• 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.

How did Sawe do it? A new super shoe from Adidas? Sure. A meticulously-tailored fueling regimen constructed by Maurten? Definitely. Add in beautiful weather and a helpful tailwind, and we got the moment.

Having been waiting for this to happen for almost a decade, it was incredibly cool to see the milestone achieved in-person. What’s better is that, knowing about Dr. Angus’ model, there is certainly more to come, and soon. Sawe’s confidence was well-placed.

Especially because it was a tested and certified CLEAN run. I hate that we always have to think about whether the athlete has been doping, so the rigorous, voluntary testing that Sawe went through in the lead-up to this race was brilliant for shutting down the idle conjecture.

Let’s look forward to Chicago and Berlin — two notoriously fast races.

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Buy This is Running

In the three weeks since my book’s release, it’s been sitting in around the Top 50 books on Amazon that are about running. That is objectively insane to me. Bookshops positioning my book next to decades-old classics is insane to me.

Thanks for buying This is Running, or reviewing it (five stars across the boards!), or if you’re about to help me become a bestseller. Here are some purchase links.

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

Adidas won the race

Both record breakers and Yomif Kejelcha, who also ran sub-2hr in his first competitive marathon, were wearing the new $500 superdupershoe from Adidas. Will Adidas fully own the narrative in a moment where Nike, who started the sub-2hr arms race, is licking its self-inflicted wounds? Let’s see.

Marathon Commerce Culture

I haven’t been caught up in the hubbub of the London Marathon for a few years, but it was last year that caused a million think pieces on running culture (like this one). According to Simon Freeman of Like the Wind magazine, 2026 is even bigger and more brand-focused.

There’s always a lot to be said about glossy, corporate ‘pop-ups’ at major marathon events, but what I saw in Boston, constructed by my friends from Substack, that was the real deal.

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How to make the denim chafe worth it

One of the reasons that I started this newsletter was that I wanted to write about running but none of the major outlets wanted me to write about running for them. LA Times? No reply. Runner’s World? Same. I knew I had a very solid résumé, but I didn’t want the pain of having to pitch my (admittedly slightly leftfield) views to an editor who would umm and ahh and eventually pass, wasting all the time. So here we are.

When Runner’s World put out a call for a runner culture expert writer, I dropped them a line offering my services, and told them I just wrote a book on the topic. Maybe they’d review it, I half-joked, expectantly.

I pitched a few stories that I thought would pop and we settled on this on denim. With Truett Hanes as the headline, he’s a divisive enough figure for the Instagram post to truly pop with comments from dozens of people who won’t read the article. My nightmare.

The big thing I love about the Running Sucks community is that you’re calm, measured, and not that many of you are even on Instagram, let alone trying to score points over giant publications from behind your tiny screens. It’s a different world, and I like this one a lot more.

The Rise of Denim - Runner's World

As you can imagine in an article from me, it’s a bit fun, but there’s also a big community focus. Give it a read. Maybe I’ll write more for them.

Can I be convinced to like running?

I’m still waiting for a single review of my book from legacy media, but I’ve luckily got the support of top writers like , who ask questions like the above. I’ve been a big fan of Mikala’s work in Body Type. It’s the kind of non-judgmental writing on exercise that I can fully get behind.

Go read our bit, and see what you think.

Body Type

Can I be convinced to like running?

First: I am locked in a nail-biter of a race to be a finalist in the Buff Chick fitness brand’s new spokesmodel search. Each day I wake up and am either in first or second place. My nerves are in tatters, my competitive drive is aflame. I am doing things like making…

Read more

5 days ago · 25 likes · 4 comments · Mikala Jamison

Time to finally go home to LA after 12 days away, and write up a conversation with comedian Dan LaMorte, which I will post on Thursday. I’m writing this to keep myself accountable! I’m looking forward to not being around tens of thousands of (admittedly awesome) people for a while.

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

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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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Please buy a copy of This is Running

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

Here are some other things to do (to build an economic ecosystem that reflects your/our values):

1. If you want to support your local independent bookstore, please do. Stop by and talk to them about stocking the book. You’ll at least hopefully have a nice chat with someone in your community.

2. I would also love it if your local library offered This is Running. If that sounds cool (it is cool), simply put in a request on their website. Three (3!) people have already requested it from the New York Public Library!!

3. If you already own the book (thank you, I love you) please, please take a couple of minutes to write a review or give it a rating from wherever you bought it. It really, really helps. I’m currently at a 5* on Goodreads…

Californian book tour this week

This week, I have three very fun book launch events in LA and SF and… in the liminal space between. I say fun because I’m trying to do something different with excellent people at every event, mainly so I don’t lose my mind saying and doing the same things over and over again. Please join if you’re nearby!

• Tue 4/7 - 11am Substack LIVE with (JOIN US?!)

• Wed 4/8 - 7pm @ Vroman’s, Pasadena - a ROAST of running (submit your Qs)

• Fri 4/10 - 6pm @ Running Wylder, SF - Katie Douglas will read some of my book out loud, and ask why I — a man — am writing about women - RESERVE YOUR SPOT

I am loving getting out and about doing things. It’s somewhat counterintuitive, considering how much I love either running or sitting at my desk and writing, but I got into this to meet amazing people, and that’s happening every time.

Last weekend, for instance, I was in New York to lead a gravel run with Salomon from Brooklyn Running Co. We ran to and through Prospect Park and got a little lost, before returning to the store to talk about how running can fuel creativity.

After we wrapped up in Brooklyn, I headed into the city to see the first finishers of the OSR30 – an unsanctioned, unmapped 30-mile race around the perimeter of Manhattan organized by the Orchard Street Runners.

I headed to Orchard & Broome for noon and found the street was blocked off with a TV showing the leaders racing set up in the middle of the road! It was rough, but incredibly ready, and absolutely thrilling to experience.

For and by the community, I found myself among the kind of people who are energized by engaging with running at the grassroots level. I was surrounded by running nerds, and so I met some of the coolest people around, including . Read their excellent and comprehensive race recap.

This is all to say that my goal of writing about Allie Gibbons running 300 miles while pregnant didn’t quite happen last week.

London Calling

I’m in London for London Marathon week and I’ve already got three really cool events lined up. Maybe one more to come, let’s see.

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

I’ll be in conversation with Sophie Heawood, my old 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 House of Progress, Commercial St E1

As part of Progress Running Club’s London Marathon pop-up, Simon Freeman will be interviewing me and Howie Goldklang, author of Salt & Flickers and founder of Silver Lake Track Club. A nice little bit of LA x London.

Last week, I was also announced on a festival lineup poster on IG. This never happened while I worked in the music world, so eternal thanks to Love Trails Festival for making me understand what it must feel like to be one of the bands I used to interview. See you in Wales in July for FOUR separate events!

I’ve also been blessed by a lot of coverage from a lot of awesome people.

Some new podcast appearances

• Can you believe I’m on Conner Mantz’s undercard on the Marathon Talk podcast, presented by the Abbot Marathon Majors? Well… I am. Martin Yelling is a legend, and I almost answered all his questions correctly - LISTEN HERE (I’m at 31 mins).

• On L.A. Marathon weekend, I got to sit down with in person (!) and talk about Los Angeles, my own running, and a bit about my book. What a legend - LISTEN HERE.

• There’s a whole chapter about shoes in This is Running, so I was really pleased to chat with shoe guru on his Sneaker History podcast - LISTEN HERE.

• Last but definitely not least, I had my second in-depth chat with for Running Tales. I wonder if he’s listened to the new Harry Styles album yet… - LISTEN HERE.

Elsewhere on Substack

• was unreasonably nice about me in his Tangents newsletter - READ IT.

• It was really cool talking about my process with for 3Qs in WIRE - READ IT.

• I, a dad, am very pleased to be included by in her New Mom Run Club - READ IT.

• The inimitable interviewed me for the Sweat Lookbook, and it’s as good as you would expect from someone I trusted to give me notes on my book - READ IT.

Like I said, it’s been a busy week.

G is for Guilt

During my chat with Lee, I described the fabric of running culture as being woven from everyone’s individual threads. Lee quickly related that to religion, and how my perspective is “Unitarian Universalist in its worldview, where religion/running is about developing your own relationship with god/the sport.”

As ever, Lee was able to boil my philosophy down to its purest essence. I have always espoused thinking more deeply about running, and about ourselves. I believe that to be the path to personal enrichment and enlightenment.

One of the ways that people engage with running is through guilt. First, I do want to distinguish between guilt and shame.

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Not in Los Angeles? NO PROBLEM. Wherever you are in the USA, you can purchase a personalized copy of This is Running.

Skylight Books – the neighborhood bookstore that I spent hours and hours and hours in when I first moved to Los Angeles – has set up a special pre-order page.

I will write whatever you like in the book! AND I will put some Running Sucks stickers in the book as a nice bonus.

Purchase This is Running from Skylight

As an author who desperately wants to support independent bookstores and running stores, this is very cool and important. It takes a lot of time and some effort to organize these things, so your purchases are very much appreciated.

UK news is coming very soon, and (trust me) it’s fun. But first! More about Los Angeles, because I live here.

WE’RE ROASTING RUNNING

My excellent friends, Ezra Weisz and Jinghuan Liu Tervalon are hosting my book launch event at Vroman’s in Pasadena on Wed Apr 8th.

There will be a reading, some descriptions, some questions, and… a ROAST OF RUNNING. Something a little different, eh? We’ll be answering the most diabolical questions that get asked.

Just like the signed books, you don’t have to be in Los Angeles to participate in the Roast. If you want to enter some tricky questions about running (or about me, the book, or my two hosts), you can submit them in this form.

Add your Qs for The Roast

If you are in LA, though, please come down to Vroman’s and be a part of what will definitely be a very fun evening.

Vroman's book launch - 4/8

A look inside This is Running

I know that I’ve been banging on about my book in this newsletter for six months now, but allow me to share a little more. Here are a few of my favorite pages. It’s just 10 days until publication in the UK, and 15 in N. America. Time flies!

1. The contents page. One of the recurring pieces of feedback has been that this book is “comprehensive” but “not overwhelming.” That combo speaks to my soul. Plus it’s got Courtney Dauwalter being a UTMB legend as snapped by David Miller.

2. This is a photo of someone running the Altadena To Palisades 50k race in 2025 all on her own. I love this race. This movie theater is my favorite in LA. Perfect photo by Connor Simpson.

3. I’ve listed The Speed Project as one of the ten most iconic races of the 21st century. Long-time readers know how much I’ve written about TSP, and there’s also a Q&A with TSP founder Nils Arena in This is Running.

4. A banger photo of some bloke dressed head-to-toe in Soar Running garb. I hope they hook me up with some animal print gear <nudge nudge>.

5. Another David Miller photograph of Jasmin Paris collapsed at the end of her historic efforts at the Barkley Marathons. What a photo.

6. There are a few of these pullquotes dotted throughout the book. The best one, however, is in the introduction.

Purchase links

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

Last week on Running Sucks

It’s TSP season, and so I wrote about Tilly GW, who has been busy driving gender parity on the starting line of The Speed Project. Over 50% of those running from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on their own were women or non-binary. That’s enough of an achievement to wonder out loud why the bigger races aren’t pushing for the same level of equity.

Another great (imho) TSP story from 2025 coming this Thursday.

