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2015, The Next Big Thing (not me, Salomon)

Published by
Maximus   Jan 1st 2015, 8:42pm
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The Next Big Thing (not me, Salomon, BTW)

 

This next year promises to be a big change for me in my running. It’s kind of the end of an era in my career but it marks the beginning of a new exciting time that promises to be rewarding and challenging at the same time.

 

I am parting with Montrail and Mountain Hardwear, my two primary sponsors after 4 years of incredible support from them.  It is not an easy choice. I’ve always felt like being a sponsored athlete is similar to being a part of the family rather than just an employee. Moving between companies for us carries with it more responsibility than it does for an employee, it’s a more public affair. For those of you that need more info on that, it just happened that they wanted to move in another direction and it was just a good time to move on. Know that I have incredible respect for the companies, the people that have supported me over the years and their products. So it is truly heartfelt that I say thank you to Montrail and Mountain Hardwear for fun adventures, great people to work with, and of course the support they’ve given to me so I can continue to do what I love.

 

So, it is with great pleasure that I announce that Salomon will be my new team. And what a team it is. They have been strong for years and have boosted their breadth this coming year with the addition of new athletes. It was no easy decision to move on and I am going to miss the friends I’ve made at Montrail (two of them came with me and one moved to Bend, so it’s not that bad) but all that I considered kept returning to Salomon as a great brand for a new home. It’s an amazing company with great culture in the mountains. With the addition of City Trail it’s coming right into my alley of expertise, which is, doing everything. They’ve expanded their products to fit any surface and all of my miles from the road, City Trail, the mountains, even obstacle racing.

 

With a job, family, and everything else I do I never make it to the mountains as much as I would really like so many of my miles are down the river trail through town, across the park, and down the bike path. But, when I do get up to the mountains, it’s good to know that Salomon has my back, making the best mountain shoes.

 

With a change like this most people don’t think about all the behind the scenes stuff that changes as well.  It’s like changing jobs within an occupation. It’s not just moving from one sponsor to another and you slap a new name on your chest and that’s that. A sponsored athlete doesn’t fly under the radar like an employee does, so it’s a more public affair of pledging our support to another brand. Jumping ship carries with it connotations of selling out with little loyalty to those that support you. Trust me, I’m sometimes loyal to a fault and a change like this I take seriously and weigh every option. Does money come into it, sure but I’d like to think I put more weight on intangible support, my current use of the product line, the team culture, and the company practices. Sometimes making that change is the right choice.

 

On the mundane side it’s starting a job with a new company. New procedures to learn (like how to send in an invoice), new people to meet and connections to make, and responsibilities to get the word out about myself, products, and races. What you see are the videos, tweets, race results and photos of spectacular places we travel to.

 

To keep up the running it takes a lot of help from many other people and sponsors and I wouldn’t be able to do this without the support of, in particular, my wife Dory. She puts up with a lot to say the least. The support I get from the community in Bend everything from massage to the guys out working and building trails to the Footzone. They are all part of the puzzle.

 

The rest of the puzzle is made up of Swiftwick, keeping my feet healthy and happy.

 

GU Energy Labs, who I was lucky to figure out that because of them I can actually make it through an Ultra without bonking.

 

And Flora Health who’s kept my overall diet healthy with good fats, vitamins, and being part of my breakfast everyday.

 

Rebound Physical Therapy and REP Lab with Jay DiCharry they can quickly take care of any biomechanical deficiency and get me back on my feet.

 

The Footzone has supported me since getting to Bend 12 years ago and can’t thank them enough for everything.

 

And finally, with Salomon comes Suunto and it's sooo nice to sync directly to my Strava account. Now you all can see my HR and how hard I have to work for all those Course Records. 

 

My running career so far as been an exciting ride and now I’m opening up a new chapter, one that will hopefully be filled with adventures, new races, and good friends, old and new. As an athlete, there are opportunities we have that help the companies that help us do what we do, but more importantly the opportunities we have to inspire people to get outside and do something useful, to conserve our natural resources and wild areas that we enjoy as users are the ones that are important. And to me, that’s what it’s all about. 

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