I Asked Speedgoat about Selling to UTMB
and realized he's the nexus of trail running's growth
Speedgoat Karl Meltzer sold his namesake race to UTMB, sold his naming rights to HOKA, released his AT trail doc on Netflix, and brought non-endemmic money (…Red Bull) and attention to trail running.
Trail running grew up on Karl Meltzer’s front porch over the last three decades.
Sure, he’s a known figure. But I think we’ve missed that trail running matured not only in his proximity, but in a lot of ways because of his excellence in running and, maybe even more so, his entrepreneurial acumen.
In this episode, he denies it all and calls himself lucky.
On some levels I get it. He was just an ambitious runner in the right place at the right time. Money and opportunity were growing, and he was somehow both quietly and loudly doing his thing.
Red Bull, La Sportiva, HOKA, Ultraspire, UTMB. They all saw it and used him and his name as both the paint and the canvas to tell stories that inspired dirtbags the world over to run further and maybe even with more attitude.
We know him as the guy who’s won more 100 milers than anyone ever has or probably ever will. He talked shit with Scott Jurek through plenty of those races and gets a few jabs in on him in this podcast.
And even though I knew all of this in separate pieces, I had never put the puzzle together until this interview, in real time.
I knew each story individually, but as a mosaic they make a picture of the growth of trail running and the man who was at the intersection of all of it.
Speedland x Saysky
Inky Steve writes about ‘… a true collab and perhaps his shoe of the year.’
Speedland RX:SKY