Singletrack With Mathias Eichler

The 2026 Finals of the UTMB World Series are upon us and all of Chamonix is buzzing. Heck, the whole trail world is buzzing with excitement, anticipation, and nervousness. UTMB is big and important and as it moves our sport moves. Doug Mayer from Run the Alps lives in town and is in a perfect position to know what is happening inside and outside the organization, the town, and the sport as a whole. I'm here to chat with him about the logistical, political, and business side of it all. LINKS Run the Alps website Doug Mayer's writing at Trailrunner Magazine Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

After years of many calls and more meetings I finally get to pin down Etienne Rodriguez, managing director of the Skyrunner World Series, and hit record for a chat about the history behind, the business of, and most of all the vision for the Skyrunner World Series. The Series just returned to U.S. soil for the first time at Beast of Big Creek and we chat about what this all means and where this might take us in the coming years. LINKS Skyrunner World Series Beast of Big Creek Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Robin fought herself through a challenging race into 7th place at this year's Beast of Big Creek. On this episode we chat about her race day, her plans for the coming months, and what it means for her and other athletes competing on short, steep trails, that the Skyrunner World Series is back in the US. LINKS Robin Vieira Brower on Instagram Trail Talk: ' Skyrunning Returns ' Beast of Big Creek recap video – so good! Beast of Big Creek website Skyrunner World Series Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Morgan Elliot took full advantage of racing on home soil and secured his first win at a major race at last weekend's Beast of Big Creek on Mount Ellinor - the twelfth stage on the Merrell Skyrunner World Series. After meeting Morgan in person, and cheering him into the finish, I invited him on Singletrack to chat about his approach to racing, to life and what's next for him on the circuit. LINKS Morgan Elliot on Instagram Beast of Big Creek recap video – so good! Beast of Big Creek website Skyrunner World Series Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

This week's chat with PNW's North Bend Trail Fest race director's Joe McConaughy and Scott Sowle provides me with the perfect distraction from my own race prep for Beast to discuss the news of the moment: doping among influential trail runners. Joe shares his elite athlete perspective and we discuss the challenges for race directors trying to navigate the seemingly insurmountable financial challenges to provide doping controls at our events. Also: come race in the PNW. Our trails are awesome, Mount Ellinor and Mount Si are calling you! LINKS Dirt Circus – Seattle North Bend Trail Fest Beast of Big Creek Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

After meeting Ian in Olympic Valley ahead of Western States last week he joins me on Singletrack to take a deep dive into his brand new book: ' The Art of Ultrarunning '. In it he shares his decades of running and coaching experience and we chat about what makes trail runners tick differently: our yearning for adventure. The book just hit the shelves this week. Get your copy . Real books are good! LINKS Get Ian's book: 'The Art of Ultrarunning' ( Bookshop.org , Amazon ) Ian's coaching website Ian on Instagram Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Just ahead of "Tahoe Week", where we'll meet in person, I chat with Open Fuel co-founder Zach Hauer about marketing an outdoor brand in today's business and media landscape. We chat about AI, ROI, high carb slushies, plogging and how in the end this all has to make sense. LINKS TrailCon Plog: Open Fuel + Dera Open Fuel Open Fuel on Instagram Zach Hauer on Instagram Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Josh joins me on Singletrack to talk about the future of trail race reporting and the fascination of livestreams. He's built a prototype (Live on Trail) that mimics a massive dashboard displaying various 'on course' information streams with the hope of making the on-screen talents more knowledgeable and the viewing experience more enjoyable. What I love about this effort – vibe-coded and all – is that it goes beyond "hey I have an opinion" and actually "throwing something against the wall". Let's see if it sticks. Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news! LINKS Josh's articles on Borderlands Trailmix on 'Live on Trail'

Coree Woltering joins Singletrack this week to chat about his approach to running trails, and racing short and long distances. This year his goals include Western States, Beast of Big Creek, and Fat Dog 120. We discuss his role as Merrell US trail team manager and the upcoming relaunch of the Skyrunner World Series to the US, the US National Series, and Merrell's plan as title sponsor of these series. See you at Beast in August! LINKS Coree Woltering on Instagram Coree Woltering on Strava Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