New York, New York

I cannot get enough of New York. I don’t want to live there, because I am now the embodiment of a soft Southern Californian when it comes to icy weather, but I really do like to visit, so I am. This weekend!

8.30am Sat 28 Mar
Brooklyn Running Co
480 Bergen St, NYC
Reserve your spot on Forte

Please come and try the new Aero Glide 4 GRVL shoes, and listen to me complaining about how cold I am. It’s been over 90 in LA, ok??

Talking of hot, hot heat, I had my first stop on the Salomon Gravel tour last Wednesday when I headed down to San Diego. Milestone Running is an incredible store, and I am really pleased that Greg is ordering some copies of This is Running. I will be back down there to sign some copies ASAP.

I will (hopefully) also be in both Boston and London for the marathons, so if you want to hang out and take photos with me, drop me a line and help make my attendance a 100% possibility.

Thanks for reading,
Raz

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I’m going to go into a bit more depth about what’s in the book over the next few newsletters, but in the meantime, get your orders in.

Get your copy of This is Running

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo

And if you have any questions about the book — any at all — fire away, and I’ll answer them all, either below in a comment or in the coming weeks.

Leave a comment

Running & Creativity

For those who read right down to the end of last Monday’s newsletter, you will know that I had a US spring tour to announce with Salomon.

They sent the massively talented Brian Galdamez and Kevin Cruz to my house to capture my creative process, which is exactly the topic that I’ll be speaking about at these in-person events. I’ll be outlining the deep relationship between running and creativity. If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you’ll know it’s something I’ve been exploring.

You can watch the video clip on my IG here. I’ll be posting more updates about the book tour, book release, and all the regular stuff on there, so follow along if you aren’t already.

Watch me on IG

Come see me on the Off Track Gravel Tour if you can. And if you do, don’t be shy – come say hi. It’ll be lovely to chat.

March

• 3.18 San Diego, CA - Milestone Running REGISTER

• 3.28 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Running Company REGISTER

May

• 5.12 Twin Cities, MN - TC Running Company REGISTER

• 5.16 Portland, OR - Fleet Feet PDX REGISTER

• 5.20 San Francisco, CA - Fleet Feet Menlo Pk REGISTER

• 5.25 Columbus, OH - Fleet Feet Columbus REGISTER

• 5.30 Denver, CO - Runners Roost Lakewood REGISTER

I’m very much looking forward to visiting Minnesota and Ohio for the first time, which will be US states 17 and 18 for me. Maybe I’ll hit 20 states visited by the end of 2026. That would be nice.

On another very personal note, I’ve written about the lack of representation of South Asian faces in the running world for the past three years, so actually being platformed to be that visible face (especially in the trail world) is very, very cool to me, and hopefully to many others.

If you work at a brand and you want to figure out a way of working with me, either on the newsletter or IRL, you can always drop me a line raz@runningsucks101.com.

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O is for Offline

A trend that I’ve been noticing more and more frequently is a desire from the terminally online to be online… less.

Maybe it’s related to what’s going on in the world at the moment, and wanting less exposure to it, or maybe it’s because it’s not even been 19 years since smartphones have existed in the wild. Such a huge, swingeing change in our media consumption habits is difficult to get used to, especially if it’s bad for us. Millennials – my generation – were the canaries down the coalmine.

We increasingly understand that short-form content is bad for us, and younger generations thankfully learnt from us to never post a 100-photo album on Facebook. But now, the doomscrolling of clip after reel is addictive by design, and it’s ruining our attention spans by relentlessly dosing us up with dopamine hit after hit.

The negative results on our mental health is astounding. Anxiety, depression, poor sleep, FOMO and loneliness, we’re less engaged in human relationships because we’re watching other people on our phones.

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It’s perfect marathon weather in Los Angeles while I write this newsletter. It’s a sunny and clear morning settled in at 58°F/14°C. Yesterday hit 86°F/30°C, which is not even nice for walking the dog in.

The LA Marathon decided to give people an out at Mile 18, and it caused a stir online, didn’t it. Someone taking a medal after a massive run in diabolical heat doesn’t affect you. Neither does someone raising hundreds of dollars for charity, but that’s another matter.

Unless you’re trying to win the race, all the medals are participation trophies. They only mean something to you. It’s an incredibly special thing to be able to run 26.2 miles, but not to me. I know literally thousands of people who have completed marathons. To me, it’s normal.

It’s all about context, you see, so just let people do what’s best for them on the day. Focus on celebrating your own achievements, and you might be happier.

That photo finish

Nathan Martin, the high school coach and “Fastest US Born African American Marathoner” won the race in 2:11:18. It was a photo finish, beating Kenyan athlete, Michael Kimani Kimau by 0.18 sec.

The bit of the story that wasn’t immediately apparent happened just before the home straight, when Kimau was led off-course by the lead motorcycle for a brief moment. He was flanked by two civilians cheering on the course. It wasn’t great.

Clearer signage at a point where the course splits into two would’ve helped. Getting those fools off the course would’ve helped. It not being 75°F/25°C also would’ve helped his brain not be so fried.

It’ll be sad if the full story takes away from Nathan’s incredible 400m sprint finish, but if not for LAM’s logistical SNAFU, it’s very unlikely that his efforts would have resulted in the win.

“It feels like a Major.”

Los Angeles has always been the perfect place for all the brands to descend upon. We love buying stuff in this city because so little of the big stuff came from here. You can argue with me about this in the comments, but all the big brands come from Europe or NE or NW USA, and New York dictates the narrative on running culture, even if some elite athletes were born and/or trained in LA.

I wish the LA Marathon would focus on how difficult the race is rather than Oscars, Pop Tarts, and St. Patrick’s Day. With its hills, the course is more physically demanding than either New York or Boston, and the reason the early cutoff was at 18 miles was because that’s a moment on the course where runners see the finish line and then have to run another 8 miles. How demoralizing? In a race that relies on mental fortitude, even the strongest don’t survive.

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About LA running culture, though

Last year, it took an out-of-towner in the shape of Oakland running store, Renegade Running to host panels and art exhibitions, and generally bring the city’s runners together. Otherwise, LA’s run clubs are reflective of LA’s reputation of being a collection of disparate and separate neighborhoods that you can travel between, but rarely mix.

This year, however, hometown heroes Koreatown Run Club celebrated their 10th anniversary in style with a weekend-long party. There was an unsanctioned race, panels, a cafe/store/wellness pop-up space where I was able to host a gathering of important run crew leaders as we discussed keeping our communities and ourselves safe and healthy.

And that’s the crux of it: in the truest spirit of Bridging The Gap, KRC’s Basecamp brought people together from all around the world. Nobody but KRC could’ve hosted that, and I hope they do it every year from now on.

G is for Gravel

You know that I espouse all running: road running, trail running and all running in-between. That’s it. I’m a runner. But gravel running is having a moment. The world is telling you to add another shoe to your rotation, but what is gravel running, and do you really need another shoe?

Gravel is for the runner who likes to get out into something more tree-lined than the city streets in which they live. It’s another arrow (running shoe) in the quiver (closet) for the runner that runs on some roads, but also on dirt paths and less technical trails. It’s versatile but specific. There isn’t a Gravel option on Strava, so it’s less about your mile time and measuring your vert. It’s more about getting that run in from home, from the office – running and exploring. You can still have self-imposed rules, but the parameters are blurred. To me, that sounds a lot like freedom.

When I lived in London’s suburbs, I didn’t join the run clubs that ran almost exclusively on city streets and through the parks. They ran at night, you see, when I was at rock shows and bars five nights a week. Back then, the nightclub was still my nightclub. Instead, my regular route took me from my front door along a mile of cement and asphalt until I got to my local river. There, the towpath was a mixture of mud, puddles, and occasionally some actual gravel.

I would have loved gravel running shoes for those near-daily river runs. Instead, I always made sure I chose a pair of running shoes with a grippy outsole. Options were limited back then.

Those runs, away from my laptop, are where I first learned to use running to untangle my thoughts. I’d grown up by that river, but running along it? I was learning how to navigate that terrain at speed. I was learning how my body felt under the purposeful duress of running. I was learning how best to use that hour of silence in between the heavy metal and hardcore records I listened to for work.

Those runs were where I did my best writing work. They still are.

Now, when I’m not running the streets near my house in car-centric Los Angeles, I often drive to Griffith Park and run through the dells and up compacted dirt ‘trails,’ which are as many as they are glorious. Slick, flat soles are no good on this terrain either, so I still look for shoes with a little more grip without anything expressly being called a lug.

With all that said, I think that gravel can more easily be swept into the periphery of the rapid expansion of trail running. The calming green expanse of nature is the goal, right? To surround yourself with the stuff that gets the creative juices flowing. The desire for creativity and discovery is maybe the purest human essence.

That’s where gravel thrives. It’s just running. Take a break and go have some fun with it.

What do you think about gravel running? Do you have space in your house for another pair of shoes in your rotation? Does a gravel shoe replace two pairs in your rotation? Do you understand what gravel running even is??

Leave a comment

Running Sucks LIVE

The newsletter eats first, so I’ll tell you about two new live dates:

• Wed 18 Mar - Milestone Running, San Diego

• Sat 28 Mar - Brooklyn Running Co, NYC

These are the only two preview readings of This is Running and I’ll also be leading gravel runs with shoe demos of Salomon’s new Aero Glide 4 GRVL.

If you’re in San Diego or NYC, please come down! Full details of the rest of the tour will be on my IG in the next couple of days and then in the newsletter next Monday and beyond.

• Wed 08 Apr - Launch party at Vroman’s, Pasadena - FREE TICKETS

My book, This is Running is release on 2nd April in the UK and April 7th in the US. Please pre-order it if you haven’t yet!

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo

Thanks for reading
Raz x

FOLLOW ME - Instagram | Strava

You can read more about the book here, but expect a deep dive into the chapters over the next couple of weeks.

Every brand and their dog is here organizing pre-race shakeouts, sponsored by one under-regulated supplement or another. There are so many events that Marathon Weekend has seen fit to compile them into one schedule to peruse. The first non-Major that they’ve made a schedule for.

Brands aside, you’ve also got events like the one I’m putting on, where I’m bringing together community leaders in the fight against ICE. It’s part of the Koreatown Run Club 10th anniversary celebrations, where they’re hosting a big Bridge The Gap weekend-long event. I’ll be hosting a panel with the OG run crew leaders.

The event, which I titled Running in the Shadows: LA Run Crews vs ICE will have speakers from Santa Ana and Sacramento, Pasadena and Silver Lake, and more. They’re leaders that I’ve seen working hard to keep their communities safe, and I want them all to come together to share their learnings and get to know one other. That’s it.

Attend in LA: Run Crews vs ICE

It’s a heavy topic, with only positive outcomes.

ONE MONTH UNTIL MY BOOK IS RELEASED!!

That’s right. This is Running is unleashed onto British bookshelves and coffee tables on 2nd April. My North American compatriots have to wait another 5 days until April 7th.

If you haven’t pre-ordered my book yet, now is a fantastic time to do that. Here are some helpful links for you to click.

USA - Amazon US | Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble
UK - Amazon UK | Bookshop UK | Waterstones
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo

If you’re in another country, click here for links to local booksellers around the planet.

