Events

Thanks to all who came to my event with Hattie in Stoke Newington on Thursday evening. You can see a few photos from that over on my IG. This Wednesday, I’ll be up in Nottingham with Embankment Run Club.

After the run, I’ll be in conversation with ERC founder Luke Myers, who I interviewed back in 2024, and local bookshop One More Chapter is going to be in the pub selling copies of This is Running. It’s a perfect example of how to shop local and boost the economy, and I can’t wait.

• If you’ve got a run club somewhere in the UK/Europe, and want to host me over the next six weeks, drop me a line, and let’s see what we can do.

• If you have a book club, please consider This is Running. I would love to connect with your book club for a live interview. Let me know, and we’ll set it up.

Get your copy of, This is Running

USA - Bookshop.org US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy (US)
UK - Bookshop.org UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones
Review This is Running - Goodreads

Like the Wind LIVE

The good people at Like the Wind magazine have got me to extend my London residency by an extra week so that I can be a part of their Run Culture: LIVE event at the Truman Brewery in East London on 4-5 September 2026.

I’ll be on a panel with Adharanand Finn and Howie Goldkland about book publishing in the running world. We all have completely different books created in completely different ways, so this little chat will run the gamut of desires and capabilities.

Come to Run Culture: LIVE

While it’s very important that you come and experience this Inside Baseball chat if you’re into writing and/or publishing, it’s more important that you come and take a photo of me with Linford Christie. Who’s up for that challenge?

My hidden gem running route

Brooks asked me to write about my hidden gem running route, and I wrote about one that’s deeply personal to me, but probably not to you. I hope that it’s something that can inspire you to find your own.

Read about my hidden gem running route

If you already have a hidden gem running route that nobody else can connect to as much as you do, please tell me about it!

My final word on Josh Kerr

After the Trackstaa podcast dropped, and my son features around the 53:30 mark, they handily clipped the video for Instagram. This obviously meant that I had to lean into the narrative and take a moment to be a daddy blogger.

To sit beside the most freshly-minted world record holder was an incredible moment for my son, but the whole pod is worth a watch, so do check it out.

Zzzz is for sleep

One of the biggest pieces of advice from Josh Kerr is to get enough sleep. As part of his training, he was getting 11-12 hours of sleep every day, including a two-hour nap in the afternoon.

In the Trackstaa podcast he talks about how rather than planning for an easy/recovery run, he plans for rest and recuperation so that he can go hard again. This is obviously the mindset and capabilities of a world record holder, but we can adopt some of that for ourselves, no?

The sleep optimization industry has blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar industry in recent years. While products such as smart mattresses and travel pillows are easy enough additions to the bedroom, it’s wearable technology like the Oura Ring that keeps us poring over data, gamifying our sleep. While a decent sleep hygiene routine is a good thing to adhere to, there comes a time when there’s too much for us to think about in our everyday lives.

While the optimization life makes sense for someone like Josh Kerr, who is trying to extract every last iota of performance from his lifestyle while planning for a singular event, the rest of us have other stuff to do. We only have so much time in our lives. We have to plan our training, our nutrition, our sleep, our social calendars, our everything.

More and more of us understand burnout enough not to celebrate working every hour of the day any more, and the over-optimization of every part of our lives can be included in that.

Just as many are giving up their watches while running and ‘bricking’ their phones to reduce their screen time, simpler, more human methods of improving our health are becoming popular. My advice is to start with your sleep hygiene AKA your bedtime routine. Here are some ideas to think about:

• Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day

• Limit (or ideally eradicate) caffeine in the afternoon

• Try to be physically active every day, but not right before bed

• Eat your last big meal at least 2hrs before bedtime

• Stop using electronic devices at least 2hrs before bedtime

• Keep your room cool and dark (think hibernation)

• Try leaving your phone in another room (get an alarm clock)

And I’ve written this as a notoriously bad sleeper. It’s advice for you as much as it’s advice for me. I wrote about getting off your phone as recently as March, so you know it’s on my mind!

Currently away from the familiarity of my own bed for an extended period, I can count the number of nights where I’ve achieved eight hours of sleep over the past month. And let’s not talk about the broken sleep that you get when living with babies and toddlers – the past nine years of my life. At least that part is over for me, but there’s a lot of sleep for me to catch up on!

Thanks for reading,
Raz xx

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My Love Affair... WITH RUNNING: Raziq Rauf and Hattie Williams

Thursday, July 23 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Stoke Newington Bookshop
159 Stoke Newington High Street
London N16 0NY

This Thursday, I’ll be in conversation with at Stoke Newington Bookshop, and we’ll be talking about writing books about running from both a fiction and non-fiction standpoint.

We’ll discuss why we love running so much, how we speak about it in different ways, and how running impacts our respective creative processes.

AND we’re having an after-party at Johnny Boy’s (a brand new American-style diner that looks really good) around the corner. If you’re in London, you’d be a fool to miss it.

Attend: Raz & Hattie @ Stokey Bookshop

The only running book in Selfridges??

I never expected it, but this is exactly where This is Running should be. Allow me a moment to celebrate, please.

I’ve worked hard enough over my career to understand what I’m good at (or not) to have confidence in my writing. The level of writing inside the book is good enough to get over 5,000 of you reading my work every week, but I do judge a book by its cover. That’s where Batsford, my publisher, comes in.

Somewhat superficially, Selfridges only really stocks beautiful books. They’re positioned as books to make your home beautiful, and Batsford makes some of the most beautiful hardcovers around, in my opinion. That’s why I went to them in the first place. The fact you can also gain value by reading mine is almost a bonus with this perspective.

Personally, having so much digital output is great – writing is writing, after all – but creating a beautiful physical artifact was high on my priority list for This is Running. Many of you have told me that you want the paperback/eBook/audiobook but seeing the real-time reaction of people holding the hardcover is confirmation enough of what I planned to create.

Get your copy of, This is Running

USA - Bookshop.org US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy (US)
UK - Bookshop.org UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones

Is Josh Kerr running’s greatest storyteller??

This weekend saw the culmination of Josh Kerr’s Project 222, where he aimed to break the world record for the mile, which has stood for 27 years.

I have been fully invested in the saga from when he first publicly announced his intent, back in March. I saw his two 800m training races in Los Angeles, and was overjoyed to realize that I would be in London for the grand finale at the Diamond League.

I wrote 1000 words on how Josh is intent on reeling people into middle-distance track for Tempo Journal.

Read my piece on Tempo Journal

Watching Josh Kerr power through the final 200m was one of the most exhilarating sporting moments that I’ve ever witnessed first-hand, and I was on the finish line for the two sub-2hr marathoners in London in April.

The following day, I was lucky enough to meet Josh Kerr IRL at a Trackstaa podcast recording. My son, who accompanied me to the two meets in LA as well as the London Athletics Meet on the weekend, drew Josh a poster commemorating his massive win. That my kid ran his own mile race a few weeks ago in LA was a nice piece of commonality. (Yes, I believe I’ve successfully groomed/recruited a new runner.)

For all the criticism that Josh Kerr gets for being bold and transparent with his words and his charismatically glam accessories on the track, there’s no greater figurehead for track athletics. Aside from spending some serious time talking to my son, the way he meticulously detailed his training with Lloyd Kempson on the podcast was fantastic.

My key takeaways:

• Focus on rest and recovery (input over output) above all else

• When you’ve trained for a race, think as little as possible and trust your body

• Use caffeine on race day by taking 8 days off caffeine in the lead up

• This was a multi-year project, not multi-month

Cooper Lutkenhaus: Generational

Keeping on the track theme, Cooper Lutkenhaus is a 17-year-old American 800m phenomenon. I tried to interview him earlier this year but schedules didn’t quite align. I’m fascinated by stories like this, and this 5-min short ‘film’ by Coros (probably his major sponsor) tells a nice part of where Cooper has come from.

Watch Cooper Lutkenhaus: Generational

Chamonix: confirmed

The bookend of my summer has been confirmed. I will be attending UTMB at the end of August. If you’re out there in Chamonix as well, let’s hang out. I’ve never had fondue.

B is for Balance: how much is too much?

I see achieving balance as one of the defining principles of my life. It’s a difficult thing to parse and explain in this world of running where so many people are pushing to find extremes.

It was as far from balance between running and writing as I’d ever been. So when people ask me if I’m training for a marathon, that’s the answer that’s too complex to outline in a casual exchange.

Either way, I find it so interesting to dive into these things with like-minded people, especially when we can discover little bits about ourselves through the conversations.

I’d love to know what you think. Leave a comment or you can always just reply to the email!

