Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Catching Up with Sarah Lavender Smith and Ultrarunning Magazine (How Tech Has...and Hasn't...Changed The Sport)

I had a wonderful opportunity last month to catch up with Sarah Lavender Smith, a fellow ultrarunner, and one of the great original voices of our sport. She compiled our chat into this article for Ultrarunning Magazine, a publication I continue to read cover-to-cover every month (a subscription is a great gift idea!). 

It's fun to look back at those past predictions of how technology and trail running might intersect. The wearables industry (watches and other products with body sensors) continues to grow 25%+ annually, shaping how tens of millions of athletes enter and continue their fitness journeys. I've seen some self-driving car demos that would indicate it won't be long until the day your car comes and finds you at whatever trailhead you pop out of. It will be interesting what that means for FKT's and point-to-point running. I'll be doing it, for sure!

But in conclusion, there's still nothing quite like a "naked run" (naked of tech, or naked of everything) to connect your soul to nature. I'm so happy to see the trail running culture retain this, on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond. 


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