On 8th April I’ll be quizzed about This is Running by my friends and Ezra Weisz at SoCal’s oldest independent bookstore, Vroman’s in Pasadena. Come along and give Jinghuan and Ezra some fuel. I’ll get the drinks in after.

This is Running launch at Vroman's 4/8

More events to come. Hopefully I’ll be in your city, and we can meet IRL.

My first running byline is in Like the Wind magazine

I started this newsletter in March 2023 partly because I could not be bothered pitching my work to over-worked editors any more. I wanted to write, but pitching to running mags with zero work about running in my portfolio… I knew it would be like pulling teeth, so I just didn’t.

I was writing for me, and for whoever subscribed to Running Sucks, and I liked that. I still like that. There are almost 5,000 of you now reading my work every week, and I’ve made some marvelous friends over the last three years through this endeavor.

One of those friends is Simon Freeman, the co-founder of Like the Wind magazine. He and I have very, very similar outlooks on life. That’s why he created such a beautiful magazine. If I wasn’t in the process of moving from London to LA at the time the magazine was launched, I can’t help but wonder if our bond wouldn’t be even stronger, and maybe more formal.

I’m really happy to say that my first formally-published piece of writing is in Like the Wind no.48. Go grab a copy of LtW, and read about my perspective on researching and writing This is Running.

P is for Post-Race Blues

You just ran a race – let’s talk about it in terms of a marathon because of this weekend – and you’re feeling pretty bummed out. What gives?

Biologically speaking, your immune system is suppressed for up to three days after running a marathon. This means you are more likely to get sick after a big race! Talk about a downer. You might start to curse yourself for putting yourself among so many of the great unwashed, but it’s a natural thing to get ill after a serious endurance effort. Cut yourself some slack.

You’ve also burned up a lot of fats during the race, and not all of them are from the obvious places that we think about. A study from 2025 talks about burning myelin fats from your brain. These fats are crucial conductors, so when these fats that make up 40% of the brain are used up (albeit temporarily), your brain starts to function less efficiently. You’ll lose motor coordination and be less capable of regulating emotions and your senses. This can leave you feeling somewhat discombobulated.

In terms of how you’re feeling, it’s somewhat more complicated than simply replacing fats, and allowing your immune system to restore itself. The inescapable feelings of ‘what’s next?’ take a little longer to ratify in your mind.

You’ve just spent months working towards a singular goal of completing a marathon. You likely would’ve had a goal time/pace in mind. Whether you achieve that goal or not, you will be left somewhat rudderless after a race.

One of the reasons I stopped racing is that I really disliked that feeling. I really love running, but adding a goal or a race into my training left me feeling deflated. After a race, I would stop running. In my 20s, I sometimes went months without going for a run. Unthinkable now!

Over time, I came to understand the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The idea of running for the joy of the activity rather than the achievement of a goal. It’s framed as external or internal factors, telic or atelic. For me, it’s about the pursuit of happiness.

Now? I just run. Can I run fast? Sure. Can I run long? Sure. Does it matter? Not if I’m running 15 miles with my friends. We’re just chatting for 2hrs. That’s the goal. Not if I’m running a mile with my son on a Saturday morning. Oh boy, does he like to chat.

So, if you find yourself struggling with the post-race blues after one of these massive achievements – and please don’t be fooled into thinking that any race isn’t an achievement – think deeply about the work that you put in. Think about those months of planning, the early mornings, the moments where you thought about getting a taxi home on a long run. Recognize all the new skills you learned and the new outlook you have on life. It’s worth so much more than a medal.

Maybe a new goal will help fill the void, but take a beat before you sign up for another marathon, ok? It’s a huge undertaking of training. Slow down and allow both your body and mind to rest and recuperate. You’ve got time to think about whether there’s another way of running that you might love even more.

Thanks for reading
Raz x

FOLLOW ME - Instagram | Strava

And don’t forget to buy my book:

We’re two weeks out from the LA Marathon, and I’m very pleased to announce the event that I’ve put together over the last few weeks. Yeah, that’s the name of it.

LAM is not one of the Majors, and doesn’t have the same number of cultural events surrounding the race as Boston, New York or London, but Los Angeles is the kind of destination that means that people fly in from around the world to run LAM.

Last year, I noticed more non-running events and more of those shakeout runs than in previous years. Los Angeles Marathon was gaining a foothold in the international marathon marketing calendar. I wanted to contribute to the LA Marathon’s running culture, but I wanted to do it in my way.

Last November, the L.A. Dodgers clinched the World Series in game seven. It was fucking cool. I really enjoy baseball, and the Dodgers are my local sports team. The problem is that ICE have been allowed to park their vehicles in the Dodgers parking lot, and that is the opposite of cool. While the team gave this city everything, the organization behind the athletes were happy to spit in our faces.

For the past 18 months, when I’ve been running alone (90% of my runs) I’ve been carrying some form of identification with me. Yes, because of ICE. It’s nothing new for me exactly. 9/11 took place when I was 18, the week that I went to university. For my whole adult life, because of my Bangladeshi heritage, I’ve been subject to a greater level of scrutiny and humiliation by American agents whenever I’ve traveled.

What ICE is doing in the USA right now is even more sinister than anything TSA was created to do, of course, but it’s the same Dept of Homeland Security agents of chaos at work. This time, however, they’re also dangerously ill-trained. This all means that I have to carry my papers with me. Even then, I know it won’t be enough to be bundled off the street into an unmarked van.

For the LA Marathon, with the fear constantly hanging over us, I thought I’d get some real heads together the day before, on Saturday, 07 March in Koreatown, and have a little chat about what we can do in the current political climate, and what we can do together.

Run Crews vs ICE - LA, 07 March 2026

It’s a moment to share what some of us have already been doing in our communities, but also to look around a room and feel safety in numbers. Everyone in that room will be fighting on the correct side of history, and that is important. I believe this is how we build community.

It’s a heavy topic, but it’ll have many positive outcomes.

You are what you eat (N is for Nutrition)

Last Thursday, I published a piece about how runners engage with their diet. I think Zoe Rom is marvelous – incredible experience as both a runner and as a journalist – so it was a real pleasure to get her insights on this topic. Give it a read, if you haven’t yet had a chance.

Personally, I don’t even carry water for runs under 45 minutes. If I’m doing a leisurely 10k, I might carry a water bottle, but I don’t think about nutrition or electrolytes until I’m into 10-mile territory. If it’s too hot, I usually just don’t run.

For my first half-marathon, back in 2017, I pretty much rawdogged it by 2026 standards. I carried a standard 500ml water bottle, and for nutrition, I had two (2) Reed’s ginger chewy candies. I also had two tiny paper cups of Gatorade from the aid stations. That’s it.

Honestly, I felt fine afterwards. I rewarded myself with a veggie pizza from Lucifer’s in Los Feliz (yes, I had the whole thing to myself, and it was far too much pizza), but my recovery was unremarkably swift.

Over the past few years of running with people who have been super dialled-in with their in-run nutrition and electrolytes, and talk so confidently about the power of these fully unregulated supplements on these long group runs, I decided to try them.

For those longer runs, I have found that electrolytes have been ok for stopping my head getting a bit cloudy (did I used to call dehydration my runner’s high? possibly…), and the nutrition – especially a post-run protein shake – has been great for recovery. Nothing much to evangelize though. Maybe if I was caught up in trying to hit a BQ time or something like that, but that’s not how running fits into my life.

I saw everyone talking about their favorite flavor of energy gels, and which brand doesn’t make them shit themselves mid-run, so I have avoided that. I can’t handle chugging down those gels, anyway. Disgusting texture. I’ve ‘enjoyed’ the Maurten solids but they just feel like expensive rice crispy bars, even if they definitely have a lot of science and technology involved in their packaging..

Running ain’t cheap if you’re trying to increase your distance, for whatever reason. When your running shoes might cost 50 cents per mile, and you’re getting through another $5-10 of nutrition and hydration on a long run, this lovely hobby can get up towards $20 for a long run. It’s worth it, it’s worth it. Especially when you don’t conk out at mile 20 of your big race.

Elsewhere on Substack

I’ve been waiting for Olympic medalist @ Molly Seidel to post on Substack since Nov 2024 and she’s finally done it. Unfiltered opinions on her gear through the lens of an intensely thoughtful person. Why wouldn’t you?

how 2b a runner

Cotton is the original performance fabric, and other black canyon takeaways

One week out from my first ultramarathon, and I can still confidently say that shit was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. 62 miles is no joke, and my hip flexors remind me every day that while I may have the heart of a trail runner I very much have the muscle development of a marathoner. Hopefully four months of training will get this pavement queen a b…

Read more

2 months ago · 20 likes · 5 comments · molly

This is Running updates

There is some big news coming next Monday on tour dates. There will be at least one reading before the release of This is Running. Maybe I’ll see you somewhere. Maybe I’ll have some extra goodies, maybe not. Waiting on the publisher for that… maybe forever.

This is Running - purchase links

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

I had the pleasure of speaking with of the Half Marathoner and of Wings & Spikes. Go give them a read if you want a little more insight in the creation of this book.

Housekeeping

BUY ME A COFFEE - Think of it as a tip jar for my writing.

SHARE - If you enjoyed reading this article, share it with your runner friends.

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I went for a run with my friends yesterday. I ran 3.77 miles. ‘Nothing extraordinary,’ you might think. but it was my longest run since July 2025.

Injury struck last April or May (I forget / have blocked it out), and I thought I’d given myself plenty of time to heal, but Achilles tendinitis struck, and it struck hard. It was my first serious injury in at least five years. I wrote more about that last time.

Since then the constant, nagging pain has given way to mild discomfort. I can now perform my rehab exercises every day without flare-ups, and I have been doing them. It’s allowed me to very gently add a mile a week to my runs for the past couple of weeks, so those 3.77 miles were fraught with worry. Would I be able to push past the three-mile barrier without discomfort? Well, here I am the following morning, feeling as if it was March 2025.

That run yesterday was around the filming locations for Buffy the Vampire Slayer 25 miles south of me in the City of Torrance. It was organized by the LA Cinephile Run Club who I wrote about a couple of years ago.

Towards the end of the run, there was a quarter-mile, slightly downhill segment where I did my usual of pushing the limits, of course. I thought I’d stretch my legs. Now, having read about my near-year-long injury crisis, you might be shaking your head a little, and rightly so, but I’ve been listening to my body and this felt right.

The whole run was great. Strava says it was a 10 min/mile pace, but that included stopping at four locations. I was rested. There was no pain. I wanted to test my body. I wanted to run fast.1

A few seconds into my gallop, I wanted to know if I was fast like I was before the injury or if it just felt fast. I was fast. I was probably running at 75% capacity – still holding enough back to feel safe – but was traveling 30% faster than my ideal easy pace. It felt amazing.

I adjusted my cadence to incorporate the slight downhill decline. There was no wind, but I heard the air whooshing past my ears. My joints felt as loose as they ever had. I experienced the sensation of unadulterated freedom. As I flew along the sidewalk, it felt like I could do anything. It felt like my body was finally my own again.

For a few seconds, at least. Like I said: I haven’t run over three miles in over six months, but right now I am thankful for the little bit of speed that downhill piece of pavement afforded me.