Thanks for reading,
Raz xx

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I was a fresh-faced 17-year-old whose primary motivation was meeting the bands he was falling in love with, but the secondary bonus of free concert tickets and advance access to new albums was mighty appealing.

The band in question back on the 13th of July of the year 2000 was My Vitriol. I’d heard their song ‘Always Your Way’ on the radio late in 1999 and picked up their demo CD with three songs that I soon learned by heart.

A question that I’ve been asked a few times over the last few months of touring my book and being asked rather than asking the questions is the similarities between my former life as a music journalist and my new life as a sports writer / running journalist.

It’s the people. It’s their stories.

At the start, I found it somewhat enjoyable to rate the albums and concerts I was experiencing. It was community journalism, I told myself. It was reporting. It had value to the general public. Over the next 15 years that I spent writing about music, however, I became increasingly disgruntled with the task of judging another human’s art.

My favorite thing was finding music that I loved and sharing it with as many people chose to read my work. For me, that was the top and the bottom of it, but I soon realized that I mostly enjoyed talking to the artists behind the art.

I loved finding out why they made this music. I loved trying to understand how I found myself reflected in the searing riffs of a band from Sacramento that had two members with matching black eyes when I met them in a university union backroom. I was a quiet boy from suburban London. What could I possibly have in common with these men?

The occasions when I was commissioned by a magazine editor to write about a band that I didn’t particularly enjoy were spent wrought with the need to write something entertaining, at least. I had to go in two-footed and try to hobble this band for everyone’s enjoyment. It wasn’t a healthy way to think about things, but people loved to read a withering, punchy critique about… anything really.

As much as I appeared to revel in the glory and back-patting of a 400-word shanking of mine going viral, I disliked it deeply. Being the center of attention wasn’t the goal. That spotlight was for the bands whose music I loved, wasn’t it?

The same pattern is evident while writing about running, of course.

I started Running Sucks in 2023 to celebrate the world of running that I’ve been embedded in since far before my love of music crystallized. While I did discover that the commonality I had with Will Haven was simply an enjoyment of the vast soundscapes that underpinned their monstrous tunes, when I talk to runners, I share their world much more directly. It’s more instantly relatable, and that’s likely why I’ve found this work to be the most rewarding so far in my life.

I love the people and I love their stories, and life is too short to focus on anything but the best, so you can look forward to some features on some of running’s true greats over the next few weeks, and beyond.

Here’s what’s on my slate at the moment:

• Kilian Jornet on the state of trail

• What Camille Herron is trying to bring to ultra running

• The man who made Kilian Jornet’s 2025 challenge possible

• Josh Kerr’s eternal quest to make track great (again?) for Tempo Journal

• My second, third and fourth books.

Love Trails

The last thing I wrote was about TrailCon and the work they need to do to address the dire lack of diversity on show. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Love Trails Festival, which I attended the tenth edition of last week.

Full and massive credit goes to the festival for curating a line-up of speakers and run leaders with an even gender split and immensely diverse backgrounds. Bravo. It shows how easy it is to hold a fully-integrated trail event that’s focused on running, music, and creativity.

I had a lot of friends in attendance, and after just one weekend in the Gower Peninsula, I fully understand why so many of them return time and again. I am manifesting a return in 2027!

Nike Radical Airflow

Nike is having to claw their way back into the running world and wider sporting relevance, and they’re doing it with the Radical Airflow jersey.

I think the science behind the Radical Airflow material is probably as sound as the MothTech science that allowed Satisfy to digitally map Adidas’ three stripes onto the chest of one of their shirts, but whatever. For me, this has been a year-long masterclass in sports marketing.

Leaving a full year between its debut at Western States 2025 and its public release, the strange, white holey shirt sold out immediately in independent running stores across the USA. Multiple athletes got custom holey shirts at the Pre Classic and then, last night, I saw Jannik Sinner wearing a jacket with the holey tech while clutching his trophy at Wimbledon.

It may have launched undercover at Western States, but Radical Airflow appears to be a central technology in this rapidly warming world.

Whatever your thoughts on Nike, I think it’s kinda cool that the largest sports company on the planet has launched their latest marketing onslaught through the trail world.

Thanks for reading
Raz xx

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Get your copy of my book, This is Running

USA - Bookshop US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy
UK - Bookshop UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones

TrailCon’s curious lack of diversity

I was on a panel talking about independent media in the world of running. It was quite the privilege to be asked to sit alongside the likes of Simon Freeman, Zoe Rom, Ashley Mateo and Thomas Neuberger. These are people who have forged a beautiful path in this world for over a decade. Me? Just three years.

The thing we have in common is that we are all mission-based.

• Simon wanted to make a running magazine beautiful enough for you to display on your coffee table

• Zoe campaigns for sustainability, public lands and runners’ diets

• Ashley wanted to create a magazine centered around women

• Thomas demystifies the world of running shoes in a way that didn’t exist before.

A bunch of absolute titans of this industry. They’re determined to make the world a better place by telling in-depth stories in glorious technicolor. With my book, I share a deep love of aesthetics with Simon and Ashley, but this newsletter is all about the topics.

I take on a variety of cultural issues ranging from feminism and how run clubs manifest in society through to South Asians in the world of running – the most personal of issues. I believe that we’re the smallest minority of runners here in the USA, so leading the way in highlighting stories of runners with ties to the Indian Subcontinent feels like a necessity.

There’s long been talk about the lack of diversity in trail, and races like Broken Arrow have been working hard to implement initiatives to remedy the situation, but issues remain.

An interesting observation from Vivek Gowri, the owner of SF Run Co, was that of the 70 or so people speaking on panels, 90% were white, and there wasn’t even a panel talking about diversity. It was an interesting juxtaposition to Broken Arrow’s very loud desire to change things.

I sat in on a conversation about preserving the culture and community of trail running, which was spearheaded by a small group of (very-well-meaning) middle-aged white men. In those situations, I think it helps to begin by asking two questions:

1. Who makes up the community?

2. What is the culture you’re trying to preserve?

If we understand that running is a subculture of mainstream society, and that trail and ultra running is a further division of running culture, it’s actually a very compelling scenario in which to enact change among like-minded people.

There were repeated comparisons to skateboarding, and I reject them wholeheartedly based on the simple fact that skateboarders are cool. Skating is an anti-establishment subculture. Skaters challenge societal norms simply by using the built environment (parking lots, stairs, railings) for a secondary, often-destructive recreational activity.

Trail running on the other hand is just running through public lands with thousands of dollars of equipment, occasionally adding another hefty bill (entry, flights, hotel, crew) to run a race. The time and money required dictates that trail runners come from a different socio-economic class than those who take a board to a parking lot to grind curbs.

It makes some sense, then, that trail in the USA seems to be governed by those middle-aged white guys. That’s how this world has been built, after all. The demographic makeup is somewhat different out on the trails, but maybe skateboarding was the same, and had the same set of people making marketing decisions.

Please note that emphasis of those leading the conversation being well-meaning. I really do believe in the leaders of this trail community’s desire to make it the best place possible. Let your eyes scan around at any moment during either race or the TrailCon hinterland, and you’ll spot some bold, all caps HERE FOR THE WOMEN’S RACE merchandise.

50% of the TrailCon panelists were women. Pressure to get to this point has certainly come from HERE FOR THE WOMEN’S RACE over the last couple of years. That’s fantastic, but it’s important to reiterate that 90% are white. What about my race?

In my mind, intersectionality is the greatest proponent of present-day feminism – some see women as the largest minority, after all – and the trail world has some work to do. There are blind spots that can’t be addressed until the social and demographic makeup of the decision-makers achieves some level of diversity.

It’s abundantly clear that racial diversity is an afterthought right now; something to address at the end. If you have time. For people like me, however, it’s difficult to walk around in these monocultural spaces without thinking of ways to fix the environment so it more accurately reflects the world that I see.

There is hope, of course. I can’t wait to see what Vivek does at SFRC, and Tommie Runz was walking around all week wearing his new t-shirt, emblazoned with, ‘BLACK SKIN LOOKS GOOD ON TRAIL.’ Kilian Jornet told me that in terms of diversity, trail running is “in the middle ages.” Yes, I interviewed KJ at TrailCon. Coming soon to Running Sucks.

And when I briefly spoke about this with Meghan Hicks, editor of iRunFar, she sagely commented, “It’s great that we took one step forward. But why can’t we take two steps?”

It’s a great question. Maybe the most important one. Feel free to weigh in with answers.

Leave a comment

I dare you to run a mile in my shoes

(Because I’m holding a dog under my arm.)

