Building an Industry: Karl Meltzer's Unfiltered Take

Karl 'Speedgoat' Meltzer has been around long enough to watch trail running transform from a weird little sport into a global industry. More interestingly, he somehow ended up at the center of that transformation.

HOKA turned his nickname, Speedgoat, into one of the most successful trail shoes ever made. Red Bull backed his attempt to run the Appalachian Trail. The race he founded became part of the UTMB World Series. Through it all, Karl has remained unmistakably Karl.

In this conversation, we talk about the early days of ultrarunning, making a living as a professional runner before there was much of a profession, the creation and sale of the Speedgoat race, HOKA, Red Bull, UTMB, and what Karl thinks about where trail running is headed now.

Presented by Kiprun bit.ly/kiprun_yt
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Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.

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