Legitimate dirtbag ultrarunners started wearing luxury running brands giving credence to a vision that endurance trail runners deserved too.

Presented by Kiprun.

But what is a Luxury Running Brand exactly and how do Luxury Running Brands coexist in trail running and ultrarunning culture?

There is tension here to be sure. The old guard wants to see the heritage dirtbag ethos preserved with a set of unspoken rules on how we 'should' be ultrarunners. And others, like Josh, think that ultrarunning is what makes someone an ultra runner, not the apparel or gear or whatever else.

Will Luxury Running Brands survive the brutal reality of the sport and those who fancy themselves gatekeepers? Or will it push through with no regard for what the naysayers think?

Are luxury running brands are here to stay?

It's probably too soon to say, but in this episode we explore:

1. What is traditional ultrarunning culture?
2. What is luxury?
3. What is a luxury running brand?
4. The appearance of authenticity vs. earned authenticity

1. 01:14 Why does Luxury Feel Strange in Ultrarunning?
2. 03:45 What is Traditional Ultrarunning Culture?
3. 10:48 5 Markers of Traditional Ultrarunning Culture
4. 15:44 What even is luxury?
5. 20:40 What is a "luxury running brand"?
6. 24:25 Why do luxury running brands bother people?
7. 27:43 A Weird Moment in Luxury Ultrarunning
8. 31:45 The Old Guard of Ultrarunning

1. [article] Why “Luxury Running Brands” Feels Strange In Ultrarunning
2. Satisfy
3. Currently
4. Running Sucks

1. Satisfy Cofounder, Brice Partouche
2. The ROCKER Shoe is Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

What are the best and worst running shoes? Inky Steve has bought more than 40 pairs of running shoes and ran almost 6,000 miles in them. He gives an honest running shoe review from someone who has paid full price for his shoes. He's an ultra runner, 5k runner, park runner, and everything in between. If you love running shoes or are curious about what to buy next, Inky Steve is a great resource.

(If you haven't already, will you give us a rating and review?)

He opens his closet for a no-holds-barred deep dive into his massive running shoes rotation spotlighting the best trail running shoes and road running shoes he's actually logged serious miles in, plus the absolute worst offenders that disappointed, fell apart, got binned early, or converted to lifestyle.

With 43 pairs detailed (mileage tracked obsessively), Inky dishes honest, no-filter verdicts on grip, bounce, durability, style, longevity, and real-world performance in Manchester mud, long ultras, and everything in between.

Links & Resources

1. Nike Next % from 2020
2. Hoka Mafate X
3. gb ultras
4. Speedland

Presented by Kiprun.

Chapters

1. 02:06 Inky Steve's Top Five Running Shoes
2. 06:09 The Importance of Shoe Longevity and Functionality
3. 08:56 Brand Preferences and Shoe Mileage
4. 14:06 Lifestyle Shoes vs. Performance Shoes
5. 20:00 Honest Shoe Reviews
6. 24:15 Number One Trail Shoe Recommendation
7. 28:09 Hoka Mafate X Shoe for 50 Milers
8. 30:50 The Importance of Running Shoe Drainage
9. 34:09 The Ultra Running Experience
10. 38:50 The Impact of Shoe Design on Performance
11. 44:20 Shoe Iterations: What to Keep and What to Scrap

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5. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

If you enjoy this content, please follow, rate, and review. It's free for you and incredibly valuable for our goals.

It's easy to love trail running this time of year because in the northern hemisphere we're leaving winter for spring and all the good feelings of hope that come with it.

I want to add to that good will and sentiment by naming the 10 things the I love about trail running right now not the least of which is ACTUAL trail and ultra running.

