Talking 'Bout a Revolution: PATH Projects' Cutting-Edge Running & Lifestyle Apparel w/CEO Scott Bailey and Co-Founder Floris Gierman. - podcast episode cover

Talking 'Bout a Revolution: PATH Projects' Cutting-Edge Running & Lifestyle Apparel w/CEO Scott Bailey and Co-Founder Floris Gierman.

Jun 14, 202450 minSeason 2Ep. 4
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Episode description

Ever wondered what it takes to disrupt an industry and create the perfect running  and lifestyle gear? On this episode of Choose to Endure, we bring you an exclusive conversation with CEO Scott Bailey and  Co-Founder Floris Gierman, two of the driving forces behind PATH Projects apparel company.  Frustrated by the lack of quality running shorts, Scott took matters into his own hands to design gear built specifically for ultra runners.  Learn about their journey and evolution, their meticulous attention to detail, and the sustainable design philosophy that fuels PATH Projects, ensuring every piece of apparel meets both the high standards of endurance athletes AND discerning lifestyle customers.

Discover the cutting-edge technology that sets PATH Projects apart from other brands. We discuss innovative fabric selections like Primeflex from Toray of Japan and Tencel derived from eucalyptus trees, chosen for their superior properties. Scott and Floris give us a sneak peek into their just-released Wadi product line featuring Toray's Fieldsensor fabric and share insights on other technological advancements such as micro dot laser welding and Karushi bonded fleece yet to come. Listen in to find out why these materials and techniques are game-changers for ultra running apparel.

Finally, we dive into practical tips for long-distance races, covering essential topics like pacing, nutrition, hydration, and the importance of thoroughly testing your gear before race day. Scott and Floris share their strategies to prevent chafing and blisters, ensuring you stay comfortable throughout your run. We also explore the brand’s focus on men’s products and the playlist music that keeps us moving during those grueling miles, especially The Cure! 

Whether you’re a seasoned ultra runner, new to the sport or just looking for the best new clothing around to hit the trails or relax in at the coffee shop, this episode promises valuable insights to elevate your experience.  Listen/Rate/Review!

PATH Projects:
https://pathprojects.com

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Transcript

Path Projects

Speaker 1

Well , hello and welcome . If this is your first time listening , thanks for stopping by . You are tuned into Choose to Endure , where we share stories , interviews , gear and training tips specific to the tail-end heroes of the Ultra Universe .

If you haven't had a moment to do so yet , please consider heading over to your favorite podcast app , maybe even the one you're listening on right now . Heading over to your favorite podcast app . Maybe even the one you're listening on right now Hit , follow , rate the show . If you're on Apple , please leave a short written review as well .

You can also now send us a text message right from the show notes if you've got something to say , which I think is a pretty cool new feature . My name is Richard Gleave . I've been running ultras since 2017 .

I have taken on and finished numerous distances , all the way up through 220 miles , which I did at the Swami Shuffle earlier this year and I am unashamedly a member of the non-elite , just like you guys Now here in the studio with me today .

I am super excited to welcome Floris Gehrman and Scott Bailey , who together , are the dynamic force behind one of my favorite ultra running specific apparel brands , the Magnificent Path Projects . Not only have they pioneered a trailblazing ultra running clothing company with innovative designs and sustainable materials .

But both Floris and Scott are also seasoned runners themselves , so their firsthand experiences on the trails have undoubtedly influenced the creation of gear that meets the unique demands of long distance runners .

And today they're here to share a little more with us about the path journey , why path is different , and share some personal insights from their own running experiences regarding choice of gear and overall race strategy . So stick around , we'll be back in a jiffy . Discover raw , inspiring stories from runners who've been right where you are .

This is the Choose to Endure Ultra Running Podcast .

Speaker 2

With your host . He's English , not Australian . Richard Gleave .

Speaker 1

Scott and Flores welcome to the show . Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today . How are you guys doing ?

Speaker 2

We're doing great , Richard . I'm here in Southern California and happy to talk to you .

Speaker 3

Thank you , richard , for having us on the show . Always excited to talk about running and about running gear . So , yeah , excited for this chat .

Speaker 1

Brilliant . Well , thank you both . So for those of us that may not be familiar with Path , can you take us back to the very beginning ? What is Path Projects and what inspired the start of the company ?

Speaker 2

I'm going to answer this , scott , here . You know it comes back to , I think , why most companies start and it's because you have something , a problem , that you can't find out there and you feel like it can be done better .

And for me , I was running my company and doing a lot of races and run commuting and I could find a lot of good products I loved , but my running shorts I couldn't find a pair I liked and I this was probably goes back 10 years ago , 12 years ago , and you know , when you're running commuting you're trying to carry some of your stuff back ago .

And you know , when you're running commuting you're trying to carry some of your stuff back . You've got pockets and they just don't hold things . They weren't zip pockets , you had bad Velcro , so I would run with a running belt or something to carry things . And again , this is 12 years ago , so it has changed a lot since then .

So when I sold my company , it really came back to I really want to make a good running short and it became a passion project for me Fantastic .

Speaker 1

So how has your experience as runners yourselves influenced the philosophy and development of the company as you've progressed ?

Speaker 2

Well , I mean , my background was a lot working with product and technical product in my former companies and I always feel like that .

You know , the attention to detail , a reason for everything , that extra time that you put into the materials and every function and not putting out a product until you know it's 100% right , is really what I think makes a difference in a product .

