The eleventh annual US Trail Running Conference presented by Marathon Printing, was held for a second year in a row at the Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo, WA, on October 18 to 20, 2023, with the support of Snohomish County Sports Commission and American Trail Running Association.
The event invited runners, race directors, and brands from around the U.S. and internationally for opportunities to network and learn how to grow the sport in terms of diversity and inclusion, sustainable business practices, and improved environmental policies. Featured photo courtesy of Peter Maksimow.
The conference consisted of discussion panels, individual presentations, interactive business coaching sessions, exhibitor connections with brands, group runs and networking activities. The conference provided a welcoming space for trail running enthusiasts to engage some of the most important issues in our sport and empowered its participants to make positive change.
On the trails at Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo.
Conference theme
The theme of the 2023 US Trail Running Conference was “Building a Sustainable Approach to the Business of Trail Running.” Event director Terry Chiplin wrote about his choice for this year’s theme, “It was an organic development that combined previous themes focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainability and expands the business coaching and specific business content that was introduced for the 2022 event.”
Author’s note: Read our recap of the 2022 event here.
There were more than 115 attendees (virtual and in-person) at this year’s event, including race directors of the most high profile trail races in the country such as Dale Garland, race director, Hardrock 100, Craig Thornley, Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run race director, race director Matias Saari of Mount Marathon, Steven Aderholt, race director, Cocodona 250. Local race directors in the Pacific Northwest included Brian Kearney and Scott Sowle representing Mountain Running Races and the Vert Run Series, Seattle Running Club president PNTF MUT Chair Trisha Steidl, Kathryn Warren of Evergreen Trail Runs, Megan Wolfe of Girls on the Run of Snohomish County, Eric Bone, founder of Northwest Trail Runs, as well as many other race directors from across the country.
Anthony Foster, Marathon Printing in foreground and Mike Moresi, Leslie Jordan Apparel in the background.
Day One Highlights Diversity and Inclusion
The conference kicked off with an opening ceremony led by a local artist from the Tulalip Tribes who paid respects and acknowledgement to the Snohomish area and native peoples of the land in Mukilteo and the Puget Sound. Following this ceremony was a keynote speech delivered by professional trail runner and race director of the Mammoth Trail Fest, Tim Tollefson, who shared his advice on growing trail racing events and building better community.
Tim Tollefson also emceed day two of the US Trail Running Conference.
The day featured several discussion panels with themes of diversity and inclusion: “The Business Impacts of Diversity—BIPOC, Queer Inclusion, and Equity and Allyship for Women and Female Identifying Athletes.” Speakers for these panels included over eight experts in diversity and inclusion fields representing BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and female groups.
Day one also included an “Innovative Business” solution presentation on the Trail Mix Fund delivered by Renee Janssen of Go Beyond Racing. The Trail Mix fund was established in 2021 in an effort to improve diversity in trail running and remove the financial barrier for under-served and under-represented communities.
Janssen explains the initiative further, “This Fund pays the race registration fee for runners who cannot afford it or aren’t sure they belong in the sport. The response to the Trail Mix Fund was so positive that this official not-for-profit organization was created and is now helping more trail racers get to the starting line.” All donations are tax deductible and the minimum donation amount is just $5.
Renee Janssen shares Trail Mix Fund details at US Trail Running Conference.
Day Two: Brainstorming Better Business Approaches
“Thinking out of the box is the best way to come up with creative solutions to solve problems no one has before. You want to think like a five year old who asks why over and over again,” said Paul Jurasin, former director of New Programs and the Digital Transformation Hub for California Polytechnic University, in his opening presentation for day two, Growing Race Revenue Through Sustainable Action.
Jurasin’s presentation encouraged race directors to brainstorm innovative solutions using “Futures and Design Thinking” techniques that have been used to problem solve in a variety of industries for major universities and companies on the largest level such as Amazon, Starbucks, and Apple. The presentation included breakout sessions where participants formed groups and used these thinking techniques to brainstorm solutions to various problems in the trail running space such as getting participants to sign up earlier for races, improving diversity of participants and reducing carbon emissions from race travel.
Shannon O’Grady presents at US Trail Running Conference.
Jurasin’s session was followed by a presentation from Shannon O’Grady, PhD, Gnarly Nutrition, entitled Gnarly Nutrition’s Path To More Sustainable Packaging. O’Grady shared her research on the dismal state of plastic use and recycling in the United States, which led to her company’s use of US manufactured steel-tin packaging for Gnarly’s protein powders. This shift to steel vastly increased the recyclability of her products and is arguably one of the best and most cost effective methods of packaging sports products.
Author’s note: Learn more about O’Grady’s products in our interview with her here.
Following exhibitor presentations were the final two presentations of the day, The Business Impacts of Diversity—Born To Adapt sponsored by GO Sleeves and The Power of Connecting With Mental Health Communities. Among many interesting experts chosen for these panel presentations were professional adaptive athlete, Zach Friedley and “Trail Therapist” Sarah Strong.
Day Three: Sustainable Environmental Initiatives
The final day of the US Trail Running Conference began with a presentation on “How To Reduce Running’s Footprint” by athlete, author and environmental activist Damian Hall. In line with the environmental focus of this presentation was another presentation on Air Quality by Kim Field, All Things Fun Sports! President and Dana Coggon, executive director of the Pierce Conservation District, and a discussion panel on “Moving the Sport To Carbon Neutral Or Better” with race director Aimee Kohler, Porter Bratten of Evergreen Trail Runs, and Sarang Murthy, manager of Native, a company that works with organizations around the world to create climate solutions that impact local communities and manage carbon offsetting.
Day three also featured a panel on “Attracting Youth and Elder Runners,” which highlighted the work by Andy Wacker to create The Trail Team in the past year, and featured Trail Team athlete Anna Shults, as well as 73 year old three-time trail national champion and Pacific Northwest-based runner Doug Beyerlein, and Megan Wolfe, Girls on the Run Snohomish County.
Darn Tough reps and finalists at US Trail Running Conference.
In addition to panels and presentations was the Darn Tough Big Pitch Sustainability Contest featuring three finalists. Kimberly Aubuchon, representing the Prickly Pear Run, San Antonio Road Runners, was awarded the top prize of $2500 and 500 pairs of socks. Porter Bratten, Evergreen Trail Runs, received the nod for second place and $1000 and socks for the top 3 in each race division for one of the events produced by his organization. Rounding out the top three was Peter Downing, representing Suffer Better 25K and 50K, who received 50 pairs of socks to be used for the event. Read more about the contest and the finalists here.
Want to attend the US Trail Running Conference in 2024? Stay tuned for information about the location and dates of next year’s conference which will be shared soon!