Cindy isn’t the kind of dog you run with. I tried it once, you see, and she got a quarter of a mile before hyperventilating. For some reason, I thought I’d try it again…

I love the Abbot Kinney One race. This is the third time they’ve closed down one of the most iconic streets in Los Angeles for a morning. I thought I’d take my dog. She finished dead last. 79th out of 79.

Did she have a good time? See for yourself. Yes, I carried her for most of it.

On the flipside, my son ran an 8:01 in his race. It was just the fifth time he’s even completed running a mile distance, so he is rightly very proud of himself.

And he did have a nice time out there. At least one of my kids has got that dawg in them.

Happy 200 to Community Trail Running

It’s a big moment for , one of the first people I made friends with here on Substack back in 2023. Congratulations on your 200th podcast, Adam. Here’s our conversation from Nov 2023.

Here’s to 200 more.

Thanks for reading (and listening)
Raz xx

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Get your copy of my book, This is Running

USA - Bookshop US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy
UK - Bookshop UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones

As a first-time author, working in a niche category, who put out only the most difficult format of book, it was incredible news. For context, 90% of non-fiction books sell less than 2,000 copies in their lifetime. I’ve hit that milestone in two months!

Thanks so much for buying a copy, asking your library to stock my book, reviewing, and recommending it. Everything. There’s been no mainstream coverage of This is Running, I’m not a social media influencer, and this is a pretty small newsletter in the grand scheme of things, so this is truly a word-of-mouth success story – something to be proud of, and something to build upon.

Get your copy of This is Running

USA - Bookshop US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy
UK - Bookshop UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones

Incidentally, I’ve had requests for a paperback or audiobook but I believe that the hardcover is essential to the very purposeful experience of this book, but more on that later.

Flying up to TrailCon

Next week, I’ll be appearing on a panel about independent media in (trail) running at TrailCon, the USA’s premier trail running conference/festival. Let me know if you will be attending. Maybe we’ll go for a run or have a cuppa.

Running Sucks running socks

I’m sad / happy to say that the small socks sold out really quickly. There are still a few pairs of large-size Running Sucks running socks remaining. Get ‘em while you can.

Running Sucks running socks

O is for Offline

There was a(nother) little backlash against influencers and the digital world in general this week, and it’s one that only seems to be increasing.

We want the social media that we have to be valuable. We don’t want to be sold something worthless at every waking moment, and we want the big players to know what they’re talking about. I would rather open Instagram and see the photos of my friends’ dogs and kids than how a pair of shoes is sooo much better than the last pair, which were also sooo much better than… ad infinitum.

At some point, it starts to feel disingenuous, and with the ongoing cost of living crisis, more and more people are taking the time to carefully choose where they spend their money and time.

The easy solution to being constantly connected to an ecosystem of running apparel pyramid schemes is to do more things that are offline. You have a very distinct number of hours in your day. If you use them for something purposeful that makes you feel good, you simply won’t have time to be on your phone or computer.

It’s like if you eat a lot of vegetables and whole foods, you don’t have space in your belly to overeat highly-processed foods. Start with a positive act and you will organically live better. Leave a little space for a chicken nugget, of course.

This week, for instance, I went to a World Cup match after 32 years of watching the tournament on television. I attended the New Zealand vs Iran match, and it was the best game of the tournament thus far. On Saturday morning, I took my eldest for a run with some friends in Chinatown, and the next day we attended the Los Angeles Grand Prix, where I had hoped to see Josh Kerr crush another 800m attempt. He didn’t, but it was nice to see it play out IRL.

All these events (as well as my son being off school for the summer, so we’re watching every World Cup match together) has meant that I haven’t had much time to sit down and write. I’m writing this between Czechia vs South Africa and Switzerland vs Bosnia. I’m taking my moments away from screens. Kinda. I am on my laptop right now, after all.

While loud voices are talking about how AI is a great shortcut, think about why your maths teachers insisted that you show your working. You don’t learn much of anything via a shortcut. You don’t get a good VO2 max rating if someone else runs your marathon for you. You don’t become stronger if someone else is lifting your weights in the gym.

The moments of difficulty are essential to being more human and we’re in danger of the digital world rounding off all our edges, even the ones in our brains.

It’s a large part of what Running Sucks means, in that we still love to do it despite the difficulty. It’s a concept that I outline in the introduction of This is Running. I state that both running and reading are radical acts. You aren’t the same person at the end of a run or at the end of a book. You’ll have new knowledge to take forward into your life. I struggle to say the same thing after a doom-scrolling session.

So go pick up your take-out order instead of getting it delivered via an app. Host a dinner party. Go for run. Join a run club. Read a magazine for 5 mins instead of checking social media. Leave a book in the bathroom. (For reading in the bath, and nowhere else.) Be in real life, even if just for 5 minutes at a time. If it’s an improvement of your current situation, dive into the difficulty.

The reason it’s a hardcover only is because I wanted my book to be thoughtful and purposeful. You already have this newsletter if you want to read my work on your phone.

This is Running… I want it to be more. I want there to be a decision to have something beautiful live in your homes. I knew that would mean fewer people would be able to own it, let alone want to, but that was my vision. I wanted it to silently signal your love for running as strongly as you feel about it while reading my work. That’s the goal, anyway!

So yes: selling 2,500 copies is a really big deal for me. Maybe it sounds soppy, but it makes me believe in the world a little bit more.

Get your copy of This is Running

USA - Bookshop US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy
UK - Bookshop UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones

Tempted to call me a hypocrite for suggesting that you buy my book? Fine! You’ll also remember that I’ve been asking you to get This is Running into your local libraries. Many of you have, and I’m very grateful for that. Like everything that I’ve outlined above, it takes a bit of effort, but I also believe the rewards are greater.

Incidentally, I’m half-way through reading Matt Fitzgerald’s forthcoming book, Dying to Run. I hope to never have the kind of first-hand knowledge needed to write a book like this. It’s about Matt’s journey through suffering from Long Covid to running the Javelina Jundred — a topic that’ll wow some and put others off immediately.

Either way, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s run. No music, no podcasts, no headphones. That’s my guaranteed hour of being truly offline, and I can’t wait. The day is always a little brighter afterwards.

Thanks for reading
Raz xx

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That’s right: I made Running Sucks running socks with Swiftwick.

Designed in a retro style using the blue/yellow colorway of my book, the words are on the back of the sock especially so that the people you pass can have a chuckle. If you’re reading this newsletter, I hope you also like spreading a little joy while you’re running.

The socks themselves are super high quality, moisture wicking with light compression, of course, but they have a lifetime guarantee. Running Sucks running socks will last forever. Go grab a pair from the Swiftwick site.

Running Sucks running socks

I’m giving away a pair of Running Sucks running socks (I’ll not tire of typing or saying that) over on Instagram this week. All you have to do is 1) repost this post and 2) tag a friend in a comment.

A little bit of lore: I was editor of a website about heavy music from 2008-2015 called Thrash Hits. A funny observation about the logo was that it could be read as Thrash Hats. Well, I never got Thrash Hits thrash hats made, so these Running Sucks running socks feel like overdue closure on that very specific anecdote.

Get your copy of This is Running now

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones

A family business

For Global Running Day last Wednesday, I ran 1.22 miles with my son. He’s been bugging me to come running with me for the past year, so this run was a huge bonus of my return from injury.

I ran with him two more times last week on the road to him running a mile race at the end of this month at the Abbot Kinney One, hosted by Venice Run Club. Closing down one of Los Angeles’ most iconic streets for half a day is an enormous undertaking and achievement. I can’t wait to take part.

The Mayors Who Run

I popped down to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Long Beach last week to run almost 5k with a handful of America’s mayors. I was interested because quite a lot of LA28 Olympic events will be hosted in Long Beach, which is one of the coolest areas in this massive conurbation.

Of the 1,500 mayors of cities with populations over 30,000, over 200 attended the conference. 10 of them braved the June Gloom to reach the Boardwalk.

On the run, I had a chat with Mayor Matt Tuerk of Allentown, PA. We met when he complimented me on my vintage Arsenal shirt (all I’ve been wearing for the past two weeks) and then we talked about a shared love of punk music, Arsenal FC, and running – he instigated this annual group run. I think we’re friends now.

I also asked Long Beach city officials what their goal is for Long Beach in the Olympics and the line that kept getting spoken was that they want to make sure local residents are involved. What does that mean? I don’t know exactly, but it’s a nice sentiment.

Los Angeles is currently suffering its own heinous mayoral election, where we were subjected to the threat of reality TV man Spencer Pratt taking charge. I believe that we’ve escaped that now, but MacArthur Park’s homeless residents and encampments were unceremoniously cleared last week in the name of dismantling open-air drug markets. Coincidentally, there’s a World Cup viewing party at MacArthur Park next week…

At the track again

This weekend, I’m planning to attend the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix. I want to see Josh Kerr in the 800m as he continues his progress in Project 222, as he aims to break the men’s mile world record next month in London.

