In the sport of trail running, there is no comparison more accurate than this: Midwest trail runners are like pickle juice. As butter is to bread, salt to pepper, or caffeine to the busy-bee American working population (dreaming of Europe’s extensive paid vacation days), this salty, powerful yet humble elixir is the perfect embodiment of the strong, yet often overlooked Midwest trail running population. Jeff Berg, filmmaker and Creative Director with over twenty years of experience based in Minneapolis, MN, seeks to shine a light on his briney Midwest brethren with his upcoming feature-length film, The Pickle Juice Project. The film will explore what it means to be a trail runner in the Midwest, why these people love pickle juice and will share stories from local Midwest athletes who will be competing at the Superior 100 in Lutsen, MN, on September 8, 2023, a race regarded as a crown jewel ultramarathon in the region.
Passionate Pickle People
Berg further explains his pickle juice comparison and inspiration behind the film’s focus on this salty subject, “I remember one day last year, I was explaining to some of my non-runner friends that we do this weird thing at trail races where we drink pickle juice. I explained the purpose: it’s got electrolytes that help with cramping, like a natural Gatorade, but it’s ten times better than Gatorade and nobody seems to know about it unless they’ve taken a deep dive into sports nutrition. This conversation evolved into other things I love about pickle juice, such as how it is a great embodiment of Midwest trail runners. Quite simply, we’re humble but strong. Pickle juice is the same. It’s this little thing that most people just pour down the drain, but for us, it’s an elixir that can save us during our lows in races. It’s so strong that I’ve had cramps go away in five minutes after drinking this stuff. Pickle juice is a good representation of trail runners in general, but especially Midwest trail runners.”
Jeff Berg. Photo by: Haberman
The inspiration for the film came to Berg as the best insights do to many runners, on a run. Berg shares his creative process involved in beginning this film, “Before my runs I feel like a full sponge of stress, confusion and questions. I come back from my run and I’ve squeezed. My concerns are gone and I can think. That’s how this film came about. I was thinking to myself about making a documentary about all the craziness we do on trails here in the Midwest. We’re the flyover states, easy to forget. People say we don’t have any mountains, but we have many hills, extensive trail systems, and a good community. I wanted to create a documentary about this awesome region of trail runners who are so incredibly caring, giving, and strong. I thought to myself, ‘Don’t talk, go do it.’”
Berg’s Background Breakdown
Berg is no stranger to creative work. His career includes being Creative Director for Olson and Haberman, as well as working in advertising and creative fields for Target, Whole Foods, Boston Scientific, and Nickelodeon. He has also written and illustrated a children’s book, Mrs. Claus & the Batty Christmas. Berg is a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and has clearly put his degree to good use. Although he is well accomplished in the creative field and videography, he has never created a full-length film. The Pickle Juice Project will be his premiere.
Sara Conrad. Photo by: Lucy Hawthorne
The Pickle Juice Project aims to be an hour to an hour and a half in length and will highlight eight to nine Midwest athletes competing at the 2023 Superior 100. The documentary will be divided into two main story angles: a focus on three experienced female trail runners who have the potential to win the race, and a second story about more novice trail runners or first-time 100-mile racers. The three women will be Sara Conrad, Colleen MacDonald, and Gretchen Metsa who are all based in the Midwest. Berg explains the decision to showcase both experienced and newbie trail athletes, “I want to focus primarily on our three women, but also to create a juxtaposition with other runners on their very first journey to 100 miles. There’s so many interesting questions to ask first-timers. Are they nervous? What’s going through their minds? Have they found any rituals in their training? Mostly, the geeky stuff that runners love to hear about, but also interesting concepts for nonrunners to think about such as how people training for this race are giving up every weekend of their summer, out there running and training, and show their commitment to making it to that finish line.”
In Berg’s twenty-plus years of creative work, documenting meaningful human stories through video has been his preferred style of work. He’s excited to continue this style of human-centered video documentary work in The Pickle Project, “When I worked for Boston Scientific, I created short films about patients who had been through life-altering situations. One individual I documented had a heart attack in a pool and essentially died in that pool, but was brought back to life with a defibrillator made by Boston Scientific. Swimming was his life’s passion and he thought he was never going to swim again, but now he’s still winning races with his defibrillator. To be in a position as a documentary filmmaker where your work is capturing these kinds of human stories of perseverance is incredible. You feed them the right questions and create a space where they feel comfortable, and the video becomes a beautiful piece of art showcasing their life story.”
Gretchen Metsa
Setting A Superior Stage
The Superior 100 will be the setting for showcasing Midwest trail runners enduring extreme mental and physical challenges (and making use of their pickle juice!). The course features 21,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, thirteen aid stations, and a 38-hour cutoff. Berg describes the route and key challenges of the event, “It is the crowning race for the Midwest. Many Midwest runners focus on it as a goal race that they work towards during their training season. The trails are incredibly rugged with many rocks and roots. It’s continuous rolling hills, so you are never able to play that mental game, ‘I just gotta get up the hill.’ This course is more like, “Congrats you got up that hill but there’s thirty more after that you have to get through as well.’ It’s technical and you’re watching your feet. There’s even moments where you’re scrambling up boulders.”
He continues, describing the deceptive nature of the course, humble yet strong like pickle juice, “We’ve had participants from mountainous states such as Colorado assume they are going to blow the socks off all the other runners with their high-altitude adapted lungs. They get halfway through and find themselves saying, ‘Holy buckets, this race is more challenging than I thought.’”
Another interesting aspect of the Superior 100 is that it is 100 miles long. In the sport of trail running, the 100-mile races receive the most media attention (Leadville Trail 100, Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, Hardrock 100, UTMB, etc). There is a certain ethos to running 100 miles (learn more about what it takes to run a 100-mile race in this great film), and this angle will be explored in The Pickle Project. Berg shares his thoughts on 100-mile racing, “People discover a euphoria through training for 100 miles. The kind of emotions you see from people barely making it under the cutoff time and getting to the finish is unlike what you see at a 5K finish line.”
Colleen MacDonald. Photo by: Lucy Hawthorne
“Famous ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter calls the experience of ‘going into the paincave’ and it’s something all runners who finish 100 miles have to go through. The pain cave is this dark place in the brain people don’t want to go to. At some point in the race, you’ll think you don’t want to do this, but it’s about having this mental ability to tell your brain you’re going to be ok. It’s about hitting your limit and realizing you haven’t hit your limit. 100-mile racing opens people up to learn more about themselves. The mind is the weakest muscle in the body, and that’s what you’re making stronger by running 100 miles.”
In terms of documentary film style, Berg says it will feel contemporary and be approachable to runners and nonrunners alike, “I’ve told my filmmakers that we want there to be emotion and lots of depth, but also in the larger picture, we’re focusing on making a rock and roll film about trail running in the Midwest. What I mean by that is that we will have depth to our stories, but we’re going to make quick edits and snappy footage. We live in the world of social media, so I’ve asked myself how I can use some of the video and editing tricks that I’ve learned from that world in this film. I want it to feel contemporary, upbeat, and fun for runners and nonrunners alike.”
The Pickle Project aims for a tentative release date of March 2024, which will give sufficient time for the film to be submitted before the 2024 film festival deadlines. This gives Berg and his team approximately six to seven months of winter film editing following the Superior 100 to finish the project. Lucy Hawthorne will assist with filming, and both Joel Weber of rikshawfilms and BJ Schulz of capturefilmco have also partnered with Berg’s project. Learn more at The Pickle Juice Project website.
