Hey team, Francisco here.
I hosted my first-ever roundtable episode. And it was…well, I really believe you should listen.
This week’s episode isn’t about trends. It’s about tension.
The tension between growth and soul.
Between media and meaning.
Between the 0.1% who win races…and the 99.9% who show up to run, to connect, to feel alive.
That tension lives at the heart of trail running today.
And it’s what we talk about in this new roundtable episode of Redefine the Game.
🎥 Watch the full conversation ⬆️
🎙️ Who was at the table?
This isn’t a panel.
It’s not a polished promo round.
It’s a real conversation between people who give a damn about this sport.
Zoë Rom – Writer, podcaster, ex–Trail Runner Mag editor, and one of the most reflective voices in the space
Matt Trappe – Director, photographer, visual storyteller who’s been documenting the soul of this sport for years
Josh Rosenthal – Founder of Borderlands + Wilder App, helping trail running evolve without losing its roots
David Callahan – Co-CEO of UltraSignup, a platform shaping the way trail running is organised, discovered, and experienced
I invited these four because they’re not just “in the space.” They’re helping build it.
🧠 Here’s what we talked about:
Here’s what came up during this 90-minute honest, voice-memo-style group talk:
✅ What trail running media gets wrong
"90% of runners don’t even know who won their own race.”
The sport doesn’t need more elite obsession. It needs storytelling that reflects the full community.✅ The danger of ignoring 14.8 million runners
Trail running brands and media still focus on the ultra elite.
But what about the other 99.83%?✅ The myth of community-led brands
A lot of brands talk “community” but build with a megaphone.
Real community is messy. Human. Two-way. And most brands still aren’t ready for that.✅ How to scale without losing the soul
From local races to tech platforms, we talk about how to grow with values, not over them.
🧩 Key Insight:
“Most runners don’t care who won the race.
They care about their own experience.”
- Josh Rosenthal
That one hit.
It explains so much about what’s broken and where the opportunity is for brands, races, and media to do better.
👇 Why this episode matters:
Because this isn’t just about running.
It’s about brand building. Culture. Movement. The future of storytelling.
It’s about what happens when a niche grows fast, and we forget to ask:
“Are we still serving the people who made this what it is?”
Whether you're building a sports brand, a wellness product, a customer experience strategy (or a community of any kind), this is the episode you’ll want to sit with.
💬 Got thoughts? Reply to this post or drop a comment.
Let’s make this a conversation worth continuing.
📌 If you haven’t subscribed yet, now’s a good time. Redefine the Game is where modern brand builders in sport, wellness, health and outdoors gather to rethink what brands can be.
Thanks for reading.
Francisco
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