The lack of discounted tickets for children is disappointing at a time where track and field has gained an unwelcome reputation for being a sport that people don’t really want to attend. Make it easy is my suggestion.

W is for your Why

Do you ever think about why you run? How do you figure that out?

I just wrote a six-pager for issue 49 of Like The Wind magazine. The mag’s tagline is ‘It’s not how we run, it’s why we run,’ which is exactly how I write about running.

Sure, I’m a trained running coach, but my approach is more holistic. I care about why my clients are doing what they are doing. That allows me to help them think about how to train for their event, their life.

For instance, I don’t run to win. Even when I was a teen running track, it wasn’t as much about competition as it was enjoying a new experience and new people. As a Third Culture Kid, that world of organized inter-school athletics was totally alien to me. And now? Running is a part of life in the same way that brushing my teeth is a part of my life, and I don’t try to win at that either.

When I moved to LA, I was running two races per month. I was placing in the top 10% of each race, but I was also out at bars and concerts most nights with my new friends, my new wife, a new run club. My social lifestyle simply wasn’t conducive to top performance as an amateur runner, but, in that moment, I needed both of those parts of my life. My goal was to find a way to accommodate them both.

Why did I run?

• For my health, both physical and mental

• For exploration of my new hometown

• To balance out my poor diet (as much as possible)

• For quiet time, alone in a busy life

I still run for all of those things, but recently I’ve added two more:

• To aid my creativity

• I want to run with my son

Lives don’t remain the same, and it’s important to be pragmatic in those situations. With an aging body, I do not expect to finish in the top 10% of finishers any more, and that’s ok. I’m 43 years old, and I’m likely over the hill of my peak physical performance. I expect my kids to be faster than me sooner rather than later as I coach them towards a path where they can love running as much as I do.

My primary goals now are to remain free of injury so that I can keep exploring this world, hopefully with my family, so that informs my why completely. Why do you run? What’s your story?

Leave a comment

Thanks for reading
Raz xx

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How’s that for some over-alliteration? Maybe I should put it on a t-shirt.

Interestingly, there’s an article on Business of Fashion today about how books have become a signifier in this cruel age of AI slop. If you’ve read the introduction to This is Running, you will know the parallels that I draw between running and reading – two of the most human acts possible

If you haven’t yet read the introduction to my book, This is Running, please pick up a copy today.

Get your copy of This is Running now

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones

Enjoy your Global Running LIFE this Wednesday

For Global Running Day, I’ve been featured on the Swiftwick Socks blog. Cool socks. Cool people. It’s an honor to be highlighted by them.

Running Sucks by running socks

Wouldn’t it be great if there were some Running Sucks running socks? Now there’s a thought… (Keep your eyes peeled on IG.) In the meantime, here’s a feature with Greg Itahara, who designed one of my favorite pairs of socks.

How to get 1 million people running

I believe the number one way to celebrate running is by sharing it with more people. Yeah, you’ll end up complaining that you can’t get into the marathon you want to race but overall I think that more people running is a good thing.

Couch to 5K has been one of (if not the) most impactful things in the history of running. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, there is a Q&A with Josh Clark in my book, and I published the extended version of that on Thursday.

May was also 10 years to the month of the NHS formally incorporating a C25K app into their health program, so it’s a timely moment for the program.

Happy 10th birthday to rabbit.

Earlier this year, I profiled Monica DeVreese, co-founder of rabbit, when I was taken by their Clubhouse series of quiet haven hotels at the NYC and Chicago Marathons and at UTMB. The brand is celebrating their 10th anniversary right now.

D is for Doping

It’s a question every injured runner has asked themselves: what would I do to not be injured any more.

Read more

The chances are that they used the Couch to 5K (C25K) program to get up to speed from zero. One of the big scoops (personally speaking) in my book was finding the guy who created that program. At heart, I’m a journalist, so digging through enough layers of information to definitively find the guy who made a training schedule that eight (8!) million people have downloaded via the UK’s NHS app over the past decade alone.

It’s the 30th anniversary of C25K’s inception and exactly 10 years since the NHS incorporated C25K into its app to help the British general public find a healthier lifestyle, so come with me and enjoy this landmark moment for Josh Clark.

Josh Clark - Couch to 5K

The Couch to 5K program is a nine-week training schedule, mixing running and walking, that helps a beginner runner become able to run 5 km (3.1 miles) without stopping. You probably knew that, but the concept of Couch to 5K has become so deeply embedded into the vernacular of running that we can almost take it for granted.

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Enter: “running co opting yoga blandness” from 28 October 2024.

The easiest (safest) way to look chic is to just wear plain black clothes. It requires zero imagination (see: Zuck) and maybe zero skill: a tuxedo to a formal event; an LBD to a cocktail party; a plain black t-shirt on a night out with pals. When first impressions count, sending your curated personality into the eyes of a potential friend can be a risky thing. Personalities inspire opinions – often unwanted ones. Curating nothingness is a safe option.

The current yoga darlings making plays for a slice of the run world billions are Lululemon and ALO (who recently got shivved for their entry into trail), but the plain fits they’re known for are not how yoga used to be known.

In the 1990s, yoga was seen as a counter-cultural New Age pursuit with associated stereotypes of tie-dye and incense. It was an ancient holistic discipline that was quickly Westernized, commodified, and ‘Power’-ized by celebrity endorsements and the promise of great potential profits. The number of Americans practicing yoga over time tells a lot of the story:

2000: 6 million
2008: 16 million
2016: 36 million

Not to blame them completely for the flattening of yoga’s visual culture, but Lululemon’s membership program alone has 28 million members.

Up until a decade ago, you could reasonably assume one piece of my running gear would be neon, for instance, and I never tried calling it ‘chartreuse’ or ‘tangerine’ to appear cooler. Technical apparel was utility first and foremost, and while bright colors helped drivers to see me when I was crossing a road, what was left in the clearance section dictated my style.

When I saw the first headlines about running being the new skateboarding, during the covid running boom, my first thought was that it was going to be difficult for runners to run in jeans like skaters do. If we want multi-functional technical apparel so we can go to work or socialize before or after a run, it would likely be plain, tonal colors rather than a pair of jeans. Runners are pretty committed to polyester, so it would likely be bland yoga-style fits that are adopted, and that somewhat came to pass with the highly visible armies of black-clad city runners from the last few years.

The good news is that the flattening of style appears to be ebbing somewhat. We can see a bit more personality coming back into the sport recently with new brands like Unna, Alex Zono and retro race shirt capsules, and the likes of Satisfy (like it or not) has always led the way on providing something truly different to wear. Even Lululemon has made a rugby shirt for running in, and is generally using brighter colors than their usual muted palette.

It’s true that birds of a feather flock together, and how can you truly find your people if you hide who you are? So get weird and wear the neon. Hell. If you love it, wear the tortoises-print shorts. Clothing is the easiest way to tell people who you are, so take a risk.

Personalities can inspire opinions, but sometimes they’re good ones. Maybe you’ll make a friend just like you.

Last week on Running Sucks

My third brand profile in this mini-series was about Miler Running, a brand out of New York City that is committed to manufacturing their clothes in New York City.

I think that’s a pretty cool stance to take in a world of drop-shippers and overseas manufacturing. If you’re one of the few people who remembers/cares about bigger brands using sweatshops and child labor, this one’s for you.

Equating Miler to Champagne is a bold take, I know, but it’s a fun game. Is Bandit the most popular natural wine? So, Nike is Budweiser maybe, and Minor Planet is small-batch kombucha gone wild? Let’s see who we can offend in the comments.

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A weekend of track

On Saturday, I went to Sound Running’s L.A. Track Fest and saw Josh Kerr coming in second in the 800m on his way to targeting Hicham El Guerrouj’s mile world record in London in July, which I hope to attend.

I also saw Parker Valby’s debut pro race as she won the 5,000m at a canter. After 19 months of injury, the 23-year-old American star – who famously only runs three times a week – ripped a 14:49.41 5K PR, finishing 50m ahead of the next runner. It was outrageous to see IRL. I recommend it.

Over the 3hr session, I watched 19 events including the pole vault, which was happening directly in front of me. I joked on IG that if you ever see me in this position, I’ve fallen out of a plane. I simply cannot fathom launching myself 4.5m / 15 ft into the air.

Also taking place this past weekend was the Enhanced Games – the event where athletes are encouraged to take performance enhancing drugs with the sole aim of being faster, stronger, etc etc. It’s a spectacle using human guinea pigs, and many people want to see it. I wrote about it a couple of years ago, here.

