19// Reddit Realities & Freetrail Fantasies
A Trailmix of news, quotes and ramblings about trail media
Hey pals,
A small hit of Trailmix this week. We’re talking about crowdsourcing opinions on everyone’s least favourite forum, Reddit, and media and race organisation partnerships.
I won’t be sending a newsletter next week since I’ll be off hiking the Beacon’s Way (we all need a break sometimes).
Hope you have a great weekend :)
Matt
If you ever want a dose of reality, post your content on Reddit.
After last week’s post on podcasting I thought it would be interesting to get a broader sample of opinions about trail running podcasts, assuming that people on r/Trailrunning would listen to trail running podcasts. Turns out that assumption was sort of right. However the most upvoted post by some margin was one Redditer proclaiming they couldn’t think of anything more boring than a podcast about trail running.
Anyone whose been in media more than 5 seconds knows that what people say is very different from what people do (in this case, someone stating they think listening to people’s opinions on trail running would be boring, yet actively engaging on a forum dedicated to opinions on trail running). Yet since we don’t have many surveys or research around trail runner’s consumption of media, Reddit is valuable for these unfiltered temperature checks.
Most social platforms inherently induce people to form their own bubble of people they can tolerate, partially reducing their exposure to anyone they disagree with or who doesn’t get it. I get Reddit too has its audience bias’ and is by no means a vox populi, internationally representative sample of the wider trail running population, but it’s a start. (if anyone wants to do crowdsourced survey, hit me up)
What else did I learn about opinions on trail running podcasts:
Community and location matters. Podcasts like Cultra and Ten Junk miles in the US, and Tea and Trails and Young Hearts Run Free in the UK, were referenced for their community vibes complemented by meet-ups at races to make that imagined community feel more real – live events matter.
Awareness of podcasts is low - quite a few people mentioned they’d never listened to a trail running podcast.
There’s a mixed sentiment towards using elites in podcasts - the phrase ‘elite circle jerk’ was a graphic, albeit incisive description of the sentiment towards the use of elites in podcasts. Some repeated my comments last week that the podcasters asked the same questions of elites, making many podcasts feel the same.
Those that did listen to trail running podcasts fell into two groups: learning about training and race, and hearing stories from the community
Freetrail and Aravaipa have gone into a fascinating partnership for Black Canyon 100K next weekend. The format is the same as Freetrail’s usual fantasy trail running competition, but the winner of the competition has more prizes, like a sub to Freetrail Pro or entry to Black Canyon 100K 2024. A small partnership, but tie ups with media organisations are something I expect many medium sized race organisation taking up in the future.
A media/race partnership is mutually beneficial for both parties. RD’s grow the exposure of their race and create new ways for fans to engage with their event. Media organisations build their credibility in the in-person race scene through shared association (something Redditors highlighted above). Winner winner chicken dinner.
Media organisations as a conduit/cheerleader for something else is not new in trail running – Dylan leverages Freetrail’s influence to increase sign-ups to their Gorge 50k and Ten Junk Miles has Ten Junk Miles Racing. Nor is it new in sports media more generally (hello, Break Point). But as trail running media organisations mature and reach audience plateaus, and race organisers look to capture the growing audience of trail runners, the partnerships make sense.
The combination of media creation with character and large scale distribution is what will set media organisations apart. Most RDs hire a photographer or videographer for their events as a standard, but those professionals don’t have a large reach or influence over trail runners, leaving RDs to post the content on their channels, reaching the same people they’ve always done. Don’t get me wrong, these pros are still needed - the secondary purpose of race photos is to facilitate participants sharing them on social media, increasing the race’s organic exposure. But these posts are always after the event, when sign-ups aren’t open. The point about partnering with a media creator is to build pre-race hype, increase sign ups and enhance the event experience.
Haha, Reddit is always interesting. :)