's an incredible, it's from 2018. So now, gosh, eight years. I can't believe that was eight years ago. Incredible series on Amazon Prime called Eat Race Win. And it's about feeding the professional teams for the Tour de France. So highly, highly recommend it. It's a beautiful documentary series. So those are my two content pieces.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Fantastic. Yeah, I have the link up for Eat Race Win, and uh it's the Queen of Performance Cooking, Hannah Grant, chef Hannah Grant.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

She reminds me of Kelly a little bit. Like they have similar energy. So that's maybe that's why I enjoy it so much, too.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

I would second the the Tortegeons book too by Doug. So I was telling you offline when Jimmy Elam and I were FastPack in the TMB row last year, we stayed at Hotel Bouton d'Or in Cormayer, and they had copies of the book, and I had some time to kill that night, read it cover to cover. It's fantastic. So yes, go check it out. My content piece of the week. Let me pull this up. Okay. There is a podcast. It's called Trail Talk, hosted by Aaron Shimmons, who I believe at the moment is, excuse me, based in Australia, but he's by way of Ireland. Anyways, his show has sort of an English-speaking European take on the sport, which I think is great. In one of his latest episodes, he interviewed Ian Corliss, who has worn many notable hats in the sport over the years. And if you were coming up when I did in the mid-2010s, he hosted a now, it's it's kind of dormant, but the the podcast was called Talk Ultra. It was fantastic. Actually, that's really where I first heard about Marathon de Sabla, for example. Um, and from what I can tell, Ian doesn't take many interviews these days. He doesn't get on the podcast circuit much to talk, even as a guest. So it was cool to get his perspective on a bunch of different topics comparing errors of the sport, like for example, Sky Running in 2012 to now. Uh the flow of the conversation was great. Aaron asked great questions, so go check that out. The podcast is called Trail Talk. And then this is less content, just like a final news item. But with the cancellation of the Buffalo run last month, uh we are moving two bear tags to Twisted Fork, the 68K, uh, at the end of next month. So if you are looking to compete for an automatic entry at this year's Bear 100, instead of having uh a male and a female tag, we'll have two female and two male tags. So four total entries auto to this year's Bear 100. So uh if you're an elite athlete or someone that wants to compete for one of those spots, we have one last spot. I think we're gonna give one last spot out for for that competition. So uh shoot us a DM on Instagram and we'll talk. Um so so there we have it. Alyssa, any any final thoughts from you before we go?

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Buckle up racing seasons here.