Maybe it’s because they failed to attract the best athletes around, but absolutely nothing spectacular happened at the Enhanced Games, so maybe it’s not a spectacle after all.

The last two Gravel Tour dates

I’m in Columbus and Denver this week for the last couple of dates on the Salomon Off Track Gravel tour, so if you’re in either of those cities, please stop by for a run on Tuesday evening at Olentangy River Brewing in Columbus or on Saturday morning at Runner’s Roost Lakewood. It’ll be great to see you!

This Thursday, I’ll be publishing an extended interview that was featured in my book. It’ll be in your inbox!

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

FOLLOW ME - Instagram | Strava

My book, This is Running

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones

For instance, Joe Biden was at pains to point out that his pithy clapback, the Dark Brandon mug was made in the USA while Trump’s signature red hats, with their violent messaging that suckles on the teat of rabid nationalistic bravado, are made in China.

Restoring both taxes and the minimum wage to something more deserving of humanity would solve a lot, but I digress.

An exercise: take a moment to look inside your favorite running clothes and you’ll likely see one of the following on the tag:

MADE IN VIETNAM
MADE IN TURKEY
MADE IN PORTUGAL
MADE IN BANGLADESH

MADE IN NEW YORK CITY, then, is something of a statement, and it’s a statement that Ben Morrow is making with his premium running apparel brand, Miler Running. Born in 2019, the clothes are designed, tested, and made in NYC.

When I ask Ben why he’s committed to supporting a local factory, when brighter economics point to overseas manufacturing, he’s very clear that he’s intent on building Miler with quality first, and it shows. You can position Miler with the likes of District Vision, Soar, and Satisfy in terms of premium apparel, and a big differentiator between those brands is the narrative; the brand storytelling.

The Value of Place as Identity

While the challenge of higher manufacturing costs leads to greater personal reward for Ben, the geographical identity and the story that goes with it strengthens the brand. In a world where there is little to no protection of intellectual property in fashion, Ben talks about the brand moat – the intangible assets – that has been achieved by aligning Miler so deeply with New York.

Read more

Last week, I was in Minneapolis and Portland for the Gravel tour with Salomon, and I got to explore both cities on foot and at speed.

I wrote about how to run in a new city a couple of years ago, and it is genuinely how I do it. I landed in Minneapolis (Minnesota is the 19th US State that I’ve visited now!) on Monday afternoon. John, the local Salomon rep, picked me up from the airport (what unexpected luxury!) and dropped me off at my hotel.

On that drive, John gave me a couple of places to see in downtown Minneapolis, so I put a few landmarks into my phone map and created a quick route. Once I’d finished accidentally tipping everything out of my suitcase, I pulled on my running gear and set off.

I ran past First Avenue nightclub, where Prince played however many hometown shows, ran across the Hennepin and Stone Arch bridges, finding out / remembering that the Mississippi starts all the way up in Minnesota, and took video calls at the Twins and Vikings stadiums with my sports-mad eldest son.

From there I ran south down Chicago Ave until I reached the George Floyd memorial. Filled with people congregating with music at the end of the day, It was a moment that was as sobering as it was warming – one worth experiencing. I ran a couple more miles to Matt’s Bar, a glorious dive bar that claims to have invented the local delicacy of cheese stuffed into a hot pocket of hamburger patties. I ate it and took the bus home. Here’s the IG post.

The following day I ran with TC Running Co and met area “trail person” Kurt Decker. When you talk about building culture, there are few people more important than the local race director. Especially one as storied as Kurt. Read this Trailrunner mag article on him, titled The Godfather.

Brilliantly, Kurt and I primarily bonded over our shared love of Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro. After years of cancelled shows and unsavory tour routing, Kurt finally saw them live in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. The following day Spotify announced Biffy as my most-listened-to band ever. I’ve been watching the Biff live since 2001, and finding an American fan is a real rarity.

They’re like a weird Foo Fighters with 10/10 lyrics. One for the heads, as they say. On two levels in this case. Here’s my favorite Biffy song. Just in case I can convert a couple more of you.

In Portland, I ran in Forest Park twice, along the Willamette, had lunch with some of the coolest running writers (Zoë Rom, Tina Muir, and ), some beers in soccer-themed brewery Away Days with UP professor Dr Ian Parkman, was taken to Powell’s by my friend Eli, and feasted upon the wonderful Khao Man Gai from Nong’s (twice). I love PDX, and I’ll be back as soon as humanly possible.

All that is to say that I ran a 20-mile week for the first time in over a year, and it feels great. Fewer miles this week, but I’ll be in “San Francisco” on Wednesday evening, so come by. It’s at the Fleet Feet in Menlo Park, the birthplace of Silicon Valley, so that’ll be fun. I’ll talk tech.

Last week on Running Sucks

The last couple of long-reads have been about newer running brands that I like. I spoke to the Pruzan founders the week before last, and published a profile of Jason Levine of Minor Planet in New York on Friday. I think he’s making some marvelous stuff. Effortlessly cool, and purposefully important.

Jason is from the world of hardcore punk, and I wrote about that, and about how Satisfy is the equivalent of a punk band headlining a stadium. Some would grandstand in saying that’s the antithesis of punk, but maybe it’s just a natural progression. For example, Green Day are still cool or super corny, depending on who you speak to (and what they’re doing).

My final brand profile in this mini-series is coming at the end of this week, and is maybe my favorite of the three. New York, New York again.

What to say about Satisfy?

My beautiful friends Cole Townsend and Howie Goldklang have two great reviews of Satisfy’s brand activation with Adidas. One is somewhat more diplomatic than the other, let’s say.

What’s my take?

Read more

Jason broke from setting up the room to greet me enthusiastically with a fancy-looking soda. I was grateful for something to sip on. I asked him if he was with Minor Planet. He was.

I’d kinda seen the brand knocking around on Instagram but hadn’t fully engaged. Messages of ‘Centre For Beginners,’ ‘Baby Steps,’ and ‘Let Go To Hold On.’ I was monitoring this brand that was dealing in the kind of spiritual sloganeering that I believe in. More recently there’s been ‘100% Runner,’ but we’ll get to that in due course.

In 2025, I somewhat moved my emphasis away from writing about the fashion side of running culture when ’s Running Supply arrived. When someone niches down on your niche so well, you simply sit back and enjoy it. Minor Planet, however, is doing something in the running space that no other brand is doing with such clarity. I had to dig in.

District Vision also has a meditation aspect, but is somewhat more esoteric, and Lululemon has moved from the yoga world into trying to conquer running. Younger brands like Schism, Furies, and Rose Endurance are bringing very specific hardcore punk aesthetics to the running world, and Satisfy is the punk band headlining Stade de France. Minor Planet sits in the middle of all of that without selling technical running performance apparel at all.

Of course, all clothing can be running apparel, but mostly I’ve seen Minor Planet popping up in Rome and London with yoga and breathwork events at the New Balance Marathon House with well-designed hats, cotton tees, and other accessories.

Rome’s marathon event was spent visualizing marathon moments in a 15th century papal hospital with grand, frescoed walls and London’s big events included qigong and tostadas plus pre-race body regulation in Somerset House, an equally grand Tudor palace. They’re the kind of places — and activities — that a young Jason Levine would’ve scoffed at and then tried to skate down the marble steps of.

While Minor Planet leans on the ideas of thinking more deeply, more slowly, and more purposefully, it really wasn’t like that for Jason until 15 years ago.

“For the first, like 30 years of my life, I had like a story in my head that was dictating my personality. I was smoking, I was drinking, I was doing drugs. I was posing to be a cool person. That was how I maneuvered in the world, even since I was a teenager. It lasted a long time and really got me nowhere.”

That’s not entirely true, of course. He was an early employee at premium fashion brand Rag & Bone, but being in the fashion world, he was out partying late and often. It was part of the job. Or so he told himself.

It got to a point, however, where he was 35 years old and still in a bitter cycle of being the last one at the party, perpetually hungover, but still reading books about Eastern philosophies or finding one’s passion in his spare time.

Jason tells me that he “always gravitated towards subcultures like the hardcore music scene, the underground rap scene, the graffiti scene, and the skate scene.” He talks about going to school for acupuncture and herbal medicine and getting into kung fu. He tells me that diving in and learning has always been an essential part of him.

But there came a point when Jason needed to make a change and rail against the narrative that he’d built for himself. Declining a drink at 3am was just one of thousands of decisions Jason Levine made that day, but it changed everything. It led to him making more and more good decisions. First it was sleep, then it was food, but he needed the activity, so he started taking yoga classes.

He talks about the lightness and openness of walking into a yoga studio for the first time: “It was like I was returning to my childhood. There was an innocence.”

