Jeremy and Adriana Nelson did not set out to build a company. Jeremy was a mechanical engineer tinkering in his garage with rollerblade wheels. Adriana was a professional runner from Romania training twice a day at altitude in Boulder. When Jeremy could not find his prototype, he knew it was good because Adriana had stolen it. And that was the beginning of Roll Recovery.

Thirteen years later they have a product in Fleet Feet, Boulder Running Company, and running stores around the world. They have never taken outside investment. They barely advertise. And they built the whole thing one relationship at a time.

Support our sponsors:

Halo: Racing is easy. Getting there is not. Halo is a hospitality platform built by runners that turns race weekend lodging into a branded clubhouse where your athletes and community actually stay together. Whether you are a brand, an event organizer, or just heading to a race yourself, visit haloracing.com or reach out and tell them you heard about it on Long Run Labs.

Tech in Running Live Panel: If you are heading to Chamonix for UTMB week, come find me. I am hosting a live panel on Wednesday of race week covering data, AI, wearables, and where the human still beats the algorithm, brought to you by TrainingPeaks. Email [email protected] and I will send you everything you need to know.

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Karen Merlin on UTMB, women’s trail running, and growing the sport sustainably.

Karen Merlin, elite athletes and inclusion programs manager at UTMB, joins Jon to talk about how UTMB is evolving its race ecosystem, how athlete feedback drives change, and why women’s trail running is gaining so much momentum. They also get into accessibility, representation, sustainability, and what race week in Chamonix is actually like on the ground.

In this episode Karen shares how UTMB thinks about growth without dilution, how the organization works with athletes and brands to make trail more welcoming, and why visibility, storytelling, and thoughtful policies matter for the long term health of the sport.

Support our sponsors:

Halo: Racing is easy. Getting there is not. Halo is a hospitality platform built by runners that turns race weekend lodging into a branded clubhouse where your athletes and community actually stay together. Whether you are a brand, an event organizer, or just heading to a race yourself, visit haloracing.com or reach out and tell them you heard about it on Long Run Labs.

Tech in Running Live Panel: If you are heading to Chamonix for UTMB week, come find me. I am hosting a live panel on Wednesday of race week covering data, AI, wearables, and where the human still beats the algorithm, brought to you by TrainingPeaks. Email [email protected] and I will send you everything you need to know.

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Training Peaks: The coaches behind UTMB winners and the athletes you've heard on this show are all using the same platform — and that's not a coincidence. Get 20% off Training Peaks premium with code FTLR here!

Leland Kohere is the marketing manager at Osprey Packs, one of the most trusted names in outdoor gear. He oversees their athlete program, field marketing, content, and social media. And after five years on the inside, he has a pretty clear view of what works and what does not when it comes to building a brand that people in the outdoor industry actually respect.

Osprey launched a major run campaign this year behind the redesigned Duro, Dyna, and new Pro series vests. That product took four years to develop with their athlete team. And the marketing behind it was just as deliberate.

Leland joins Long Run Labs to talk through how Osprey thinks about athletes versus ambassadors versus UGC creators, why they are not a podium driven brand, and what it actually means to show up authentically in a space where people can see through the fluff immediately.

Support our sponsors:

Halo: Racing is easy. Getting there is not. Halo is a hospitality platform built by runners that turns race weekend lodging into a branded clubhouse where your athletes and community actually stay together. Whether you are a brand, an event organizer, or just heading to a race yourself, visit haloracing.com or reach out and tell them you heard about it on Long Run Labs.

Tech in Running Live Panel: If you are heading to Chamonix for UTMB week, come find me. I am hosting a live panel on Wednesday of race week covering data, AI, wearables, and where the human still beats the algorithm, brought to you by TrainingPeaks. Email [email protected] and I will send you everything you need to know.

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

John Gonzalez started the RiNo 5K in 2017 as a passion project while working full time in cybersecurity. Named after River North, one of Denver's most vibrant neighborhoods, it is a road race, a run club gathering, a fundraiser, and a community event all at once. Kristina Cripe is the Program Specialist at the Denver chapter of Back on My Feet, a national organization operating in 14 cities that uses the power of running to help people experiencing homelessness and addiction to transform their lives.

This episode is about what a neighborhood race can actually become when the organizer, the nonprofit, and the title sponsor all share the same vision. It is about free entries and donated shoes and stories that do not get told often enough. And it is about why the 5K might be the most underrated vehicle for community building in all of running.

Jon, John, and Kristina chat about:

Stay connected:

Back on My Feet: https://backonmyfeet.org

Kristina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-cripe-ms-ctrs-b6b32317a/

John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gonzalez-92820a33/

RiNo 5k: https://www.rino5k.org

Support our sponsors:

Halo: Racing is easy. Getting there is not. Halo is a hospitality platform built by runners that turns race weekend lodging into a branded clubhouse where your athletes and community actually stay together. Whether you are a brand, an event organizer, or just heading to a race yourself, visit haloracing.com or reach out and tell them you heard about it on Long Run Labs.

Tech in Running Live Panel: If you are heading to Chamonix for UTMB week, come find me. I am hosting a live panel on Wednesday of race week covering data, AI, wearables, and where the human still beats the algorithm, brought to you by TrainingPeaks. Email [email protected] and I will send you everything you need to know.

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Dr. Marc Bubbs has spent twenty five years on the frontline of performance nutrition. Working with Canada Basketball, US Soccer, NBA teams, Olympians, and elite endurance athletes. And after two and a half decades of watching the same problems show up over and over, he and co-founder Paul Winsper decided to stop consulting around the problem and build the solution.

ProBio launched to consumers at the New York City Marathon last fall. Built entirely from what Marc kept seeing in the labs of the best athletes in the world.