This is Running - an update on goings on

With my book being released in six weeks, I’ve had a whole extra layer of work added to my schedule, and it’s made my days slightly congested, and maybe a little overwhelming. Especially with the context of <gesticulates wildly> the state of the world.

It’s been two weeks since I last sent a newsletter out. I’m certain that you haven’t noticed, but I am still compelled to explain why. This is my little corner of self-indulgence, after all.

I’ve been arranging live events across time zones (yes, I hope to meet you in your own backyard), and I’ve been the subject of interviews. On that note, it feels strange to have the tables turned, and I am quickly understanding how all those bands that I used to interview felt when talking about the new body of work they were releasing into the world. I always wondered why they were often so listless and non-plussed when I was asking them about their new record.

I’m immensely proud of this book, and I believe that you’ll enjoy owning it (please pre-order it - links below), and finding new ways to talk about it is proving to be an enjoyable challenge.

Anyway. I can’t wait to share my plans with you. Soon! Until then…

This is Running purchase links

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

For this Thursday, I’m writing a piece about the slice of culture that you engage in wherever you go. What do you think it is?

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

Patience: a virtue
Holding oneself back is hard.
Think of the future.

A little restraint is even more difficult after tasting the delights of a little speed. This running lark can be quite addictive, after all. I write about that in the first few paragraphs of This is Running.

If you are a paid subscriber to Matt Fitzgerald’s Endurance Mastery newsletter, you can read those paragraphs in an excerpt.

Endurance Mastery by MarathonGuide

Running Is a Radical Act

Running is a radical act. The person you are at the end of a run is different to the person that took that first step. First and foremost, taking the time to turn up for your body and mind is an act of self-care, but as you run, you learn things about yourself, the people you’re running with, and the places you’re travelling through. The unique ways in …

Read more

2 months ago · 3 likes · Endurance Mastery by MG and Raziq Rauf

CONNECT WITH ME - Instagram / Strava

With my British friends, we talked about how much worse it could get in America, especially as we expect they’ll re-escalate in Los Angeles soon. We talked about whether we were going to stay. Whether we could afford the tens of thousands it would cost to ditch our friends in the mud. It’s much easier to say, “Just leave then,” than actually do it, of course.

Instead, I’ll focus on economic protest, I thought. My eldest had developed a rumbling cough but Target is on the Shit List, so I got a bottle of kids’ Robitussin from the pharmacy at the bottom of my street. That caused a glow of satisfaction. Shop local? I did! However, it was 40% more expensive than it would have been at the place that’s devoid of DEI. Hmph.

of Footnotes posted this fantastic piece today about how it feels to just be carrying on with our daily lives while this country is invaded by its own government, and how much worse it could get.

Dollar Voting with your Feet

Something you can do when you see those regressive forces is organize your community in a way that you’re not funding them directly.

ICE (in this current masked guise of poorly-trained/hastily-deputized vigilantes) has been ever-present in California for 12 months. It’s why I profiled Aaron Garcia of Keep Runnin’ Santa Ana a year ago. A huge race for his crew is the Surf City Half-Marathon in Huntington Beach, which brazenly declared itself a “non-sanctuary city.”

KRSA runners had already signed up for the 2025 race. They’d trained for the race. The feeling of their money directly lining those pathetic pockets was sickening. The response? Never again.

This past weekend, 160 KRSA runners ran a free race that Garcia organized at the same time as Surf City Half, taking at least $20,000 in race fees away from Huntington Beach, and that’s not including all the other expenses in the city like travel, accommodation, food, and drink.

“I believe in voting with your dollar. Where you spend your money matters. Santa Ana is 77% Latino. I wanted to provide an alternative for my team who wants to run a race and not have to support cities that don’t support us back or even want us there. I wanted everyone to feel welcome at our half time trial.” Aaron Garcia, Keep Runnin’ Santa Ana

We need more leaders leading like that.

Libraries FTW

One of my all-time favorite institutions is the library. It’s an essential public resource that the US actually gets very correct. As a child, I spent many, many weekends at Ilford Central Library. I entered the book review competitions every school holiday. They gave us book tokens as prizes for reviewing 10, 20, 30 books. I bought Roald Dahl books, which I now re-read with my eldest son, 30+ years later. It’s pretty cool.

That’s why I was overjoyed that the New York Public Library has ordered This is Running. I love it. It made me so, so happy. It fucking rules.

I would also love it if your library ordered a copy, so please go to your local library’s website, and request it. That’s all it takes! Here’s the information they might want.

Author: Raziq Rauf
Title: This is Running
Publisher: Batsford
ISBN: 1837330425

One of the other things I did last week was join the LA chapter of the Burrito League. I had a brisk walk back and forth along Sunset Blvd with my friends Gordon Clark and Adam Copeland, a founder of Tantrums, who was the main organizer of this global jaunt. The month-long escapade was based on the Strava x Chipotle challenge that is found on p.184 of my book

Please pre-order it, by the way. Some of you have. Most of you haven’t. (Yet?) You buying it from Amazon is sadly the best way of ensuring I have a long-term career as an author. The corporate tendrils of bookselling.

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

Yes, I’m running again. Long-time readers may have been following the malaise of my poor heels, but we’re back up. Very gently.

It was a strange juxtaposition to how I felt about the news, but when I run, I feel like I can do anything. Unloading the dishwasher is easy. I eat more healthily. I start planning vacations. I think about who I want to take those vacations with. The freedom that tunning affords me dictates my whole life. Anyway…

T is for tendons.

It’s a new year, but it’s an old injury. I’ve been plagued by my right Achilles tendon for months now, and it’s still causing me pain every time I restart my rehab exercises. Ugh.

The Achilles tendon acts like a spring for runners. It’s the connection between your calf muscles and the bones in your feet. It’s the crux of the corporeal slingshot that absorbs and expels 10x your body weight every time you crunch your body into the ground. As a runner, without my Achilles, I am dust.

It’s extra annoying because I was in the best shape of my life before I got injured – probably the reason I thought it would be ok to try playing soccer as a 42-year-old man (with a severe emphasis on ‘old man’).

Soft tissue injuries often come from a single event of extreme exertion, and that’s exactly what that game was. I don’t often (read: never) perform twists and sprints and other explosive movements like a last-minute shot at goal during my five-mile neighborhood run. My body is still reeling from the shock.

What that fills me with the most dread is that I know from experience how long a damaged tendon can take to heal. In my late 20s I suffered calcific tendinitis in a brachial bicep tendon. It was the kind of painful that made it difficult to turn a steering wheel, and when I asked my doctor how long it would take to be pain-free, he replied immediately with, “Nine months.”

He was correct almost to the day, which is a reminder that there are no shortcuts. That means that I will continue being patient and good. No running, and lots of plyometric strengthening exercises while I watch TV.

How can you not end up like me?

• Don’t try to play soccer, even if your DNA is wrapped up in that sport

• Warm up your calves before running with dynamic stretches

• Stretch (and strengthen) your calves thoroughly after running

• Cross-train with low-impact activities to reduce stress

• Add plyometrics to your routine to condition your tendons

• Work on your single-leg balance to strengthen your ankles

• Take more rest days!

Luckily, this isn’t my first injury rodeo. I’ve been out of action before (metatarsal stress fracture, torn hip flexor, general knee malaise, spinal inflammation), and I will return, and sooner than I think. I’ve just got to remember that.

I’ll be writing this A to Z of running throughout 2026, so if you have suggestions or requests for me to write about something, submit your ideas through this form, and I’ll add them to my list.

AtoZ of Running: submit a suggestion

Podcast appearances

I was on the podcast with , talking about how to write a book about running. You can listen to that here.

It was also lovely to chat with for the podcast. We’ve been chatting on here and off here for the past three years. Great guy, great podcast. Listen to that here.

Remember to pre-order my book. All info and direct purchase links can be found here:

Thanks for reading
Raz x

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Yes, public figures from athletes to royalty, musicians to supermodels through the ages have influenced societal norms. King George III endorsing Wedgwood pottery c.1800 is now recognized as a very early form of marketing, and Twiggy hypebeasted the miniskirt in the 1960s. This isn’t anything new. Just because it’s 'now’ happening in running (Pre was the OG running influencer IMHO), it doesn’t make it inherently bad.

Am I an influencer? Am I media? Yes to both. Some of the most influential people over history have been journalists, whether in print or broadcast media, so there’s nothing to shy away from there. No reason to draw a distinction. In my little corner of the world, I’m happy to be labeled as an influencer, if that’s required.

But I don’t film myself running like the new cohort of IG- and TikTok-based influencers does. That’s how they disseminate their messages, after all. For the vast majority of my time running there isn’t even anyone with me to snap a photo for socials. What is an issue is the increasing science pointing to how overstimulating watching short-form video is, and how the repeated, addicting dopamine hits are so damaging for our long-term attention spans without imparting any information deeper than a headline.

As I outlined in last Thursday’s article, however, influencers also bring many positives to the table. Sure, they can raise more money for charity than most, and using their platform to highlight issues close to their hearts is something that they’re able to do, whether they choose to or not. An influencer’s followings can inspire movements. Is that enough to balance out the brain rot? It’s not nothing.

“An overwhelming proportion of this new cohort of runners since 2020 are women, and running isn’t always the most approachable sport… Influencers like Emily Shane and Celina Stephenson, who I wrote about in 2023, have been massive trailblazers in getting young women to believe that they even can.

“Seeing these people running marathons that they either never thought they could, or running them in a way that looks genuinely fun is why the London Marathon had over a million entries for the 2026 edition.

“The stories that influencers tell can change the idea of running a marathon from being aspirational to being something that’s possible. As a lifelong runner, all I want is for more people to experience how cool running is.”

I found it interesting that almost 1% of my readers hit the unsubscribe button after last Thursday’s piece. Whether that was because I was highlighting the atrocities of ICE or whether I was sympathetic to influencers is unclear, so here I am doubling down. Good riddance, either way.

On the other end of the media length scale, I sat down to watch a video podcast the other day. It was a really interesting topic with two really interesting hosts, but I turned it off after five minutes. It was taking too long. I wanted to consume the information from that 50-minute video in 10 minutes.

I fully understand that idle chitter chatter is exactly what a lot of people want from their podcasts – that’s why they’re so popular – but I’m all about efficiency. I want to vacuum up as many tidbits of information as possible in as short a time. That’s why I prefer newsletters and other magazine-style articles. I get that deeper research, delivered quickly.

If both those ideas of influencers still turn you off, consider your own position as an influencer. Yes, you. Every time you go for a run, you’re influencing someone. Running is a radical act, so goes the opening line of my book, and when you run, you make other people feel something.

Other runners, driving past in their car, might crane their necks to see if they know you, or to see what shoes you’re wearing. Others may get annoyed and mutter, “What are you running from?” Or they’ll lean out of their car yelling, “Who’s going to carry the boats?” But just know that you’re making them feel something.

In this world of self-medicating numbness via doomscroll, that’s an important act. It’s a service to society that’s rooted in intention and self-care. It’s that notion of turning up for yourself that might even inspire someone to pull their running shoes on later that day. Yeah, you’re an inspiration every time you go for a run.

That is the power of Influence. Lean into it.

A look inside This is Running

A photo from last year’s Altadena to Palisades 50k ultra relay is on page 33 of This is Running. Taken by Connor Simpson, it’s a shot of the historic Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, and I love it. Here are a couple of photos that Connor took of the book.