Something else from his childhood was running. Jason tells me that he was athletic as a child, “pretty good at all sports,” but “was a degenerate so would never try hard enough to get good.” That’s something that he puts down to childhood insecurity.

This time was different, though. He took up yoga because he knew he needed to move his body, and he needed more. The openness that he felt in that yoga studio allowed him to start running – something that he never would’ve committed to previously. It became a new form of meditation. The running became an ever-present in his life.

It reminds me of a similar moment in my life when I declined a 5pm drink from a colleague. I told him that I was training for a 5k. It’s when I started running again. For Jason, it was a choice to make the next day less painful. He’d noticed that newcomers in the skate community were different to those he grew up with. They were less about a nihilistic lifestyle, and more into veganism and yoga. But they were still skaters.

Extreme music is unconventional. An even deeper strand of the punk subculture, for instance, is straight edge hardcore, where the community doesn’t drink or smoke. They’re kind to animals and politically clear-thinking. It’s quite opposite to how mainstream media often enjoys portraying the scene.

When Jason’s time at Rag & Bone came to a natural end, he decided “to fill [his] time with the things that are number one on [his] list.” That was going outside and moving his body thoughtfully – a reaction to his time spent sitting in meetings “toiling for nonsense.” He took a yoga teacher training course.

That came from a position of relative privilege, of course. He got a payout from Rag & Bone, but he chose to spend his new free-time on himself, creating. Financial stability has been proven to shift a person’s focus from survival to creativity. They choose more personal, meaningful work. Removing fear of money troubles removes the anxiety and fear of financial ruin, allowing the mind to focus upon innovation. If it feels crass, blame the tax system rather than the individual who’s reverting to the most natural human instinct. Don’t hate the player, etc.

Either way, Jason had to teach some free yoga classes as part of his training, and did that at a Japanese textile company in New York. Soon, he was hired by them to create a brand. The concept was a “cool yoga brand – a bizarro Lululemon.” He wanted to deliver his yogic message but retain the “subculture street world” that he continued to live in. Minor Planet was born.

When Trump’s tariffs hit last year, however, the parent company pulled the plug on any part of the business not making money. Having poured all of his creative energies into this fledgling brand, the company kindly agreed to transfer all rights to Jason as easily as possible. He was a small business owner now.

Starting afresh in midlife, Jason talks to me about Shoshin – the beginner’s mindset. It’s again linked to that feeling he had when he went to his first yoga class: the openness; the lack of preconceptions, both about yourself and about others.

“You can always be a beginner if you approach things in the right way. You don’t need to be the guy that knows everything. If you have an understanding of these mindsets, it changes the way that you feel, it changes the way that you act, and it opens up this creativity. You’re open to expressing yourself. The guy that’s like, ‘I got this all figured out,’ is all rigid.”

Here’s a listicle that I wrote at the end of last year. Scroll down to no.5, and you’ll find Shoshin, and there’s more.

It’s a good list – one that encapsulates much of the process that I’ve developed over my career – and it’s distilled into just 1,000 words’ worth. The reason that Jason’s work with Minor Planet feels so cohesive is because he’s taken the same approach of reading books and learning deeply over time to create a singular brand that blends everything that makes up Jason Levine in a snapshot.

Jason repeats that young him would likely reject his current self, but that was a less well-developed version. It’s a path that is very similar to others in this space. It’s not a reawakening as such, but all the learning experiences just take a little longer to percolate into a carafe of cool shit. Maybe good things really do come to those who wait.

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

FOLLOW ME - Instagram | Me on Strava | Strava club

My book, This is Running

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Further reading

• Minor Planet [IG]

I think yoga the perfect accompaniment to running. You gain strength, flexibility, and balance with yoga, which are all essential tools in a runner’s toolkit. One of the first articles I wrote here was with Ann Mazur AKA @RunnersLoveYoga on IG.

Last Tuesday, I recorded an ill-fated chat with . The themes are quite specifically 1) running and 2) writing – two topics that Mario and I have enjoyed yamming about in private over the past few months. Hopefully it’s a nice intersection for anyone who enjoys either one or both.

Sadly, last week’s recording hit technical difficulties and didn’t fully record, but those who tuned in live enjoyed it. (I think!) Go check out what did record, and tell us what you think.

the morning shakeout

Running and Writing with Mario Fraioli and Raziq Rauf: Episode 1

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to our first live conversation about running and writing. We’re hoping to make this a semi-regular thing where we talk about running, writing, and where and how the two overlap, intersect, and interact…

Listen now

3 months ago · 6 likes · Mario Fraioli and Raziq Rauf

Mario and I are going to do this every couple of months, but would love some help with a title better than ‘Live with Mario & Raz.’ Here’s a poll, but any other ideas are very, very welcome!

Storytelling with Brendan Leonard

On the topic of literary runners, I signed up for ’s writing course: ‘How to Tell One Story.’ I’ll let you know how it goes in due course, but I try to do a big learning exercise like this every few months and I’m a huge fan of how Brendan tells stories, so I am very prepared to learn some cool things.

If you want to learn how to write your first story in just six weeks, register your interest for September’s course. This is not an ad, by the way. It’s just something cool by someone cool that I’m enjoying, so I think you might also enjoy.

Last week on Running Sucks

On Thursday, I wrote about Pruzan, which is a running brand for women by women. I met the founders at The Running Event last December, where their stand containing their delicate mesh tank was posted up right next to the new Nike ACG and their heavy mesh shirt. It was the same but different. I like what Pruzan is doing. Take a read.

You may have noticed that I have been paywalling my work for the past few weeks. I’ve certainly noticed the extra unsubscribes haha. Thanks so much to everyone who has upgraded their subscriptions recently.

If you’ve been reading for the past three years or a portion thereof, here’s a gentle suggestion to support the things you enjoy. There are two great ways:

1. Upgrade your subscription for $40 a year / 80¢ a week (tax deductible if you work in publishing or the running industry).

2. Share Running Sucks with a friend and if they subscribe, you get a FREE month of reading. Get 5 friends to sign up and you can read for free for a year. Easy.

Subscribe now

If you haven’t yet picked up a copy of my book, This is Running, here are some links:

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
REVIEW - Goodreads | Amazon reviews really help as well thanks

Incidentally, I’ve been cited as one of the “most important voices in run culture” in this list. Just in case you needed someone else’s opinion to make up your mind.

Salt & Flickers

The 5 Most Important Voices in Run Culture Right Now (May 2026)

The 5 Most Important Voices in Run Culture Right Now (May 2026…

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3 months ago · 8 likes · Howie Goldklang

Next up on the tour

I’m on my way to Minneapolis and Portland for the next two dates on the Salomon Off Track Gravel Tour. If you’re in either area, drop me a line with your tips, even if you aren’t able to make the event. I’ll be in Portland for an extra couple of days in-between dates.

• Tue 5/12 6pm | TC Running Co | REGISTER

• Sat 5/16 10am | Fleet Feet PDX | REGISTER

Last week’s book excerpt was about trails being the final level boss, and there’s a lot to that. A huge focus on the Salomon Gravel Tour is about how creativity is key to all of our lives, and when we spend large swaths of our time at a desk, moving our bodies is scientifically proven to prompt our creative selves. Where better than a run into greenery?

Z is for Gen Z

Some people have been begging to predict the End of the Running Boom, but I’ve always responded in the same way: running is going nowhere.

Over the past month or so, however, I have amended that to: I actually think we’ve seen nothing yet. There is even some great evidence to suggest that we’re about to embark upon another large moment in the running boom.

When I saw that Gen Z women make up the single largest cohort of applicants to the 2027 London Marathon, it didn’t surprise me. We are currently bearing the fruits of the seed sown during the pandemic.

Read more

Jessie Hyman and Alexis Copithorne, founders of Pruzan, a running apparel brand that aims to produce performance clothing with a chic, feminine aesthetic, don’t believe running apparel brands are catering to women as much as they could or should be.

“I think we’re still not getting the innovation that the men’s side is getting,” says Jessie. “There’s not as much variety or quantity of brands catering to women. Overall, the innovation is sitting a bit behind where the men’s side is.”

Choices, choices, or a lack of

Estimates suggest that only 20% of new running brands are founded or led by women. Sure, there are new brands like Raide and Currently led by men who are listening and creating products specifically for women, and there are somewhat more established brands like Bandit and Acid who have a female designer in their ranks, but being fully female-led lends a different perspective.

The trailblazers were Oiselle and Rabbit, and along with the likes of Mileoff and Stolt, Pruzan is one of the new female-focused brands that are doing what they can to remedy the situation by offering thoughtful product worthy of the group of people who are an enormous, essential reason why we’re in this running boom.

