State of the Industry: Trail Running at TrailCon

Steve Holmberg and Matt Trappe are back for a debrief on one of the biggest weeks in trail running — Broken Arrow, Western States, and everything in between at TrailCon. Steve breaks down his state-of-the-industry analysis: why trail running's rebrand from "ultra running" unlocked massive new participation, why the sport is about to fragment the way mountain biking did decades ago, and why brands chasing "max" specs are about to pivot to "right" specs built specifically for trail. Then Matt takes listeners inside a project few people got to experience firsthand — a house in Tahoe built with Skratch and other partners, designed to bring brand leaders, athletes, and creators together without competitive walls. He explains the intention behind it, what happened when 37 of 40 people in the room spoke up during an unscripted conversation, and why some of the best moments of the week happened specifically because they weren't being recorded. Show Notes: Popfly for Brands: https://popf.ly/secondnaturebrands Popfly for Creators: https://popf.ly/secondnaturecreators Steve Holmberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenholmberg/ Matt Trappe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-trappe/ Insight Accelerator: https://insight-accelerator.com/ Matter of Brand: https://amatterofbrand.substack.com/ TrailCon: https://www.trailconference.com Tommie Runz: https://www.instagram.com/tommie_runz/ Salomon TV - Trail Dogs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05sUhlxFBk0 Salomon TV - Bill Dooper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF8ZdwpnTLQ WSJ on Trail Runners: https://www.wsj.com/style/fashion/trail-running-footwear-9d39a2c6 Broken Arrow: https://www.brokenarrowskyrace.com/ ACG: https://www.nike.com/acg Freetrail: https://www.freetrail.com Tantrums: https://tantrums.run/ Amazfit: https://us.amazfit.com/ Skratch: https://www.skratchlabs.com/ SF Run Co: https://store.sfrunco.com/ BPC - Brand, Product, Content: Hilary Yang "Raise The Bar": https://www.thehilaryann.com/raise-the-bar Marin Rift Zone EL XR: https://marinbikes.com/products/2025-rift-zone-el-xr-int Golden Hour Racing Shirt: https://auteursportif.com/collections/golden-hour-racing-capsule Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/second-nature-media Meet us on Slack: https://www.launchpass.com/second-nature Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secondnature.media Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.secondnature.media Subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@secondnaturemedia