That race raised well over $50,000 for wildfire relief-related charities last year, and this year’s edition includes options for relay teams, solo runners, and cyclists. I’ll be helping out at the first aid station in Eagle Rock. Sign up if you’re in Los Angeles on Feb 7, or click to donate.

Rebuilding L.A. is an ultramarathon, not a sprint.

Something to read

I was emailing with last week, after he quoted Hunter S. Thompson in his excellent newsletter, and he sent me this link to Thompson’s essay on runners.

This essay was included in Hey, Rube, the final book Thompson published before his death in February 2005. I re-read this collection of 80+ essays not long ago, and his distrust of government and police feels even more prescient than ever. I wonder what the notoriously vocal anti-fascist would say about the goings on in 2026. Probably that he told us so.

If you’re an HST fan, I’d love to know your thoughts on this New York Times article from the weekend, titled: ‘Did Hunter S. Thompson Really Kill Himself?’ It doesn’t matter, of course. He’s been dead for over 20 years now, and his legacy remains as unimpeachable as the president.

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

Almost pain-free now
I’ll write about my tendons
After my first run

It’s been a longer than expected road to recovery from this bout of achilles tendinitis, but I think it’s almost over. I went on a little quarter-mile jog with my eldest son the other day, and have been searching for a violent reaction, but nothing so far.

The older I’ve got, the longer these soft tissue injuries have taken to heal, but I’ve been patient. I’m excited to go run again – I’ve missed it deeply – but I’ll continue being patient. I think I’ll follow a Couch to 5K program to get back into the swing of things.

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

CONNECT - Instagram / Strava

In honor of Paris Fashion Week, coming up next week (no, I won’t be there), let’s talk about how we look when we run, and why. A is for Aesthetic.

When you boil it down to its purest essence, it doesn’t matter if it’s road, trail or treadmill, it’s just running. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the start of your running journey or if you’re running the sixth marathon of this calendar year, your pace is your pace, and every pace has a place.

So why could it matter what you’re wearing?

We’re not talking about aerodynamics and moisture-wicking fabrics here. You can think about that technical stuff when you’re looking to hone your marginal gains, but we’re talking about pure fashion here.

If we’re dressing for the job that we want, the modern runner’s outfit is less marathon podium star and more run club winner. All the brands showcasing their wares in Paris at the end of January are banking on you wanting a couple of premium pieces in your outfit. Fit for a Local Legend, right?

If you’re wondering why running brands are even at PFW, it’s just a trade expo. It’s a convenient time for brands to sell their 2026 lines to retailers, but with the proximity of premium catwalks and the verve of Parisian streets as the backdrop. Yes, it’s somewhat more glamorous than a windowless convention center in Texas.

An increasing emphasis is put onto running aesthetics these days. The big brands have been at it for a while, of course, with Adidas’s Y-3 collaboration lasting over two decades, but I suspect that you wouldn’t know this much about running’s attendance at one of the Big Four Fashion Weeks before this single facet of run culture became so poured over.

While I believe that run culture is far, far more than the superficiality of what clothes you run in (imagine if someone told you Japanese culture was just kimonos – you’d think they were dumb as bricks), what you wear does influence much about how you interact with the world.

Dressing the part gives you confidence, especially in a new situation, such as your first time at a run club. Sometimes that’s wearing a Boston Marathon singlet and Vaporflys to flaunt your capabilities, and other times it’s having a sleeve of tattoos to indicate that you’ve got the music recommendations they need. Whatever group you’re aiming for, you simply want to be seen.

With all that said, expressing yourself authentically is key to the above. It’s a sad fact that we’re all constantly being judged by how we look first, before anything else. If you’re using a strong first impression to find your tribe, that non-verbal communication has got to come from the heart. I often run in football shirts and band t-shirts when I go for a group run, for instance. Both are great conversation starters, but you’ve got to have the knowledge to make those conversations great.

If, in 2026, there’s a move towards dressing like a schlub to work out, what does that indicate? Authenticity, again, and there’s nothing realer than following your feelings.

You’re running. You’re putting your body through some effort. It makes sense to be comfortable while you do that, doesn’t it? Yes, that can mean your softest garms, but there’s also pure value in not being uncomfortable, and if you are self-conscious about how you’re dressed, you won’t feel good, and if you don’t feel good, your run will be less enjoyable.

When I’m running on my own, I dip back into more standard technical wear, because that makes my run more comfortable. It makes my run more enjoyable. And this is all about enjoying your run more, right? It’s good to remember that we’re doing this for fun.

Get that chic singlet if it makes you feel good. Accessorize your cap with a heavy metal patch if that is what shows you off. Get the polka dot running shoes. Go have fun.

How far do you go to individualize your running fit? Local club singlet? Do you jump on every new release that’s marketed to you? Old race t-shirts from races you’ve run or older race t-shirts from races in your birth year? Do you have a Pinterest board as an aspirational lookbook? Or do you, like me, wear a 20-year-old pair of black Nike shorts?

Leave a comment

The possibilities are endless. Please tell us in a comment why you wear what you wear and when!

Pre-order my book, please!

Hello, friends. It’s less than three months until I can share This is Running with you properly. I’ll be sharing tidbits from what’s inside the book over that time, and I hope you can see from this photo that it’s a beautifully meaty book. It feels good in the hand.

If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, here are the links to help you do that. It’s available in every single country on every platform. (Amazon sadly helps me the most right now.)

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

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

goodstory in Los Angeles this weekend

If you remember the storytelling event that I was part of in Brooklyn back in October, one of the organizers Lydia Keating is hosting her run club goodstory in West Hollywood this Sunday 11/18 at 8.30am from the Salomon store.

We’re going to try on some shoes, run 3 miles around WeHo, and then we’ll all tell a story. It can be fictional or true. It can be about running or not. The theme is RISK. It’s fun, I promise.

Lydia and goodstory are the subject of this Thursday’s profile because I think it’s an awesome idea. I’m going to try and send that Thursday story out on Wednesday to paid subscribers, because that’s a cool thing to do. Upgrade if you want that. Here’s a poster.

Support me for 80 cents a week

Last week on Running Sucks

I like to start the year with an important story. 2025 was about ICE (still topical), and 2024 was about the effects of white supremacy (yep).

2026 saw a cool story about the first South Asian running store owner in the USA. People who look like me in leadership positions? Yes, please. Read it, share it, support it. If you really want a more equitable world, that’s how it works.

About parenting

This isn’t about my parenting per se, but has a way with words and manages to distill everything that is good, great, and awful about living with one’s offspring into a delightful and charming rundown. I agree with him.

Semi-Rad

I Would Like To Address Some Clichés And Surprises About Parenting

One of my newish favorite images of my kid, among the thousands, is him standing on the front of a lumber cart at a big-box home improvement store, holding his “sword” that his mom made for him out of parts from a toddler tool kit, wearing a dress that his mom also made him—really just kind of a skirt made out of a piece of fabric with beetles printed o…

Read more

4 months ago · 52 likes · 8 comments · Brendan Leonard

It’s been a year since the Los Angeles Fires

Back in 2024, I settled into a wonderful mode of occasionally running my longish weekend run in Altadena with my friend . She lived there back, but lost her house in the fire. We haven’t run together since, and I miss it.

This interview by Jinghuan with Matt Fitzgerald is a brilliantly tender look at being a caregiver, and the conversation comes back to running frequently. Intertwined themes of endurance and resilience abound.

Wings & Spikes by Jinghuan Liu Tervalon

“You Don’t Have What It Takes. You Find What It Takes”

About one in four Americans is a caregiver to someone with disabilities or chronic conditions. This means one in four runners is a caregiver. Inspired by Matt Fitzgerald’s recent appearance on the podcast, Excellence, Actually, It’s Never All Bad: How to Suffer…

Read more

4 months ago · 8 likes · Jinghuan Liu Tervalon and Matt Fitzgerald

One of my big regrets (in Running Sucks terms) was not centering my 2023 interview with Matt Fitzgerald around COVID and its effect on runners.

We had a long chat about long COVID, which he was suffering from, but I had been made to feel so insane for my strong position on the virus that I chickened out of writing about it.

I’m very much looking forward to reading his book about his recovery as a runner.

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

Little one’s ill again
Weekend plans all went to shit
Try again next week

Maybe it’s because he’s in pre-K. Maybe it’s because he got Covid last summer. Either way, he’s a sofa-bound mess and I’ve had a few extra duties on my plate as a result. Being able to run is a luxury of time and resources. We’ll all do well to remember that.

A to Z of running

If you have a request for this A to Z of Running, you can leave your suggestion in this form, and I’ll add it to the list.

Submit an entry for the A to Z

FOLLOW - Instagram | Strava

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

Over the past three years I’ve found myself in the most deeply consistent and prolific period in both my writing and running. I believe that a large part of that is because I doubled down on identifying the best process for me.

Something I found was that I could draw so many parallels between the processes for running and writing. It was evident in both the approach and the results.

If you’re stuck as to how to start or if you want help thinking about making good habits, I’ve got a handy list of six thoughts you can follow to put you in the best place possible for 2026.

Just the same as the Germans often have portmanteaus that apply to very specific situations1, the Japanese have beautiful, specifically-named concepts that describe how human nature connects to the world, and they form the basis for this list. I hope you can take something away from it.

Your Running/Writing Cheat Guide to Success

1. Start small

Focus on doing one small task. Maybe it’s pulling those shoes on and running down to the end of your street, or maybe that’s writing down the concept that’s been stewing in your head. Maybe it’s a mile, and maybe it’s a page. Either way, just start. Knowing that you did it means that you can do it again (and maybe a little bit more) tomorrow.

Concept: Kaizen - the Japanese philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement. The idea is like the marginal gains of Dave Brailsford where many, many small positive changes lead to significant long-term results.

Running: Do the work to improve your 10k pace by just 1% a month and you’ll be 13% faster in a year. Sounds more impressive, doesn’t it.

Writing: If you write 500 words a day, five days a week, you’ll have written 125,000 words in a year, and that is enough for a book.

2. Find purpose

Through these little rituals, you will see your work building, and you will naturally think about your ‘Why.’ You will find your purpose. When you have purpose, pulling on those shoes or sitting down at your desk tomorrow becomes ten times easier.

Concept: Ikigai - it means “a reason for being,” and it’s how you find fulfillment in life by finding that sector where you can combine your passion, your skill, and your duty. And maybe what you can be paid for, as well.

Running: Maybe it’s raising money for charity, maybe it’s seeing if you can run sub-3hr, or maybe it’s running with your friends, but giving your runs purpose can be essential to avoid listlessness and ennui.

Writing: Going from writing about heavy metal to writing for soulless clients as a nameless, disposable copywriter was a harsh reality to accept, but it’s the path that led me to writing about running, and I’m grateful for it.

3. Get organized

Think about what you need to do the work and keep only those items in a tidy, organized space. That will allow you to focus on doing that small amount of work much more efficiently.

Concepts: Toyota’s 5S is a way to organize the workplace for efficiency, and it’s a fascinating set of concepts we can use in everyday life, where we don’t put cars together.

Seiri: Only keep necessary items.
Seiton: Organize those items.
Seiso: Tidy your workspace.
Seiketsu: Create easy-to-follow routines.
Shitsuke: Be disciplined and do the work.