One of the places Jessie and Lexy have highlighted for innovation is the humble sports bra. It’s often said that a good pair of shoes is all you need to go for a run, but as with all old tropes, that fails to include women. As of Running Wylder pointed out to me one time, “You need a pair of shoes and a good bra.”

Read more

Substack Live with Mario Fraioli and me

Tomorrow at 11am PST, I’m going live with for a new series of almost-podcasts where we’ll talk very specifically about running and writing. We’ll talk about them separately, but also not.

I’m a huge fan of Mario’s. He’s a fantastic writer, and a brilliant coach, and after finally meeting IRL in LA in March, we also met in SF and in Boston in April. I failed to get a photo together on each of the three occasions. Fourth time lucky, perhaps. Tune in tomorrow, anyway.

Join me and Mario on Substack Live

Between Running and Comedy Lies Obsession

The subject of this somewhat dramatic title is comedian and ultrarunner, . I’ve been following his progress for a couple of years now, and boy oh boy have there been some ups and downs. When I spoke to him back in December, he was experiencing some intense downs, but he’s hitting some highs right now. Hopefully, I’ll have time to go for a run with him this week. Let’s see.

Read my profile of another fascinating member of the running community, and also check out his Substack that he’s since been inspired to create. I very much look forward to reading his work.

Are trails the final level boss of running?

That’s the second paragraph of my chapter on trails. Page 198 if you’ve already bought a copy. If you haven’t yet, and you now finally understand that the rest of This is Running is essential reading, here are your purchase links. Or go visit your local library and ask them to stock it. Thanks to all of you who have got your libraries to stock This is Running!

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
REVIEW - Goodreads | Amazon reviews really help xo

A review of This is Running on iRunFar

I love how thorough this feature by Lydia Thompson is. Give it a read.

This is Running on iRunFar

• Gmail has been putting my Google Alerts in the Spam folder, so apologies if you’ve replied to the newsletter in recent weeks and I haven’t replied. I guess I just have to check the Spam folder more diligently now. Thanks, Gmail!

• I’m back on the road next week, as I travel to five cities on the Salomon Off Track Gravel Tour, where I’ll be leading runs and speaking about the very real relationships between cities, green space, running, and creativity. If I’m in one of your cities, come say hi!

Do get in touch if you work at a brand and you would like to work with me on something similar in the future. It’ll be different to what you normally do. raz@runningsucks101.com.

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G is for Gatekeeping

Remember when Matt Choi ran a sub-3hr marathon in NYC in 2024? Remember when the NYRR disqualified him and banned him from future NYRR events because of the entourage filming him? What if he wasn’t actually the bad guy in your Spaghetti Western mind?

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“It’s the holidays,” he says wryly, “Which makes it feel like I’m in a bad Hallmark movie.”

Amazingly, this isn’t all he’s had to remain a positive guy about. Dan LaMorte is a runner, you see, and the worst thing to happen to a runner is anything that stops you running. (Ask me how I know.) Over the past couple of years, he’s violently broken his ankle and was in the ICU after a serious scare with his heart. All this after losing almost 200lbs / 90kg after a hospital visit in 2018 saw him diagnosed with a fatty liver.

That 2018 diagnosis led to Dan starting running in 2019, with his first ultra in 2021 – a fast move into the sport.

“That’s probably why I’ve gotten hurt so much along the way,” he laughs. “You really can’t fake your way into it. Especially coming from a body that was 355 lbs.”

I introduced Dan as a comedian, and that’s his day job. He started performing stand-up as a 19-year-old, back in 2014 or so, having blown out his arm. No good for a baseball pitcher college athlete. At first, he thought about the parallels between comedy and baseball, but now he considers how comedy and ultrarunning align.

“You’re alone on the mound – kind of like just you onstage. If you mess up, it’s on you. Now I’ve been an ultrarunner for longer than I was a baseball player, so I compare stand-up more to ultrarunning. It’s so interesting how the years change and you gravitate towards different things, and you learn how to latch meaning onto it in each direction.”

Dan goes on to talk about how it’s the process rather than the big show. How we all see the headline comedy show or 100-miler documentary or the before and after pictures, but there’s so much more to it all.

“What’s the in-between. My story is not really the guy who succeeded right away. It’s so much more than the picture. It’s gradual, it’s not linear, it beats you down. That’s why I love [running ultras]. People have no idea why I do it. It’s almost killed me three times.”

Dan skirts over a little case of rhabdo, where your muscles break down, turning your piss into something that looks like Coca-Cola, leading to kidney failure and death. He casually drops into conversation how he pukes his guts out during and after running mammoth races into conversation as if it’s totally normal. He talks briefly about snapping his ankle while “bombing a switchback, on a downhill,” and how that kept him out “for a few months.”

But he dwells on the Pine Creek 100-miler from September 2024. That’s the one where he had “crazy chest pain” 30 miles in, but was mainly upset because the camera crew creating a documentary had flown into Pennsylvania from California. By mile 50 the pain was excruciating, but his now-ex-wife ran a few miles with him before he decided to tap out.

It turned out he had spontaneous pneumomediastinum, “where the cavity around your heart fills with air out of nowhere.” He thinks that all that puking a few weeks earlier could’ve caused a small tear in his esophagus, but nobody could be sure. He spent three days in the ICU, but that wasn’t stopping him.

“I have a very weird ability to put things behind me,” he explains. But he went to all his appointments while training, and did all his rehab. Why stop?

This is why I love talking to runners. Those last few paragraphs are exactly what I mean by ‘running sucks.’ But we love it, right? But we do it anyway, right? The juicy pain is absolutely worth the squeeze.

Dan talks as much about resilience in terms of always returning to the trails as he does about returning to the stage. He talks about not just overcoming the heckles and the bad shows during “some of the most pensive miles” during the following morning’s run, but feeling compelled to do it again and again.

“I do think obsession with a particular thing does appear crazy to most people, and people do talk about balance a lot, but I know that to get successful at stand-up, it was a very unbalanced life, and I think to get successful in running, it looks a little unbalanced as well.

Success is relative, of course, but when I met Dan IRL at his headline show at Los Angeles’ Comedy Store (a very big deal to him) just before this conversation, there were several runners in attendance, myself included. He talks openly about his autism and incorporates both his neurodivergence and his running into his comedy shows.

There is increasing research about the links between neurodiversity and running. There is increased understanding that running can be a brilliant regulator for processing emotions and sensory issues. Consider the stimming action of the repetitive motion of running. Consider how running can reduce cognitive overload, allowing for mental space and freedom of thought. It’s a level of control that Harry Styles alluded to in his conversation in Runner’s World.

Like the running crowd, the neurodivergent population can be… a funny one. Especially in a world where ‘normal’ and the aforementioned ‘balance’ are the states of being that we are encouraged to strive for.

“Sometimes people who are fans of mine will just stand up and go to the back of the room and start stretching in a room full of people in the middle of a show because they don’t know that that’s not the acceptable thing to do. I’m the guy who stretches in public,” he says, while stretching.

In terms of writing material for his stand-up performances, Dan tells me that his days of sitting down with a pen and paper are largely behind him. He uses running to give him that space.

“I set out with intentions. I’ll make sure there are no headphones accessible. Just me and my thoughts. ‘Let’s figure out this joke.’ I’ll say it out loud if I’m deep in the trails.”

As I recall how Brendan Leonard spoke about how running gives him a ‘cabin in the woods’ effect in his brain, Dan laughs about how we don’t get any Unabombers any more because of how much cabins in the woods cost these days. I then refer to how Sanjay Rawal draws similarities between the team efforts of running an ultra and creating a documentary. Dan nods, as he is halfway through creating his own documentary. It’s a story that started around his weight loss journey, but has evolved to include his whole running journey.

“I’m finally in a place where I can see where the work is paying off,” Dan explains. He tells me that he’s not an easy person to coach due to how he uses his runs to process things mentally. He was first coached by Michelino Sunseri (the runner who got famously pardoned by Trump), but is now in the safe hands of Joe Corcione.

Dan reels off a list of ultras he’s taking on this year, ranging from backyard ultras to mountain races, including the PA Triple Crown and “maybe” the Vermont 100. A couple of weeks ago, he took an hour off his Hyner View 50k time. Last week, he ran a 1:28 half-marathon. He’s recording some shows for Netflix is a Joke in the coming days.

It’s fair to say that people are going to start understanding why he does it. The work is paying off.

Just like Harry Styles in 2026, Dan LaMorte is fitting his race schedule around his touring plans. Or maybe vice versa. At this point, they are both an obsession inextricable from the man.