James Lauriello joins me on a tour de force through the entire world of trail running. We chat about ultra vs. short trail and the role our trail media plays. We ponder what the arrival of ACG means and how the established brands in the trail space are going to respond. And finally we look ahead at the (re-)launch of the US Skyrunner National Series coming this summer. LINKS James Lauriello on Instagram The Steep Stuff Podcast The Steep Stuff Podcast on Instagram US Skyrunner National Series Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Adam Lee stops by Singletrack just a couple of days ahead of hosting his first of several TRFF show in 2026. Adam and his team sold out the Rio in Vancouver, BC and we chat about what his unique approach to hosting and marketing TRFF in his community. Also, Adam's next race on his calendar: The Fat Dog 120… that's like almost 200 kilometers! LINKS Community Trail Running Trail Running Film Festival Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Go Beyond Racing, one of Pacific Northwest longest running and most reputable trail racing organizations just went through a major brand refresh and co-owner Renee Janssen is here to share the backstory. We dive into the origins of Go Beyond and Renee's motivation to leave her corporate cubicle to take on race directing full time alongside her husband Todd. We also chat about the important work of the Trail Mix Fund a nonprofit the two founded during the COVID pandemic which is aimed to bring more diversity to our trail running community. Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

On the eve of one of America's largest ultra trail race, the Black Canyon Ultras, Mountain Outpost announces another new initiative: 'Race Purse'- a crowdfunding platform for prize purses for elite runners. In recent months Black Canyon, and Aravaipa have gotten under increased scrutiny for not offering any prize money at all. This new project, seemingly outsourcing the solution created lots of chatter online and Krissi is joining me to try to make sense of it all. LINKS Krissi on Singletrack Krissi on Instagram Race Purse by Mountain Outpost On Electric Cable Car: Black Canyon Ultras Prize Money On Electric Cable Car: Jamil Coury is the most powerful person in Trail Running Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Joe McConaughy has achieved a lot in his life already, but this year he's going to embark on two new and daunting adventures : fatherhood and race directing. I don't know which one's harder, but we chat about both and a lot more on this episode of Singletrack. LINKS Joe's coaching website Joe on Instagram Youth Trail Project Vert Running Series Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Austin is taking the big leap into self-employment and joins me on Singletrack to chat about his new business Point to Point Photography. As a trained photographer with years of experience making connections in the outdoor industry Austin is ready to step behind the lens and share his vision of running on trails in wild places with the world. LINKS Austin on Instagram Point to Point Photography Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

This week we're opening the much anticipated registration for Beast of Big Creek. Who better to help me launch all this than the person who reached out first when I wanted to get Beast on the radar of The International Skyrunning Federation. Ryan Kerrigan is the executive director of Skyrunning USA and on Singletrack we chat about the history of skyrunning and the process it took to bring the Skyrunner World Seriers back to the US. 2026 will be an exciting time in short and steep trail racing. LINKS Beast of Big Creek Skyrunning USA International Skyrunning Federation Skyrunner World Series Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Nicholas Triolo wrote my favorite book of 2025: ' The Way Around ' and he's back on Singletrack to chat about it. We discuss the process of writing, the inspiration for the stories, and what a great travel books are meant to do for the reader. You'll think different about that loop in the woods next time you head out on your run, I promise. LINKS Nicholas's website Nicholas's blog Nicholas's book ' The Way Around ' Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Alex Bond joins Singletrack for one last hurrah of 2025 - and yes, I am fully aware that I'm posting this already in 2026. So, a first hurrah of 2026. We're chatting about the world of trail and mountain running over the past year and looking ahead and the new one. Hope it will be a happy one for y'all! LINKS Alex Bond on Strava RE/Run 2025 on Electric Cable Car Get more: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

It's the end of 2025 and I'm joined by special guest Krissi Polentz to chat about this past year in trail running. What stood out? What were the big stories and big misses that shaped out sport and culture? We're taking a look at the players that speak, the businesses that spend money, and the movers that have shape our sport this past year. And of course, we're making some predictions for what this all will mean for the coming one. Happy Holidays and thanks for being part of the ride. LINKS Krissi's website: The Runetarian Krissi on Instagram Cover photo by Mike McMonagle Connect: Singletrack.fm Rock Candy Running Trail Running Film Festival Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!

Very special guest Morgan Powell joins Singletrack to help me unveil the poster art for the Trail Running Film Festival's Global Tour 2026. We chat about the inspiration behind the artwork and get to know Morgen, the artist and athlete behind it all. LINKS Morgan Powell's design studio: Unthaw.co More of Singletrack on Singletrack.fm . Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your daily source for all things trail running and mountain culture.