Running: If you have a morning run, get your kit out the night before, prepare your hydration and fuel, and get out there and run.

Writing: Get your desk tidy and free of clutter. Without distractions, you’ll have nothing left to do but write that page.

4. Little and often

The fastest path to burnout is overdoing it. To create a sustainable practice, set yourself achievable goals, so you’ll do a reasonable amount of work.

Concepts: Pomodoro is a structure of work where you work for 25 minutes and rest for 5 minutes. A lot of Japanese concepts are about maximising productivity, which is good when you’re doing something for yourself.

Running: On the micro, this could be interval training. On the macro, this is taking two weeks off after a marathon. In the meso, it’s about taking a couple of days off per week. Respect your body and give it the rest it requires to get stronger.

Writing: Everyone works in different ways. My friend Hattie wrote her entire first novel in a frenzied few weeks, and I wrote my book over months of research. Taking the time for your brain to parse all that information, however, is essential. Settle for an hour’s deep work every weekday is a good idea.

5. Stay curious

Approach your tasks with the eyes of a child. Be prepared to soak up information. Set yourself up to be grateful for receiving new knowledge. Revel in the wonder of learning. If you find that you know it already, simply look for more.

Concept: Shoshin - the beginner’s mind is a Zen Buddhist attitude of openness and a lack of preconceptions, even if you’re an expert. It suggests a lack of ego and the desire to learn.

Running: Get a coach (and listen to them). Look around and think about what your fellow runners are doing, and why. At run club, people come together from all walks of life. It’s one of life’s true socio-economic levelers.

Writing: Never stop reading. Take criticism at face value. If someone has an opinion about your work, there’s likely a reason. You might not agree, but think about it. You might actually agree in the end.

6. Embrace imperfection

The challenges are twofold: don’t wait for perfect conditions to start - they don’t exist; perfection is impossible, so don’t be afraid to fail. Accepting and embracing these two truths are essential for progress. There is beauty in basking in the process of learning from your mistakes and the resilience you gain from perseverance in sub-optimal conditions.

Concepts: Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi - recognizing that nothing is static, accepting change is essential to living, and even celebrating past inadequacies will help you build something unique to you. And that’s all we can ask for.

Running: Your injuries will heal, and you’ll go for another PR. 99 times out of a 100, you’ll run in the blazing sun, the rain, the wind, the snow. That one run will be perfect, and I know you’ll appreciate the rarity of it, but make sure you appreciate the other runs as well.

Writing: Write the manuscript, write it again, and again, and again. It’ll be better every time, but you’ll always see a line that you hate. That’s just how it is to be a writer. Once you realize that it means you’re a writer, though, it should help damp the burns.

Pre-order my book, please

1. If you’re a Barnes & Noble Rewards member, there’s a 25% off pre-order promo running from Tue, Dec 30 through Thu, Jan 1, so that’s a great idea.

2. You might notice a couple more links to purchase in Australia and New Zealand, where This is Running is being distributed by Harper Collins. So go do that!

USA - Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon US
UK - Bookshop UK | Waterstones | Amazon UK
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo
Australia & New Zealand - Booktopia | The Nile | Readings
Germany - Genialokal | Amazon DE
France - Amazon FR
Italy - Amazon IT
Spain - Amazon ES

The Bad Boy Running podcast

I made an appearance on the Bad Boy Running podcast, where I spoke to David Hellard about bad behavior in run clubs, and how to make friends with or without beers. Give it a listen.

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

One last Monday
To close 2025.
Let’s go hard next year.

I’m having a relaxed end to the year (as relaxed as can be with my kids at home for two weeks, anyway). Next year, I’m planning on coming to a lot of your cities on a book tour. Go pre-order This is Running and I will follow the sales data!

FOLLOW - Instagram | Strava

Thanks for reading,
Raz x

Only 68 articles this year because of a gnarly start to the year with the Los Angeles fires and then the small matter of a book deadline, but overall, I’m really happy with my work. Here are a few of the best ones.

1. What is running culture? I wrote this piece in reply to a lot of conversations about running culture that focused on a narrow worldview of runners in big cities and/or the clothes young people wear. Running culture is more than that.

2. How Tracksmith changed the running world. In this interview with the Boston brand founder Matt Taylor, I celebrated the brand that everybody loves to hate, even if so much of the cool stuff we have today exists because of the Van Cortlandt singlet.

3. The intimacy of running. There’s something about the primal nature of the way we run that builds human connection in a very specific and beautiful way. It’s a short one, but was the most widely-shared piece of the year.

4. Adding Black culture to the Boston narrative. If people hate on Tracksmith for being emblematic of the whiteness of the Northeast, PYNRS is a celebration of the other end of that spectrum. I spent an evening with Sid Baptista in Dorchester to see a different side of the city.

5. Do we need HR for run crews? An initiative out of Berlin, Germany created a reporting tool for bad behavior within running communities — something that puts so many from continuing their running journeys.

Weekly book update

Two big bits of news:

1. I got the first few finished copies of This is Running, and this book is everything I wanted it to be. I love physical artifacts, and my word is this ever one of those. Obviously, it’s the kind of book that I would write, but it’s also the kind of book that I want in my house.

2. Thanks SO MUCH to everybody who has already pre-ordered. Seriously! Because of you, Barnes & Noble has picked up my book!! That has led to U.S. sales tripling!!! Over three months before release!!!! Thank you.

The only reason for booksellers to take notice of a first-time author like me is if there are sales for them to think about, so if you have kept meaning to place your order, now is a great moment.

This is Running - purchase links

USA - Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon US
UK - Bookshop UK | Waterstones | Amazon UK
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo
Australia & New Zealand - Booktopia | The Nile | Readings
Germany - Genialokal | Amazon DE
France - Amazon FR
Italy - Amazon IT
Spain - Amazon ES

Please support my work

If the 1,000 of you who read my writing every single week upgraded your subscriptions, I’d have a really nice part-time salary out of this! Wouldn’t that be good?!

I understand human nature enough not to hope that 936 of you are suddenly going to do that, so here’s an offer of 25% off forever for the next 10 of you who sign up.

Here's 25% off for LIFE

CRYING AND RUNNING

My shirt collaboration with Running Wylder gets a second edition. With an updated design and long sleeves, this ones a peach. I know that a few have already flown into the postal service, so act fast!

CRYING AND RUNNING by Running Wylder

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

A daddy blogger…
I always said I wouldn’t.
Never say never.

It turns out a lot of you want me to write more about running while being a parent, so I’ve already lined up one story about a lady who just ran 300 miles while 20 weeks pregnant, and I’ll also share little tidbits of my life as a dad who spends a silly amount of time running along the way.

It’s all housekeeping

BUY ME A COFFEE - Think of it as a tip jar for my writing.

CONNECT WITH ME - Please watch my unboxing video on Instagram lol. I’m never doing another Reel, I promise. Give me a follow over there as well pls.

Thanks for reading
Raz x

Personally, I did not have a great year of running. I’ve been injured for the entire second half of the year. It’s a troublesome Achilles tendon, and I don’t like it one bit, but I’ll be back soon, hopefully.

Because of that injury, I haven’t bothered looking at my Strava end-of-year recap too deeply because I didn’t reach my goal of running 1000 miles. However, I have seen plenty of discourse online, naturally.

I keep seeing a number of complaints about how people use Strava, why Strava charges a subscription, and a couple of other things about returning to analogue. Key to solving this, in my experience. Is thinking about how you are using Strava, because Strava is just a tool and it’s only as effective as the skills of the person using it (you).

Things I do to help me enjoy using Strava better:

The default setting on my activities is private.

For me, Strava is just a place to collect all of my activities in one place. I could just use the native watch app, but I switched from Garmin to Coros last year, so Strava is a useful independent platform that holds activities from both.

The map setting is also private.

I change that manually if it’s a group run and I’m setting the activity to public. It means I don’t get as many completely meaningless Local Legend badges, but they’re… completely meaningless, so who cares?

I keep my private data private.

When I do make an activity public, I do not publish the personal bio data like pace and heart rate. Sure, someone can sit down with the elapsed time and distance and work out my pace if they really want to, but I can’t make other people less weird. I personally will never ask to compare heart rates with you. See? Sounds weird, doesn’t it.

I write a little note after each activity.

It’s visible only to me. Did you know you can do that? Yes, I take a little time and think a little bit about my run and use Strava as my running journal.

I compare myself to myself.

As a runner, the only possible comparison is to yourself. I run with people 20 years younger and 20 years older than me, so there are no data points that can help. However, I also run the same 4.6-mile route around my neighborhood, so it’s fun (and possible) to try and spin a narrative about why I ran at a different pace today.

Remembering that I’m only posting on Strava because I got out there and did something

I think that’s a really valuable thing to keep in mind. A little bit of gratitude for one’s own effort goes a long way to keeping a positive mindset.

Canaries down the digital coalmine

A lot of this thought process does depend on a reasonable level of knowledge of how we run but also how we interact with our digital devices. We’re in the first 20 years of having this mass of data available to us at our fingertips, after all. I think we’re all forgiven for making a few errors but thinking a bit more deeply about our relationship with technology is important.

Ideally, our digital consumption will be a part of a balanced multimedia diet including newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, but we know that our phones have become the primary sources of information.

Restrict that screen time naturally by adding in those other things and you’ll likely have a healthier relationship with your phone, with Strava, with all of it. Maybe some of the frustrations with Strava are simply indicative of our wider relationships with tech right now. I believe that with a little thought, you might not have to go for the digital version of a gastric band, and quit entirely. You might even be happier.

Everything can be an exercise in mindfulness if you just slow down a little bit.

Strava’s Year in Sport

I think there are some cool insights to be had from Strava’s annual drilling down of their big data. I want to figure out why Gen Z is apparently all guns blazing with races in this report versus pandemic-era reports where they were running primarily for their mental health, but otherwise it’s all pretty normal.

If you’re interested in a little run down of Strava’s year in sport rundown, here’s a cool one by .

Here & There

A Look at Strava’s 2025 Year in Sport

Strava released its 2025 Year in Sport Trend Report this month, pulling from 180 million users and 30,000 survey respondents. Running still dominates, walking is growing fast, and Gen Z is racing more and spending more on fitness. Let’s dig in…

Read more

4 months ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · Kyle Frost

But it’s been a great year for my writing!

Maybe there’s a sad correlation with my running here, but I wrote a book. That is ultimately what I’m going to remember 2025 for, and that’s pretty cool. I’m looking forward to sharing more about This is Running with you in 2026.

I’ve also got a dozen unwritten interviews in the bank, and I love them all, so I might publish a last profile for the year on Thursday, but it’s also the last week of school before the winter break so the kids aren’t in school for even one full day this week, so I might also just not have the time.

That’s one of the things that stops me writing (and running) full-time, you see. Do you want to hear from me from that perspective? Maybe. I never wanted to be a Daddy Blogger, but have plenty to share on the matter if you’re interested. I’ve been one for almost nine years now, but being a parent has never defined me. It doesn’t feel like a special thing, even if being a dad is easily the thing that has had the biggest effect on my time.

Last Saturday morning, my eldest played a concert with his afterschool buddies. They played three songs: BYOB by System of a Down (drums), Sk8r Boi by Avril Lavigne (guitar) and a Chappell Roan song where he played keys. A good use of a couple of hours that my friends spent running. It’s how it is!

