Altra Running

And it's such a relief from the like incredibly tight ski boots that I then am going to spend an entire winter in.

But this year, and so typically like I'm, I will for years, Ultra, A-L-T-R-A has kind of been a go-to brand for me because of that wider toe box, right? I have a narrower, skinnier heel.

But what I realized, what I'm often making room to accommodate is a pretty serious sixth toe from Ski Boots, right? This callus that's developed.

And this year, even with the wider toe boxes that are available on an Ultra, I'm still feeling it like a lot.

But yeah, in terms of other updates, I just recently got back from Vancouver, Canada.

Lululemon, my primary sponsor, brought me up.

with the rest of our global running team to be a part of the return of Sea Weeves, which is Lululemon's half marathon that they host that runs through the city of Vancouver.

The race actually was on pause.

And so, like, that's all interesting.

And then, like, ASICS, h- if you go to a trail race in the US and you look on people's feet, it's gonna be more than 50% HOKA typically, and then, you know, between 10 and 30% Altra-

Yeah

... and then a lot of other brands.

So I won't wear that.

But on shoes, I will swap and change whatever feels comfortable on my feet.

So I was going with the Altras for a while, last couple of years in a row, and then found that they were doing my Achilles damage.

So I swapped to the Tarkines and then the Tarkines were getting I felt I'd have one squeaky Tarkine.

Sounds really random to say, but one of the shoes would squeak, like a left foot, and you'd run and you'd hear a squeak coming out of your shoe.

I started getting metatarsalgia in my left foot, so I needed a wider toe box.

So I get wide shoes now, and then the Altra, that's really helpful for that too.

Yeah, they're really, especially now that the trail scenes come on.

So you were a six-time winner of the Mississippi Marathon.

So I've been able to play around with the...

Which is a really fun experience because I was with Ultra Footwear for 11 years.

So I didn't really have a lot of opportunities to play around with the full field of options.

And even in that time frame, I think I probably came into that experience thinking there was...

yep then of course there's race demand you guys have all heard about the london marathon going to now two back-to-back uh days next year well these major marathons are seeing unprecedented sign up numbers london received over 1.1 million ballot applications for 2026. then of course there's all this brand revenue that is soaring major athletic brands report Record-breaking sales with companies like Ahn and Hoka, growing sales by roughly 30% to 35%.

We recommend Altra, so just ignore all that, what I just said.

I'm sure Altra is growing as well.

Yeah, definitely.

Then there's apparel and gear expansion.

You're thinking, like, everyone's gonna have a topo option.

Or Altra

Kind of.

Yeah.

There's, there's no right way.

It's like-

What I think is interesting about this, though, is that Altra is going Like their whole thing was zero drop or balanced running, and now they're starting to put out four millimeter drop shoes with wide toe boxes.

And, you know, I think it'll be interesting if both co- like both, uh, what do you call it? Like polars opposites come together.