The American Trail Running Association (ATRA) team was out and about at the recent Winter Outdoor Retailer (OR) show in Denver, Colorado–aka the “Snow Show”–and although this was an event highlighting skis and snowboards, we did managed to find some great products for trail runners. Here are a six highlights from the show.
The bear says “what’s inside Outdoor Retailer this year?”
Fourpoints Bar – A Denver-founded-and-based company created by brothers Kevin and Patrick Webber. The idea for the bars came to the duo as they were out on the trail during an adventure and experienced a crash from sugary gels, bars and energy drinks they relied on to sustain them. They couldn’t find a complete on-the-go nutritional option to support their active lifestyle so they joined forces with friend Steve and created Fourpoints Bar, a “slow burn energy” bar that is protein and calorie-rich and made with real, natural food to fuel their adventures. Now they are bring their passion for health and sustainable energy to you. Fourpoints will be at the US Trail Running Conference October 9-12 in Estes Park and are a new member of the American Trail Running Association.
Milestone – We met Shuhei Nishioka from Japan, who immediately recognized us as trail runners and very excitedly introduced us to his 850 lumen headlamp, the Trailmaster MS-F1. Did you catch that? 850 lumens! We were all very impressed with the fit, replaceable battery with 17-hour life on low-power mode. There is a line of a few great headlamps for all of your trail running needs. Watch out for Milestone hopefully making a entry into the US market soon. For now, watch this:
milestone MS-F1 “Trailmaster” PV from milestone on Vimeo.
Dirt Power: Getting More Women into Trail Running – This was a panel discussion hosted by Saucony and moderated by Sharon Barbano, Saucony’s head of public relations. The panel included influential women of the trail running sphere: Anne Cavassa, the first woman to be President at Saucony, ATRA’s Executive Director Nancy Hobbs, former 50 Mile, 100K, 100 Mile and 24-Hour World Record holder Marcy Schwam and Gina Lucrezi, founder and owner of Trail Sisters. The prevalence of women in high roles of leadership and participation is growing in outdoor industry and this panel discussion was a great glimpse into the women who were and continue to be a catalyst in that effort.
Badger Balm – A small, family-owned and operated company with roots in New Hampshire easily recognized by the iconic badger on the tin. Our Executive Director, Nancy Hobbs, was the most excited about the beard oil…not for herself, however, but for me as I have a beard that apparently needs some oiling. I, personally, have fond memories of the Badger Balm Sore Muscle Rub that contains Cayenne and Ginger and which is quite invigorating with applied to sore muscles. The array of balms, oils and other products by this great company will leave you feeling rejuvenated and healed. Maybe they will even be introducing the anti-chaffing rub for runners that we we discussed? Stay tuned.
Sustainability – There were many products, organization and companies that are not only talking the talk about these topics, but also walking the walk. For example, the shoe and sandal manufacturer, SOLE, introduced the ReCORK program in 2008 to collect, recycle and reuse wine corks for the primary material in their new footwear line. GU Energy Labs has a recycling program through TerraCycle, where difficult-to-recycle packaging and products, like used gel packets, can be upcycled and/or recycled and repurposed into affordable, innovative products.
Preservation – The Outdoor Retailer shows are the largest gathering of outdoor companies and retailers in the outdoor industry, both nationally and internationally-based. Denver became home to OR last year after a dispute with the legislators from the state of Utah over public lands of Bears Ears and Grand Escalante Staircase. The outdoor industry, inspired by Patagonia, felt it was a conflict of interest to support a state that was actively selling off public lands to the fossil fuel industry, when these lands are critical to the livelihood of the industry. Thus, the move to Colorado, a state that is a strong proponent and gold standard of preserving and protecting public lands. As trail runners, we applaud that move!
Want to learn more about what we’re doing in the areas of sustainability and preservation in trail running? Follow our series of articles about “Trail Running Responsibly” – ATRA’s 2019 theme.
Protect Our Winters (POW) bringing attention to climate change.