Housekeeping

MY BOOK - Read more about my book, This is Running. It’s out in April, and whether you want to pre-order it or support in any other way, I’m all ears.

SUPPORT - If you can, please upgrade your subscription for just $40 a year. Or please share my newsletter with another runner. That one is free. Drop a link in your group chat!

BUY ME A COFFEE - Think of it as a tip jar for my writing. Especially if you want some free stickers. Did you get a batch this week?

WIN - Upgraded subscribers can win a $100 Janji gift card every single week of 2025. There are still a couple of weeks left!

GET FREE STICKERS - Get 5 Running Sucks stickers for FREE. Put your address into this form and I’ll send you a few stickers. That’s the deal!

CONNECT - Instagram / Strava

Thanks for reading
Raz xx

It surprised me when I was asked multiple times at The Running Event whether I was going to Paris Fashion Week in January. I’m not. Having flown to Texas to look at clothes and hang out with friends, it actually was a reasonable question. Why not fly to France to do the same?

The thought is that running will have completely taken over Paris Fashion Week by the end of this edition. Even if your idea of ‘running culture’ only has the breadth to include apparel, it has not peaked yet!

Indeed, this past weekend saw a new flurry of athletic activations at Art Basel Miami Beach. The hosts were all brands that signal Running Culture in that somewhat homogenous Instagram way: Alex Zono (South Africa), Optimistic Runners (Berlin), Schism Running (New York), and Running Order (NYC and San Francisco) came together for a pop-up market, a shakeout run, and a 5k race with a $7,000 handbag and carbon-plated sandals up for grabs. Maybe we’ll get something like this at Frieze Los Angeles…

This is far from the first time that there have been running activations at Miami Art Week, though. The fifth edition of the Running is Art event took place on Saturday. Hosted by local crew, In Paradise Running, the idea is to bring together Miami’s art, culture, and community. Sounds like fun to me.

Tracksmith hosted a series of runs at Art Basel Miami in 2022, and Swiss powerhouse On Running created some suitably elaborate audiovisual virtual experiences in the same year. It’s nothing new and it’s all welcome, but there was not too much like that at The Running Event – a place for running lifers who love the utility of running more than the potential for potential cultural overlap.

There was a tiny bit of pretentiousness here and there, of course, but as Cole Townsend outlines here, the week in San Antonio served as a glorious antidote to the nonsense that Instagram loves to serve up.

Anyway, it’s fun to see all of these people pushing the envelope when it comes to how you can look while running, but please don’t be fooled into thinking it’s the new (expensive) normal. It’s far from it. Take a baby step out of the big cities, and you’ll see runners wearing 20-year-old black shorts and t-shirts from races they’ve run. Both types of runner (and the rest of us) are very much a part of running culture. It’s ok to stay in our respective lanes.

Running ain’t cool. But it also can be. And that’s why we all love it.

Tempo Journal feature

Talking of running culture peaking, back in July, I had a chat with Australian publication, Tempo Journal. Here’s a photo of part of my face with the headline!

We both reflect on running culture in similar ways and reflecting on the number of brand events at the Boston and London marathons brought our conversations together, so it was really cool to figure out Los Angeles vs Melbourne timezones so I could discuss all things running with Dylan Rainforth and Mack Dewar.

Then we caught up IRL in New York last month and watched the final game of the World Series over some pizza and beers. Great lads doing great work. Take a read.

Read the article on Tempo Journal

Salt and Flickers: a cool book by a cool friend

I interviewed Howie Goldklang from Silver Lake Track Club a couple of years ago because I loved the community that he was building.

The result of speaking to him in-depth was an appreciation for the myriad ways he thought about running, but also for elevating people and building a better world. All told? Howie’s a cool guy. When he told me he was writing a book, I was thrilled. I knew it was going to be another good thing added to the world.

Partnered with local artist Eric Junker and with a foreword by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Salt and Flickers is a fantastic, art-forward coffee table book filled with poetry and dreams, and I’m very proud to own one. Howie even wrote “something nice” in mine.

Buy Salt and Flickers from Bookshop

Here’s a photo of the back of my head by Ryan Shon in front of the book on display in Howie’s neighborhood coffee shop.

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

Running is freedom;
A way to express yourself;
A radical act.

I got some great requests for 2026’s A to Z of Running. Yes, I might incorporate some into a haiku. If you want me to write about anything in particular, simply leave a comment below or reply to this email. Easy!

Housekeeping

MY BOOK - Read more about my book, This is Running. It’s out in April, and whether you want to pre-order it or support in any other way, I’m all ears.

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Thanks for reading
Raz xx

I didn’t really take any photos, so I’m going to try and write this up before I get on the plane home. I struggle to sit down and work while I’m traveling. All the walking and talking really takes it out of me and that’s something that I’m going to have to figure out in 2026, as I expect to be on the road promoting my book quite frequently.

Have you pre-ordered This is Running yet? It’s four months until release week and the more sales I get before release, the better. As few as 300 pre-orders will indicate to the big book buyers that this is an important release, which leads to them buying in loads more copies of my book to put in their shop windows. Wouldn’t that be cool? I think we can do that.

Anyway, an idea I’ve had to make next year’s newsletter easier is that I’ll do an A to Z of running. Each letter will have a couple of entries, so if you have any requests for January’s letters of A and B, please leave your idea in a comment below. Yes, it’s almost January.

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The Running Event

This was my second trip to Texas for TRE, and you’ll understand that I’m not product-focused in terms of simply listing the latest press releases and photos of forthcoming shoes and apparel. Other people already do that just fine.

I like to think about how new products either reflect a changing desire from the consumer or how new technology can change how runners interact with the world of running. That’s run culture. That’s what I write about.

A huge part of that is the people, and while I didn’t see any single huge standout piece of innovation at the expo, there is still much to be excited about.

I hung out with a bevy of Substackers, sharing, trading, talking, listening. Ideas and opinions flowing everywhere from the most beautiful four-day writer’s room. They’re all great writers because they’re all great thinkers. I’m of the firm belief that writing underpins everything that is good. Your favorite film has a great script first and foremost, even if the actors and director get the shiniest awards.

Experiencing the reactions and perspectives of , founder of 3sixteen in real-time was a real pleasure. As an outsider to the deepest recesses of the running world, his thoughts on being plunged into a whole world of the realest runners was so interesting.

Andrew is a cool guy, you see. He founded a denim brand, and has a flagship store in the cool bit of Manhattan. He’s used to New York’s idea of cool in the running world and developed an activewear range to suit, but when I talk about running culture, I talk far beyond the vagaries of Instagram bros.

Every strand of run culture from the urban runners in $1,500 outfits to the small-town run specialty experts in an accidentally vintage race tee were thrust together in that windowless convention room, and it just worked. Andrew likened it to a high school canteen. I said it was more Lord of the Rings. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

More options for women

One of the brightest spots at TRE was the emerging options for women, and the increased conversation about what’s required.

hosted a panel titled Women Reshaping Running Style and of Running Wylder (the most thoughtfully curated running store in the world in my opinion) was on it, of course, talking about writers/thinkers. It was so well attended, and you can watch 95% of it here. I’m afraid I missed the intro while trying to figure out the Substack live-streaming flow.

In the state that was one of the first to criminalize abortion, Katie Douglas also led a run with Hettas (a female-founded shoe company profiled here by Lee) through San Antonio in support of Cadence OTC, which has a mission to make birth control as accessible and affordable as condoms. They hosted a run from the San Antonio 7-eleven that stocks the Cadence morning after pill.

Also on the panel was Jessie Hyman of Pruzan Running who provided tampons in the restrooms. Another guerilla move that really ought not need to be made. Other companies like Oiselle and Paradis were in attendance again, and Currently showcased their thoughtful new women’s range. It all feels like a groundswell worth noting.

Also, Raide made waves last year with their hydration belt, which has gone on to be massively popular, but there was always one nagging complaint: it wasn’t perfect for women. Top athletes like Anna Gibson and Jade Belzberg do wear the original belt, but founder Kyle Siegel still set about creating a belt more suitable for women. We know it’s not enough to pink it and shrink it, and this belt is wider at the hips than at the waist and it’s black. It’s a cool development.

While it’s great that female-founded brands are thriving, in a male-dominated industry/world, I believe it’s still incumbent on men to elevate the world to try to achieve parity. A lot of that simply involves turning up and listening.

The foreign invasion

If I had more time, I’d write some very serious and shareable stats about how many brands were in attendance from outside the US in 2026 compared to 2025, but here we are. Anyway, it felt like there were more this year.

Acid Running and Soar joined from the UK for the first time, and Hylo had their second appearance, debuting three new shoes, signaling serious strategy for the next two years. Jonty and Molly from Runlimited, the London boutique store that hosted my series of conversations in August were also in attendance.

It seemed like there were more brands from Asia as well. There were the heavyweights like 361 and Anta who pull in $5-10 billion a year, as well as three-person startup brands like Kaleg from South Korea as well as a group of distributors looking for brands looking to break into the Asian market but currently had no representation on that end of the supply chain.

It’s a long way to come, and I think that signals the importance of TRE in terms of opportunities to the global running industry.

A word on Bandit

They had a nice enough stand slap bang in the center of the room, with some lovely-looking product including a nice simple black singlet with billions of laser-cut holes (I would wear it), but they were apparently not courting retailers. They were just there.

With very intelligent new hires from outside of the running world (Netflix, Spotify, and Kith), Bandit is clearly focusing on the data. I expect their direct-to-consumer sales to go supernova. With their designer being a woman, they’ve also always offered both men’s and women’s apparel, so have never had to play catch-up with half the market.

I suspect that Bandit will overtake Tracksmith and Satisfy to become the biggest niche/premium challenger brand over the next 12 months.

Other bits and bobs from TRE

Vivek Gowri is the new proprietor of San Francisco Running Company. Are there any other South Asian run specialty store owners in the USA? Is Vivek the first? We laughed that we only saw two other South Asian people at TRE, just in case you were wondering how diversity in running is going for us.

I also had the deep pleasure of meeting Michelin-starred chef and master sommelier (and 2:45 marathoner) Bobby Stuckey at a gravel shoe event. A fascinating man who I can’t wait to write more about.

It was great to see Like the Wind helming a booth as they celebrate launching a US edition of that fantastic magazine. If you enjoy reading my work, you’ll enjoy LtW. There’s an interview with LtW founder Simon Freeman about storytelling in my book, incidentally.

Finally, thanks to Pao Jelly for the ride home last night. I didn’t enjoy sucking down your energy jellies any more than the other gels out there, but the Asian-inspired flavors really do taste fantastic. Good luck.

Apologies for any errors or anything I’ve missed. I’m very tired.

Thanks for reading and supporting my writing. It means a lot to me.
Raz x

At its core, The Running Event (TRE) is an annual conference and trade show where running stores connect with brands. The brands are showing their future product.

Aside from 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic put a notch in the growth, every year from 2022 has been the biggest ever by all factors: more square footage required, more brands, more attendees. 2025 is the same, despite moving southwest from boujee, bustling Austin to plucky underdog town San Antonio. Don’t let anyone tell you that the running boom’s bubble is about to burst.