1. 01:23 ACTUAL trail running
2. 10:48 Ultratrail Race Season
3. 13:39 Running to "Overcome"
4. 16:23 Ciele Athletics
5. 18:39 Trail Shoe Design
6. 24:05 Scrappy Trail Running Brands
7. 30:37 Meme Culture
8. 35:08 Tommie Runz
9. 36:21 Taylor Bodin (dirt division) + Josh Bouton (meta endurance)
10. 38:27 Inky Steve, Stan Van Kemmel, Bryce Carlson, Sam Lohse

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

If you enjoy this content, please follow, rate, and review. It's free for you and incredibly valuable for our goals.

The story of Ciele Athletics is equal parts right place and right time plus a keen eye for what's happening and need in the running market. Ciele became one of the brands worn by all types of runners from road to trail to ultra runners to park runners. It was a running brand that made all other running brands elevate their branding efforts.

--

Jeremy Bresnen founded Ciele Athletics Inc./Ciele Athlétique Inc. with Mike Giles in 2014 in the now-great running city of Montreal. I started running around 2012 and clearly remember seeing Ciele on the shelf at Salt Lake Running Company circa 2015.

I bought a hat almost instinctively and no doubt irresistibly.

I wasn't sure I wanted to even run in it yet becuase I loved it so much and didn't want to ruin it from the 100 degree July days. Eventually I bought a second Ciele hat - one for running and one for around town.

It was the first brand I wore while not running to signal to everyone that I was a runner. Ciele transcended any single type of running and permeated anywhere runners cared about performance and style - road, trail, and track from 5k to ultra distances.

They emerged with a cohort of brands still going today like Tracksmith, Oiselle, Janji, and SATISFY. This co-hort of early 2010s brands were all seeing something similar - people were not simply running - they were runners.

Jeremy Bresnen tells the story of Ciele while on a long walk with me from founding to today with thoughts on the future. From the days of hats-only to today where they create all sorts of running apparel and different styles of hats all built around performance first then style.

Presented by Kiprun.

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5. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

Camille Herron has built an incredible resume in ultrarunning filled with trophies and world records. She is an endurance and ultra running [world] Record Collector on the road, trail, and track.

She's committed to pushing back the boundaries and guardrails put on women's sports with a list of accomplishments that should make anyone listen.

Enjoy this conversation about Camille's great accomplishments with emphasis on Lululemon's 6 Day event, Spartathalon, Comrades, IAU Championships, and more.

Some takeaways:

1. Camille switched from road to trail + felt at home
2. She sets mini goals during races to make it feel attainable
3. Pain perception [or lack thereof] is her superpower
4. She caps long runs at two hours during training
5. Training should be tailored to individual needs
6. [especially for neurodivergent athletes]
7. The camaraderie in ultra running welcomes everyone.
8. Spartathlon and Comrades connect runners to a rich history + heritage

She believes she has many record breaking years ahead of her - what are her goals?

-

Josh brings back the classic Borderlands [DFL Before DNF - iykyk] question for Camille - "how do you keep going when you want to quit?" No doubt in Camille's intense and rigorous endurance records she has wanted to quit but hasn't. So how does she keep going?

-

A few years ago she noticed that she could incredible race output from decreasing her long runs down to 2 hours max. She later found a French author and researcher who wrote a book as he chased the idea.

After adopting it, Camille has enjoyed less injuries and an overall increase in performance.

[Hosts note: Candidly, we set out to talk about the not-so-recent 'Wikipedia situtation' but as the conversation was going I decided to stay in the moment of celebrating an unbelievable career. I hope to have Camille on multiple times in the coming years where we can talk about this and so many other things important to her and ultra running.]

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

When we run short distances, it makes sense to think of what we eat and drink and nutrition, but when we run really long distances we need to consider nourishment. Jesse Rich, nutritionist to elite ultra runners, reframes endurance nutrition to thinking about endurance nourishment.

In efforts under 24 hours, its reasonable to thinkg about it in simple terms of 'nutrition' but in these big multi-day ultra running efforts where you're sleep-deprived and putting enormous pressure on your system you have to think about nourishment. At some point you have to go beyond considering electorlytes and begin considering all the nutrients - fat, protien, etc.

