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There is a strange new category of travel where suffering is the souvenir. Ultrarunning has a name for it, the darecation, and the growth is wild. UTMB went from 50,000 participants in 2022 to 170,000, most of them not elites, but amateurs who turn themselves into engineers of their own bodies just to spend 30 hours moving through the mountains - and bring their support crews along. This week pulls at that contradiction from a few angles: the months of prep that quietly become a darecation of their own, the uncomfortable fact that the self-styled environmental sport actually runs on air travel and shoes built to die in a few hundred miles, who is really betting money on trail running and who is just dabbling, and a reminder from Frozen Head State Park that even the cruelest race on earth can somehow turn out to be just lovely. You just have to train a lot for it, I guessâŚ
Inside the âdarecationâ: Why travellers are choosing holidays that hurt
At UTMB World Series, one of the worldâs leading organisers of trail running and mountain races, business is booming. Since launching with a single race around the Mont Blanc Massif in 2003, it expanded to 25 ultramarathon events in 2022 and now hosts more than 60 races globally. Annual participation has risen from 50,000 in 2022 to 170,000, most of whom arenât elite athletes but highly committed amateurs.
âPeople become engineers of themselves for these races,â said Florian Lamblin, executive director of UTMB International and an ultrarunner himself. âThey are trying to achieve something complex and, at the end, deliver something extraordinary, which is running up to 30 hours in nature.â
While I envy people who can take those vacations, I also ask myself: âdonât they have kids? or partners who want sightseeing or the beach? how do they do this? do they do a vacation afterwards to get some relaxation as well?â
Becoming BFFs with the WSER course
We certainly trained; I ran 167 miles in seven days and felt better as camp progressed (since Iâm Strava dark, this is your teaser for how training is going:P). We pushed hard and asked a lot of our bodies. But we also fell over laughing, put on baseball gloves and played catch, and met the guy who runs the Greengate aid station (who is also a butterfly dealer?!). Critically, the hard work was done in a context of fun, friends, and discovery. But an easy-to-miss part of training was strengthening our relationship with this 100-mile thread of trail through the California hills. I feel like I befriended the course, learning more of its quirks and paying it respect that is impossible to do while racing.
Wow, that preparation sounds like a darecation of its own, but it is just the buildup before the race.
Trail Running Isnât an Environmental Sport
Thatâs the argument in a single frame. Trail and ultra running thinks of itself as the environmental sport, and its community as natureâs stewards. It keeps Edward Abbey on the nightstand. It talks about stewardship and leaving no trace, about the privilege of crossing wild country on its own two feet. Then it runs on air travel to far-off start lines, on shoes built to die inside a few hundred miles [1], on races that bolt new distances and whole continents onto the calendar every year. The self-image is preservation. The machine underneath, however, is unbridled consumption. For two decades the sport has been building a sincere, expensive, well-staffed apparatus whose real job is to keep anyone from noticing the difference.
True, and everyone is aware of this, but doesnât really want to change it. Just look at all the new products trail runners are supposed to buy to make the runs better.
Whoâs Actually Betting on Trail Running?
The framework reveals a bet thatâs easy to miss. Concentrated brands, those that are fully run-focused or that separately report running/outdoor segments, canât pull back on trail investments without it showing up in consolidated results. Diversified parents like Nike and adidas can dial trail spending up or down without materially affecting their financials.
The high-conviction brands are the canaries in the coal mine. They signal whether trail running continues to grow and remain a profitable category. Watch closely if Nike starts disclosing more on ACG, or breaks it out as a separate segment. That would be a clear sign the relaunch is yielding real financial results.
I am still rooting for the niche players and I love it that there are so many new brands building on this sport.
Why the notorious Barkley Marathons is ânicer than you thinkâ, according to a man whoâs run it three times
Itâs the worldâs toughest foot race. The statistics speak for themselves: 20 finishers in 39 years. The leg-slashing sawbriars. The Blair Witch woods. The freezing fog and mocking lack of assistance (âNo help is comingâ). But after my third visit, I need to tell you all that Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, home of the Barkley Marathons, is simply one of the loveliest and most welcoming places Iâve ever been.
So, itâs just a fun darecation after all?
If you missed last weekâs edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
â Nico
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