Western States 2026 Analysis | 10 Things I Couldn't Stop Thinking About

Western States 2026 Analysis | 10 Things I Couldn't Stop Thinking About

Western States 2026 is over. The course records have been set, the winners crowned, and the internet has already moved on. This isn't another race recap. It's a cultural breakdown of what Western States revealed about trail running, its media, and where the sport is headed next. From Dylan Bowman becoming the voice of trail running, to Hans Troyer's fearless pacing, to why Thomas Cardin exposed a storytelling gap, Josh shares the ten ideas he couldn't stop thinking about after the biggest weekend in trail running. Along the way, he asks whether Western States has outgrown its broadcast and why the next frontier isn't better cameras, but better context. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here [https://www.borderlands.cc/start-here/]. TOPICS / TIMESTAMPS * 01:05 Dylan Bowman is the Voice of Trail Running/Racing * 04:10 The Broadcast Knows Where Everyone Is * 09:05 We Don't Care About Places, We Care About Stories * 11:38 We Interviewed the Wrong People * 16:14 Whose Job is it to Find Tomorrow's Stories? * 20:21 Hans is the Rabbit I Was Asking For * 21:53 American Men Ran it Like Old Days at UTMB * 22:46 The Race has Outgrown the Broadcast * 26:23 The Next Frontier RESOURCES / LINKS 1. 8 Bit Trail Running [play.borderlands.cc] 2. Borderlands.cc [Borderlands.cc] 3. Subwhatever [https://www.subwhatever.com] RELATED EPISODES 1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShJtj-N-M] Presented by Kiprun [https://bit.ly/kiprun_pod]. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube [YouTube.com/@runborderlands] Read on Substack [https://borderlandstrailrunning.substack.com]

Trail Running Culture Doesn't Scale | Bob Crowley's Response

Western States and UTMB are often framed as opposite visions for the future of trail running. One protects through limits. The other protects through growth. But after publishing an episode on that tension, I received an unexpected response from Bob Crowley, former President of the International Trail Running Association [https://itra.run] (ITRA). Bob argues that both sides may be focused on the wrong thing. What follows is a conversation about culture, stewardship, local races, and whether the values that built trail running can survive success. Somewhere along the way, the debate stops being about Western States and UTMB and becomes something much bigger. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here [https://www.borderlands.cc/start-here/]. RESOURCES / LINKS 1. Western States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to Grow [https://youtu.be/lQTQvwWqdrg?si=APBUJzgLaTB9m0ZL] 2. Bob's Full Op-ed [https://www.borderlands.cc/essays/the-trail-was-always-the-teacher/] 3. Borderlands.cc [Borderlands.cc] 4. La French Trail [https://pod.link/1834448454] RELATED EPISODES 1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShJtj-N-M] Presented by Kiprun [https://bit.ly/kiprun_pod]. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube [YouTube.com/@runborderlands] Read on Substack [https://borderlandstrailrunning.substack.com]

Western States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to Grow

Western States and UTMB have become the two most influential institutions in trail running, but beneath the debate over lotteries, race series, and growth is a deeper question: when something becomes successful, how do you protect it? Josh explores why UTMB believes trail running is important enough to scale globally while Western States believes it's important enough not to. Along the way, he examines scarcity, culture, the hidden cost of success, and whether the thing worth protecting was ever the race itself. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here [https://www.borderlands.cc/start-here/]. TOPICS / TIMESTAMPS * 01:33 Two Philosophies of Trail Running * 03:19 Is Growth in Trail Running Corruption? * 06:13 The Scale Problem in Trail Running * 11:06 What Cultre are We Protecting in Trail Running? * 15:50 The Supply Chain of Trail Running Culture RESOURCES / LINKS 1. 8 Bit Trail Running [play.borderlands.cc] 2. Josh Rosenthal on IG [https://www.instagram.com/joshrosenthal1] 3. Borderlands.cc [Borderlands.cc] 4. La French Trail [https://pod.link/1834448454] RELATED EPISODES 1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShJtj-N-M] Presented by Kiprun [https://bit.ly/kiprun_pod]. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube [YouTube.com/@runborderlands] Read on Substack [https://borderlandstrailrunning.substack.com]

Wasatch 100 & Bear 100: When Ultra Running Just Hurts

Wasatch 100 and Bear 100 are two of the hardest races in ultra running. Michael Whiteside ran both just three weeks apart, and what stayed with me from this conversation wasn't the accomplishment. It was the way he talked about suffering, expectations, and the moment he realized he wasn't going to feel better. What follows is less a race report and more a conversation about endurance. Crew guilt, self-doubt, late-race bargaining, and the strange acceptance that sometimes arrives when the problem in front of you can no longer be solved. Somewhere in the middle, Michael offers one of the best descriptions of ultra running I've heard: it wasn't hard, it just hurt. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here [https://www.borderlands.cc/start-here/]. RESOURCES / LINKS 1. Borderlands.cc [Borderlands.cc] 2. La French Trail [https://pod.link/1834448454] RELATED EPISODES 1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShJtj-N-M] Presented by Kiprun [https://bit.ly/kiprun_pod]. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube [YouTube.com/@runborderlands] Read on Substack [https://borderlandstrailrunning.substack.com]

The Trail Running Sea of Sameness | Nike ACG, Nostalgia, and the Cost of Optimization

Modern trail running shoes are better than they've ever been. So why do so many runners still find themselves drawn to older designs like the Nike ACG LDV? Josh and Inky use one nostalgic shoe to explore a bigger question: what happens when an industry spends years optimizing toward the same answer? Somewhere between old Nike catalogs, modern trail shoes, and a sea of increasingly similar products, they uncover why certain designs still stop us in our tracks. Shout out to Marty from Global Sales Guys [https://www.globalsalesguys.com] who talks about the Sea of Sameness in outdoor retail. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here [https://www.borderlands.cc/start-here/]. RESOURCES / LINKS 1. The Mountain That Made ACG [https://www.nike.com/acg/acg-ldv-expedition] 2. Inky's Article about theROCKER [https://www.borderlands.cc/gear/satisfy-therocker/] RELATED EPISODES 1. Ultra Running isn't Just Running [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bShJtj-N-M] 2. I Was Wrong About Kiprun [https://www.borderlands.cc/podcasts/i-was-wrong-about-kiprun/] Presented by Kiprun [https://bit.ly/kiprun_pod]. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube [YouTube.com/@runborderlands] Read on Substack [https://borderlandstrailrunning.substack.com]