Links & further reading

• Dan LaMorte - [IG] [YouTube]

• Dan on tour - danlamorte.com

My book: This is Running

Thanks so much for helping This is Running stay in the top 100 running books on Amazon for months now. It’s incredibly cool! If you haven’t bought it yet, here are the links.

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
REVIEWS VERY WELCOME - Goodreads | Amazon is very helpful

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

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• On Wednesday, I visited Apple HQ, where I tried their new running-focused Apple Watch, and I think I really like it. I’ll let you know once I run with it on my own.

• On World Book Day (Thursday), Artwords, a beautiful independent bookshop dedicated their window display to my book, which was incredible. My friend Ben Gibson, who photographed both my wedding and Elton John at The White House, took some photos of the evening.

  

• Friday had the double whammy of hosting a panel with Tracksmith on the future of running media (it is safe) AND a bonus surprise drinks and dinner with Lee Glandorf and friends.

• Today, I saw both the women’s and men’s marathon world records fall from the London Marathon finish line grandstand. It was incredible.

Watching Tigst Assefa cruising down The Mall with those long, relaxed strides, on her way to breaking her own world record was cool, but by the time Sabastian Sawe rolled through, minutes later, we were already expecting a world record time. The pace was mind-boggling, but we were 11 months ahead of schedule for a sub-two-hour marathon!

Flick to p.218 of my book, This is Running, and you’ll see the passage about how Dr Simon Angus of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia ran a model that predicted we would see a runner break the sub-two-hour marathon barrier by March 2027.

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So what’s been happening since last time?

• A few other people started complaining about the Nike ad campaign that I complained about last Monday.

• I spent the weekend at the Boston Marathon with the coolest (but also friendliest) people in the world.

• I flew straight from Boston to London for my book launch in Dalston this evening with the author of the Harry Styles x Haruki Murakami article, plus two other events.

Like I said: not much time to write. I know you’re here because you like longer form messages, but it’s easy to update via Instagram so follow there if you wish. Like this photo, for instance:

RUNNERS TOLERATED

Overall, this particular ad just felt like a ham-fisted ‘how do you do, fellow kids’ attempt to get in with runners. It failed.

Every marketing planner/strategist on LinkedIn has given their tuppence on what Nike’s polemic campaign has taught them about B2B sales, but here are my quick rebuttals and points of view.

• Nike’s share price is down 65% in the last five years. My hot take is that Nike is the challenger brand in running now.

• They’re throwing money at the trail space a few years after everyone else did.

• They’re rumored to be re-launching their pioneering running fashion category, Gyakusou… a few years after everyone else did.

• They tried (and failed) to write a Tracksmith-style ad campaign because that’s a brand they’ve lost ground to over the past decade.

In 2026, Nike might just be a challenger brand bankrolled by past glories.

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On Wednesday, almost 60 people (!) came down to Vroman’s in Pasadena to watch the show with my friends Ezra and Jinghuan. We did some readings, they asked me some questions, I signed some books. And I did it all over again in SF on Friday evening at Running Wylder, with some incredible questions from the audience.

Get your copy of This is Running

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones

Signed copies can be found in Vroman’s, Running Wylder, and Skylight. Here are a couple of photos. More can be found on my Instagram.

1. If you have bought my book, thank you, thank you, thank you SO much. When there are so many other things to spend your money on, it means a lot.

2. Reviews are really tough to come by, so if you would be so kind as to go to Amazon or Goodreads and give my book a rating, that would be awesome.

IT’S BOSTON WEEK

I’ll be in Boston this weekend. My book will be available at The Rec Room, which is a running fashion pop-up at 334 Newbury Street that’s curated by , , and . I will be there signing copies, and generally hanging out, so come and say hi!

I’ll also be making an appearance at the Tracksmith Clubhouse on Friday evening, and there will be a couple of (hopefully signed) copies available at the mighty Trident Bookshop, but if you simply want to meet up to enjoy the Boston breeze or invite me to a hott party, please drop me a line.

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IT’S ALMOST LONDON WEEK

From Boston, I’ll be flying straight to London for three very special events. I can’t wait.

Thu 23rd April - 6.30pm at Artwords Bookshop, Clarence Rd E5

I’ll be in conversation with Sophie Heawood, my lovely friend who recently wrote the marvelous Harry Styles / Haruki Murakami feature for Runner’s World - RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Fri 24th April - 3pm at Knees Up, Hackney Rd E2

I’m hosting a panel with Tracksmith titled Reimagining the Future of Running Media, featuring Simon Freeman from Like the Wind, Ashley Mateo of Runher, Ben Hobson of Runner’s World, Grace Cook of Salty, and Carmichael Caldwell - RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Sat 25th April - 11am at Progress Club House - The Dray Walk Gallery, Brick Lane E1

As part of Progress Running Club’s London Marathon pop-up, Simon Freeman (again) will be interviewing me and Howie Goldklang, author of Salt & Flickers and founder of Silver Lake Track Club. I love hanging out with LA friends on home soil.

C is for Charity

A few weeks ago, the London Marathon was rumored to have two editions over one weekend. Some of you might already know that’s something I predicted in my book, but as the biggest single day of raising money for charity, my immediate thought was that it’s going to raise a whole lot more money.

About a month ago there was some dullard on Threads complaining about people getting to run Boston Marathon because they were raising money for charity. Here’s my hot take, that I first blurted out on Mario Fraioli’s Morning Shakeout podcast:

Anyone not actively competing in the elite field anyway. You’re only running for a participation medal, so you might as well do something good for the world.

How about 2% of your annual income? Seems fair, doesn’t it? And if you get tired of asking people to sponsor you for a different marathon every other month, maybe you’re running too many. Give someone else a turn. There. I solved the major marathon ballot crisis as well…

I was interviewed by Josh Rosenthal of Borderlands and he asked me about my favorite artifact. The photo of me in my school athletics singlet is from the first 5k that I ran as an adult, where I raised $1,000. For a 5k. It wasn’t about the race itself as much as it was about doing something good for the community.

If you have a corporate job, here’s a tip to make the most of it: ask your colleagues. The CEO of the company I was working for put in half of that. That’s how to redistribute the wealth in my opinion.

My friend Alex just ran the Brighton Marathon. Very windy, apparently, but he raised £1000 for Alzheimer’s charity in aid of his mother-in-law. How cool is that? He outlines that he funded the race entirely by himself so 100% of all donations go to charity. That’s the way to do it.

Decentering yourself from the process, giving yourself an external ‘why’ can even help you dig deeper in the difficult moments during a race. Consider that bit of potential benefit to your race, if helping others isn’t enough.

Paris is for tree huggers

Talking of thinking about someone other than yourself, the Paris Marathon banned single-use materials. Another friend, Chris ran the race and told me about how every runner was given a reusable plastic cup and there were huge efforts to ensure there were water stations every 2.5 km (1.5 miles). He told me how it was such a non-event; that the Paris Marathon had normalized this kind of behavior.

Brighton Marathon had an army of ploggers literally sweeping the back of the route, picking up an estimated 22,000 gel wrappers. Slowly but surely, sustainability initiatives are making their way into larger races. These are things for all other races to try and emulate. And maybe something for the fueling companies to consider as well.

Beyond Running by Aire Libre with Mau Diaz

“It’s a conversation about obsession, craft, and the strange beauty of a thing millions of people do every day without ever quite being able to explain why.”

Culture Study Q&A

Anne Helen Petersen, who was kind enough to write a blurb for my book, featured me in a Culture Study Q&A last week. As ever, Anne’s questions were top dollar, and the comments didn’t disappoint either.

Go and read it here on Patreon.

What on earth is Nike doing?

Putting this billboard, with that messaging at a free and incredibly inclusive community wellness initiative??

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It’s the chapter that I’ve asked Katie Douglas to discuss with me tomorrow, at the San Francisco launch party that’s she’s throwing for me at her wonderful store, Running Wylder. I think her shop is the blueprint for the modern running store. Come join us at 6pm Friday 4/10.

Join me at Running Wylder on Fri 4/10

Interestingly, my publisher didn’t initially want to include that eighth chapter, but I insisted. I personally couldn’t write a book about running culture and not include half the running world, plus I knew that I’d been doing the work on understanding the experience of others since day one of Running Sucks.

The next installment of that work is today in this profile of Allie Gibbons, an American ultrarunner who completed 300 miles across the treacherous Atacama Desert in Chile as part of the harshest iteration of The Speed Project last November. She ran it solo. While 22 weeks pregnant.

We talk about that huge undertaking, and the dramatic final 40 miles, as well as the response from both others and from Allie’s body. For me, it’s a pertinent story in terms of the hot topic right now around how brands monetize pregnant women.

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