1. How many calories do we burn in a 100 miler?
2. How many calories are our body burning in days following without effort?
3. How efficiently are we absorbing calories after one day of consecutive endurance effort?
4. Is there a connection between sleep and absorbing nutrition?
5. When you are at a nutritional deficiency in a race, can you catch back up?
6. Post-multi day run recover requires immense calories.
7. Caffeine is useful only if strategically timed.

This episode offer good advice for anyone running The Speed Project or any multi-day endurance race or run.

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

There's no such thing as an overnight success but Anne Flower sure felt like it in the last year. She appeared virtually out of no where to snag the Leadville 100 course record from the great Anne Trason, set the 50 mile world record at Tunnel Hill, and get the overall Win at Javelina Jundred.

But its not true. She's been running hard for a long time but her first passion has been in the drivers seat - her career as a physician in Colorado Springs.

She's racing Black Canyon Ultras - 100k - to test herself against a super speedy field and she sat down to talk with Josh to talk shop about her career to this point and how she's thinking about BC specifically.

1. Anne's insights on training
2. Anne's insights on ultra running from a physician's perspective
3. Her approach compared to David Roche's as the two NEW Leadville CR holders
4. Her thoughts on Black Canyon's lack of prize money
5. Her fondness for Moab trail racing
6. Her perspective as an elite runner and sponsorships while remaining hyperfocused on her non-running career.

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

Francesco Puppi has been ultra trail running for a long time, but his 2025 wins at UTMB's CCC, The Canyons 100k, and Chianti 47k put him squarely on the radar of the average American fan.

Anytime Francesco Puppi is in a race, he's a contender and one that the other contenders have to account for. The Black Canyon course suits his marathon speed even with its techincality.

He wins big mountain races but is speedy when the course suits.

No matter how the race shakes out, Francesco Puppi will make it fun for fans simply by bringing his gifts to the race and course.

Presented by Kiprun.

Hosted by Josh Rosenthal, founder of Borderlands Trail Running.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

Alex Zono designs running apparel for anyone who truly digs running (from dirtbag adventures to leaderboard-chasing at Black Canyon 50k). In this episode recorded at Paris Fashion Week, the Cape Town-based designer and runner shares his love for American dirtbag ultra, trail culture, 'Running is My Best Friend' collection inspiration, and the playful yet serious spirit of running mindset over pure pace.

Alex Zono designs running gear for anyone who truly digs running. He puts his heart and soul into it and its not necessarily optimized for a pace, but a mindset and spirit.

But don't let that playful lightheartedness fool you, Alex Zono is going to run Black Canyon 50k with intent to finish on the leaderboard.

Go see his apparel line and you'll feel the juxtaposition of a brand truly in its element at Paris Fashion Week and a runner truly in his element at Black Canyon 50k.

In this episode, Alex sits down with Josh Rosenthal and Sam Lohse in Borderlands Studio at Paris Fashion Week to talk about his love American dirtbag ultra and trail running, design, and the world of Paris Fashion Week for runners.

"Running is My Best Friend" reference is from Alex Zono's collection.

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026

To many dirtbag runners, the growth in high price fashion-forward running apparel and clothing is off-putting and even frustrating. Beneath the surface, this movement is thoughtful, runner-first and gaining traction becuase of the many benefits it brings to the current running movement.

Josh Rosenthal, Inky Steve, Sam Lohse, Mike Kratzer, and Simon Freeman (co-founder of Like the Wind) sat down in the Borderlands Podcast Studio at Paris Fashion Week to talk about the purpose of PFW and why its important for runners to pay attention to it.

You certianly don't have to, but if you're curious or care at all about what's happening with Running Apparel and Clothing, its a brilliant event. Its not for consumers though. It's a classic B2B event in random shops in the 3rd Arrondissement of Paris.

There is no central hub telling you what shop is where. You only know where to go if you know where to go. Some brands post on social while others want to be 'found' more organically.

It's all interesting. But also useful.

Presented by Kiprun.

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4. Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races | 30 May 2026