When I attended TRE in Austin, Texas a year ago. I didn’t really know what to expect at the time. As someone who hadn’t even been writing about running for two full years at that point, that’s understandable. I knew as much as 99.99% of runners. I knew it was a trade show and that a lot of the runners from around the country/world who I’d been talking to for the previous 18 months were going to be there. I thought, ‘Why not?’

However, I don’t write about new products in the same way as supply or do, so when I was among the first people in the world to have seen Satisfy’s shoe, The Rocker, I probably should’ve made a bigger deal about it. Mainly to look cool and in the know, right? Lesson learned.

Christina Henderson has been Director of The Running Event for the past five years, so while I have my perspectives on how running has grown, and the culture has changed, I knew that Christina’s insights would be magical.

She tells me how she’s “seen the evolution of the event,” over the 11 years she’s been in attendance, and it’s not just my curiosity that’s been piqued – “everyone wants to understand what’s happening in the running industry.”

Media interest in TRE has exploded commensurate with the now-well-documented increase in popularity of running. It’s not just the likes of Runner’s World and people like me who write newsletters that are searching for the answers to the future of the sport. Christina tells me how the New York Times will be in attendance this year. No doubt they’ll be sharing running innovation with the world in far more thorough and better-accepted ways than I will be.

That increase in attention and desire to see the latest movements in running tech extends to the general public. While attendance of TRE is strictly reserved for the running industry, whether that be brands, stores or media, there is a livestream of TRE LIVE, hosted by Tommie Runz that you can watch from home should you be so inclined.

Bringing everyone together to ensure the platform of TRE can grow the sport is a facet of the event that Christina is passionate about.

“We take on the responsibility of having the whole industry together to say, ‘How can we make the running industry as well as the sport and community stronger and more inclusive and bring in more people?’”

“We understand the life-changing ability of movement, and I think it’s so cool that we have the ability to bring in new people into this community that we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of for a long time.”

Those new people are crucial to the question of whether there are now too many brands in the running world? I personally don’t think so. I think there’s an increasing wealth of variety in apparel, shoes, and technology available for the 50% increase in runners that we’ve seen since the pandemic. I think that if there are more people, then more brands can eke out a decent profit margin.

The last time I was in Austin before TRE 2024 was for the music festival, South by Southwest in 2013. I remember seeing some artists playing inside a giant vending machine sponsored by Dorito’s and having a couple of disastrously inauthentic tacos for breakfast at a Hype Machine x Taco Bell activation. Those brands have nothing to do with music, and yes, it felt much more natural watching bands at the Thrasher Death Match stage due to the deep cultural overlap of music and skateboarding.

My feeling is if you’re sick of brand activity at races now, I think we’ve got a way to go before it truly reaches saturation point, and I’m going to look out for the next movements when I’m in San Antonio.

My agenda:

• The new thing that everyone is talking about. Last year it was Raide and Tantrums. Both have gone on to be small indie leaders in the hydration vest/belt market.

• Who is trying to be more sustainable? I love what Hylo and Nnormal are doing by marrying performance and the planet. We need more of that.

• The mighty is chairing a panel on the women reshaping running style, and it might be the only part of TRE’s education that I attend. It’s a conversation that I haven’t pursued because of Lee’s work with The Sweat Lookbook and the panel lineup is a 10/10 as well.

• Which apparel brand is releasing a shoe? And why. You don’t have to do everything. I don’t have a podcast. I don’t really want an Instagram, but I accept that into my life. It’s ok to be great at one thing and stop there.

• What is Nike doing this year? Are they leading or following?

• I’ll keep an eye on the people using AI in running. AI glasses? Glasses with camera? Creepy. It’s overall a no from me, boss, and I’m very tech-forward.

• Better tacos than what I ate in 2013, but much more about Taco Bell next Thursday.

Is there anything you want me to keep an eye out for or go and see? Tell me, and I’ll do my best!

Podcasts

I said that I don’t have a podcast, and that’s true, but I do love talking about running, so when someone invites me onto their podcast, it’s an immediate yes.

The unimpeachable Zoë Rom and Brendan Leonard invited me onto The Trailhead, their podcast under the UltraSignup umbrella, and they asked the kind of thoughtful, incisive questions you’d expect from two people at the top of this particular game. It was a real treat. Take a listen.

I’ve also made a whole page to save the podcasts for posterity. Take a look if you want to hear more from me on a variety of topics.

Book update

Being the focus of a marketing campaign is definitely a first for me, but I’m looking forward to being able to announce the things we’re putting together for the release of This is Running. Go read more about why I’ve written a book, and then please pre-order it! Early orders really help.

This is Running - purchase links

USA - Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon US
UK - Bookshop UK | Waterstones | Amazon UK
Canada - Amazon CA | Indigo
Australia - Booktopia
Germany - Genialokal | Amazon DE
France - Amazon FR
Italy - Amazon IT
Spain - Amazon ES

I got one comment from (who has quietly been doing the yeoman’s work of compiling a full directory of publications about running on Substack) that she couldn’t quite tell whether I was tired of the masses of corporate marketing activations or celebrating the creativity on display.

Surprise, friends: it’s both. For me, anyway.

As someone who only wants more products of human creativity in the world, it was a carnival of brilliant minds. It worked for me because I wasn’t preparing to run 26.2 miles through the five boroughs. If I had been, I would’ve forced myself to stay away and preserve my legs. Traversing the streets of SoHo was an energy-sapping experience.

As for the marathon itself? It just fortified my desire to not run a large marathon. It was too loud and messy for me, and traveling to the start line was reported to be a hideous experience. I’m not paying $300 for that. I run to have fun. None of that qualifies.

The best thing about the major marathon race weekend experience? It’s different for every single person that engages with it, depending on why they’re there and what they want to get out of it.

Variety is the spice of life, I think.

If you’re interested in the photos I took in New York, pop over to my Instagram for some love letters to the people I hung out with there. A few more to come!

Name three major marathons

One of the trends that I’ve noticed over the past year or so is retro marathon t-shirts. of Running Supply has been partnering with Tracksmith to curate a location-specific capsule at the majors, which was very cool to see in-person.

Los Angeles-area brand Sauri hosted a similar event at the LA Marathon in March, and Rematch Club does this in France, popping up at Distance. stocks vintage marathon tees at Running Wylder in SF, and partnered with and Cole for an incredibly fun-looking event at the Boston Marathon in the spring. I also saw Drew of Miler Running showing a collection at the Miler pop-up last weekend. It’s a popular phenomenon.

Obviously, retro marathon t-shirts are incredibly cool, but they also fit into the reduce, repair, reuse, recycle philosophy. The t-shirts being cotton, rather than polyester, means that they can also rot, for a fifth R.

One thought I had while perusing Cole and Drew’s collections, however, was, ‘What if someone like Target or H&M parachuted in and started selling mass-produced ‘vintage’ marathon tees?’ I was in Target the other day and they had a Christmas range of cotton/poly vintage-style beverage t-shirts. Think: Coca-Cola; Miller High Life; Budweiser.

It reminded me of seeing Metallica and Motörhead merch in H&M. As a trve music fan, I adhere to buying my band merch from the stand at the show. It’s a badge of honor that tells anyone that sees me that I spent time watching live music. Just like the marathon tees tell people that you ran 26.2 miles in 1983 or whenever.

There are a lot of parallels between the music world that I used to inhabit and the running world, where I am now. Ultimately, they’re just two subcultures that reflect the wider world, and the people within both of them can be equally protective of their spaces.

I worry that in this moment, where we don’t love the present, we are seeking to purchase authenticity via tangible memories. I worry that we’ll fully commoditize this retro fun, and we’ll start to hate that too.

I spoke to of Running Supply about why he’s so deep into the world of vintage marathon t-shirts, and going back to the creativity that I love to see around marathon weekend, Cole’s enthusiasm was perfect.

“I like vintage generally, but started collecting local race tees (to Boston and Buffalo) because that was meaningful to me. I’m collecting local history. It’s been amazing researching the provenance of vintage running tees, especially ones outside of the major marathons, and learning about races that no longer exist, or ones that have been going on in small communities for decades.”

“For me, it’s a way of staying connected to running and remembering what really matters – which is the races, memories, and friends. The tees are all nostalgic, and the graphics are awesome – much less cluttered than they are today. ”

And is there any stolen valor in wearing a marathon tee that you didn’t ‘earn’?

“Definitely some. More so if you don’t run at all, but less than wearing army vet stuff, say!”

I asked that question while wearing a Supreme hat. I have never, ever set foot on a skateboard.

About Atwill

What about new retro? It’s worked for Tracksmith with their deep Americana vibes. Now we have Atwill.

Back in Oct 2024, one reader, Richard Vincent replied to my article titled, ‘Do Normos Want to Dress Like Runners?’ It was just a quick thought from me about whether everyday people will ever be attracted to dressing in neon green (any shade of green is a big color at the moment imho) or dressing like a desert-bound space creature.

I thought there needed to be running clothes that would look appropriate in everyday situations. Something you could wear to truly blend in at brunch.

Richard was writing to inform me about the running apparel brand that he was working on that aligned with that exact thought, aiming for “playful and casual.” “It’s for people who love to run but don’t necessarily want to dress like ‘runners.’”

A year later, that brand has become Atwill. Richard sent over a couple of t-shirts, a pair of shorts, and they’re all firmly in my rotation.

The t-shirts are a cotton/modal mix and give a rugby/boat club vibe with their stripes. I like the raglan sleeves as much as the look of them. Indeed, my boys have both commented very positively on the design. They noticed they look different . If the opinions of a 4yr old and an 8yr old who see all manner of run kit on their old man mean anything to you, there you are.

It’s nice seeing quality (made in Portugal) performance running apparel that has an element of vintage British preppy design to it. Short shorts and a sodden singlet isn’t always the most appealing outfit to others. It’s a theme, but I love the creativity in running at the moment, and when someone’s doing something a little bit different to everyone else, it’s that bit more exciting.

• Check Atwill out on their website and on Instagram

Support Running Sucks (pls)

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2. If you want to work together in any other way, deeper, more superficially, whatever, please drop me a line at raz@runningsucks101.com and we’ll work something out.

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If you’ve been meaning to upgrade, but just haven’t got around to supporting my work, here’s a great chance! There’s also a new competition link up for subscribers.

25% off FOREVER

Book update

• This is Running is available in Australia at last! Head over to Booktopia. More links to come, no doubt.

• The US release date has been moved forward to 07 April 2026. Apparently the May 19 date was simply a clerical error. This means that I need to get to Boston! Not to run it, don’t worry.

• I’ve had a couple of nice reviews from Anne Helen Petersen and Laura Green.

This is Running - purchase links

USA - Bookshop US | Barnes & Noble | Amazon US
UK - Bookshop UK | Waterstones | Amazon UK
Australia - Booktopia
Canada - Indigo | Amazon CA
Germany - Amazon DE

Running Sucks Haiku of the Week

A three-day week? And
the little one’s got a cough.
And my wife’s away.

Ooh, we do not all have the same 24 hours in a day. Sometimes I take a week off work. Sometimes work takes a week off from me. Either way, we all have some non-negotiables in life! A long-read coming next week with the director of The Running Event – the biggest running trade show in the world. It’s a fun one, I think.

Thanks for reading
Raz x