He joins Long Run Labs in Boulder to talk about what twenty five years of practitioner experience actually taught him, what most endurance athletes still get wrong, and what it really takes to build trust in a market where everyone is constantly trying to convince someone they need something more.

Jon and Marc chat about:

Stay connected:

Dr. Marc Bubbs website: https://www.drbubbs.com

ProBio Nutrition website: https://www.probionutrition.com

Dr. Marc Bubbs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbubbs/

Dr. Marc Bubbs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-marc-bubbs-8a5b9124/

Support our sponsors:

Halo: Racing is easy. Getting there is not. Halo is a hospitality platform built by runners that turns race weekend lodging into a branded clubhouse where your athletes and community actually stay together. Whether you are a brand, an event organizer, or just heading to a race yourself, visit haloracing.com or reach out and tell them you heard about it on Long Run Labs.

Tech in Running Live Panel: If you are heading to Chamonix for UTMB week, come find me. I am hosting a live panel on Wednesday of race week covering data, AI, wearables, and where the human still beats the algorithm, brought to you by TrainingPeaks. Email [email protected] and I will send you everything you need to know.

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Monica Devreese is the CEO and co-founder of Rabbit, a running apparel brand celebrating its tenth year in business. Hilary Fenet is the founder of Halo, a platform built to solve the logistics and community gap that exists when runners travel to races. They're sitting at a partnership between their two businesses and a shared belief that the most important runner in the sport is the one nobody is talking to — the middle of the pack.

This conversation covers brand building, experiential marketing, the noise problem at race activations, bootstrapping versus outside capital, and why real community only happens in person.

Quick note before we get into it. This conversation with Monica Devreese of Rabbit and Hilary Fenet of Halo was recorded a few weeks before there was any business between us. Since then Hilary and the team at Halo have come on as a partner of the show — and that happened because of conversations exactly like this one, not the other way around. You'll hear a proper word from Halo beginning next week. For today, this conversation stands on its own.

Topics covered:

Stay connected:

Hilary on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-fenet-b2b2358/

Halo Website: https://www.poweredbyhalo.com

Monica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monid/

Rabbit Website: https://www.runinrabbit.com

This episode is supported by:

The Huddle: If you're at the point where going at it alone isn't working or you're ready to level things up in your business, go to https://findmyhuddle.com/ and fill out the application

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Alex Maier has spent his career building brands that actually listen. From Porsche and Audi to Nike to onX Maps to his current role as president of OnWater, he has consistently chosen the path of product led growth over marketing led noise. And the throughline across all of it is the same: get curious, listen to the customer, and build something worth talking about.

OnWater is building the operating system for water-based recreation globally. Two products, a fishing utility and a paddling platform, powered by community, conservation, and a genuinely different approach to how outdoor brands think about creators, consumer insights, and product feedback.

Jon and Alex chat about:

Stay connected:

Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmaier2/

This episode is supported by:

The Huddle: If you're at the point where going at it alone isn't working or you're ready to level things up in your business, go to https://findmyhuddle.com/ and fill out the application

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Vivek Gowri has spent his career at the intersection of technology and community. Six months ago he added running store owner to that list, buying San Francisco Running Company and stepping into the shoes of a brand that has been a pillar of Bay Area trail running for nearly 15 years.

He joins Long Run Labs at TrailCon in Tahoe to talk about what it actually takes to build a more diverse trail running community, why doing the right thing and doing the profitable thing are more aligned than most brands want to admit, and what he is building at SFRC that he hopes will matter long after the race results are posted.

Jon and Vivek chat about:

This episode is supported by:

The Huddle: If you're at the point where going at it alone isn't working or you're ready to level things up in your business, go to https://findmyhuddle.com/ and fill out the application

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

What does AI actually think about the running industry? Not what brands want it to think. Not what their SEO teams have optimized for. What does it actually say when nobody is watching?

Michael Rueckert of Centium AI ran the biggest AI visibility study ever done on the running industry. Five models. 2,200 unaided prompts. 21 product categories from shoes to gels to headphones to race destinations. And what came back was a landscape that is far less equal than anyone assumed.

Nine brands carry most of the conversation. More than half the brands that surfaced appeared exactly once. Runner's World shows up in four out of every ten AI answers. And AI referred traffic converts 45% better than any other source.

Michael joins Long Run Labs to break down what it all means and what brands, creators, and marketers should actually do about it.

Jon and Michael chat about:

Stay connected:

Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rueckert/

Centium.AI: https://centium.ai

This episode is supported by:

The Huddle: If you're at the point where going at it alone isn't working or you're ready to level things up in your business, go to https://findmyhuddle.com/ and fill out the application

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands

Sara Hendershot has spent her career at the intersection of elite sport and early stage brand building. She rowed at the 2012 Olympics, was employee number three at Momentous before it became one of the most trusted names in performance supplementation, and is now employee number four at Loonen, a water company doing something nobody else in the category has been willing to do.

Loonen combines the highest quality spring source with the highest quality filtration, tests for over 350 contaminants across every production run, and publishes every single result. The FDA requires none of it. That's the point.

Sara joins Long Run Labs to talk about the athlete to entrepreneur journey, what she learned building Momentous from the ground up, and why the bottled water category is overdue for exactly this kind of disruption.

Jon and Sara chat about:

Stay connected:

Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahendershot/

Loonen Website: https://loonen.com

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Huddle: If you're at the point where going at it alone isn't working or you're ready to level things up in your business, go to https://findmyhuddle.com/ and fill out the application

Popfly: If you're a brand trying to reach outdoor, travel, and adventure audiences, Popfly is where to do it. It connects you with the largest communities of adventure creators and handles the entire process from start to finish. Creators click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabscreators. Brands click here: https://popf.ly/longrunlabsbrands