David Callahan and Jay Kelley are the leaders of @ultrasignuptv — the leading event registration and race database in trail running. They have a unique vantage point from which to assess the state of trail running and its prospects for the future. We talk about their history and the 2020 acquisition of the platform, their vision for servicing race directors and runners simultaneously, their evolving media strategy, whether trail running is in a bubble, and their foray into community events with the Dirt Circus.
Dirt Circus – Pheonix – https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=103705
Dirt Circus – Nashville (Virtual) – https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=107184
Dirt Circus – Bentonville – https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=105368
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5 Comments
Always a pleasure to tune in. ❤️
Regarding the „soulful“ stories: I’m not a real user of UltraSignup, I just use (and love) the site to look up runners and events, but when I do, I always wish, that the stories would show up more directly, more „in my face“, because some of these pieces are really great, but for web users it takes two things to find them: a) you need to know they exist and b) you need to find out where to click. These are two hurdles which prevent people who’re coming over this channel from experiencing these stories, which is a shame.
I own a 2022 Mazda CX5 (a great vehicle) and I just said to a friend the other day who thinking of getting into trail running: "This is a great community and a very affluent community. When I show up to a race, I have the worst car in the parking lot" I got thinking about why that is. I think to be an ultra trail runner you need two things. 1 – you need major drive. 2 – you need a reasonable amount of free time. If you find a person who has both of those, chances are they have done pretty well for them selves so it kind of makes sense. As for your content I think you have to listen to your customer (as all businesses do) but there is also an element of showing customers what they want. Look at Apple. They didn't listen to what we wanted – they showed us. Don't give up on what you know people will love. Like you said, maybe it just needs to be delivered in a new way. Great podcast and I can't wait for Between two pines:)
I'm a local race director in Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville, 30min south of Bentonville) and on the leadership of the Ozark Trail Running Club, so I recognize that I might be being defensive here, but I think the characterization of Bentonville (NWA as a whole) is inaccurate and want to make some clarifications. I think the ratio of trail miles to races is silly for a number of reasons. First, a good portion of those trail miles are very MTB centric and quit frankly don't make for good running. Specifically, the trails in Bentonville proper. And two, the 1,000 miles is in the region not Bentonville alone. That region has a total population of about 500,000. Just off the top of my head I can name 14 trail races that happen in this region, which I imagine is more like 20 (and that doesn't include the many free unsanctioned races). Is there room to grow, sure, but it's not like it's hard to find a trail race anytime of the year. Again, I get we have room to grow, but there are a lot of people working hard to make that happen and doing some great work. Happy to have Ultrasignup join the party, but we don't need them to save us. Thanks for coming to my rant.
Another great show! I have traveled to and stayed in Bentonville. Onyx is a amazing coffee experience if that was the one not able to be recalled during the show. We have never been in a coffee shop close to that level. And they do have different floor levels too! Cheers!