And I think some of my frustrations and running products from back in the day when , before I started , path was running gear was mostly made by shoe companies and running was kind of a side thing for them it wasn't , I mean , running apparel was more of an afterthought and the materials they used I could tell that half the product was probably was never made by

someone that ever ran before . So that was really my frustration . From the material they used , to the way that you cinched up your shorts , to the way the pockets were , to the balancing , to the terrible liners that were in shorts , was really what made the difference for me and why we started .

And I think we take that philosophy into every piece of gear we make now . So there's really four of us in the company and three of us run a lot and really test the product ourselves and we have a lot of good ambassadors and other people that test product for us too .

And , being consumer direct , it also gives us the chance that we don't have to release something on a certain date or a certain season . We can release it when we know it's right . So I think those things are really what I think sets our product apart and what really puts us in an idea of like a brand that's more of a craft and less of a big business .

Speaker 1

Yeah , absolutely , and maybe that's a good segue . I mean , I love the detail that you guys put behind your products . I own a lot of it thanks to my wife , who I ask for those kinds of things for birthdays and Christmas and whatnot . But the detail in the product is noticeable in the way it's constructed .

I mean , I've had some of this stuff for years and it hasn't fallen apart yet , as you were saying , like some of those other short brands that I used to get when I was getting into running . So what is the range of products you offer , and is there a particular one that you really feel like ? Yeah , maybe it's the shorts .

This is the one that will change the race experiences for ultra runners out there .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and for me , the shorts were what inspired me to start the company and the idea of coming out with the best running short that was out there .

And that was really the basis for us , and part of it , too , was not only the quality and the thoughtfulness of what goes into the product , but also can you wear it and feel good about wearing it , because a lot of times when I was running , the stuff that I was running in , I wouldn't really want to be seen outside of running with it .

You know , it was a lot of bright colors and bedazzling looking things , and my aesthetic has always been more minimalist , basic colors , things you can wear out , that don't stand out , that are timeless . So it was really like making high quality product , giving it a look that wasn't like , hey , I'm a runner , it was just more hidden technology .

So it was like shorts and from shorts . We've never made a short with a liner . We've always had two piece . So a baseliner that goes underneath your shorts , that's separate , that's a whole , probably , topic that we can talk about .

Yeah , it's really about having a separate baseliner and a separate short and having them not be connected , and it really helps on chafing and it helps on a lot of different things and you can have a baseliner that works with your run and that type of thing , but also having shirts and hats and other things that you run with .

So primarily it was running gear when we started , and what we've evolved to and this year was a big change for us is we're evolving into what we call run , train and lifestyle , and it's having the same ethos in all of our products and have them all work together , but really having products that are the ultimate products to run in , products that you can wear

every day to train or run in , but more in that gray area . And then lifestyle stuff that just fits your everyday lifestyle , with the same quality and the same attention to detail and fabrics .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I mean I know , having used specifically the shorts to some degree , the t-shirts gone out for a run and then come back , we like to sit at the coffee shop after a run and chit chat and do those things .

I feel much more comfortable sitting at a coffee shop with the liner under my shorts and the longer shorts where they don't kind of ride up Much more comfortable sitting in a coffee shop doing that in public than some of the you know . I don't even know what you like , the two inch split stuff or whatever those are . I don't know .

I think that's awesome For me one of the first experiences like .

Speaker 3

I placed an order with Path on the test website when they were not even live yet . A friend of mine knew Scott and he sent me a link to the website that wasn't even ready yet and I bought some of the gear .

One of the main issues that I was always running into with apparel was I was looking for enough storage space for all of my gels kind of what scott was talking about when when he developed the shorts initially having enough storage space or whether that's a phone pocket that you can put in there without it bouncing around , or like enough space for my gels , for

my car keys , for my credit card , for my whatever sunglasses , gopro , and so when I tried it and that whole separate short and baseline system was somewhat new to me . I hadn't had running apparel where it was separate from each other .

But once I had all of my pockets loaded with stuff and the baseliner stays tied to your body but the short can somewhat ride on top of the baseliner . So even if the short goes up and down a little bit because you have a bunch of stuff in your pockets , your baseliner stays put so you don't have any of the chafing that I've previously experienced .

I've literally had it in the past with some other races , where a bunch of stuff in my pockets and my shorts were going up and down and I would experience pretty horrible chafing in different areas and all of a sudden I didn't experience that anymore . So that's when scott and I started talking and I started seeing what was going on with the brand .

Speaker 1

Yeah , what kind of testing did you have to do to get that ? Because you know those pockets are in a really specific place and they really don't bounce that much . I mean , I've had a phone in the back of those and gels and whatnot in the two side pockets at the back too , but they sit in a really good spot right at the top of the hips there .

Did you do much testing on that ? How did you figure out that spot ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , you know we have another great partner , eric , who's a product about all the things that I wanted to accomplish in the first shorts and where we wanted to do it . He really listened and looked and came up with how they would work and where they would work . And then I started testing it and having other friends test it .

It's kind of interesting , but where the whole separate liner came from was originally that wasn't the plan . It was to have liners in a short and what we're doing is working with the factory trying to find the right liner material and find the right shorts .

And we kept having them build them together and then I just asked them well , can you build them separately so we can test the liner separately and test the shorts separately ? That way we're not doing all the sampling and kind of what we figured out was .

It worked way better separate and that way you can pick a liner that works best for you personally , whether it's longer , whether it's a certain material , because everybody has a different preference that works for their body type .

And we found out that it really does work , like Flora said , of independent suspension , where the short can move and the baseliner stays in place and protects your body from chafing and can can wick the sweat away from you and help dry it without it having to go directly into your shorts and everything else .

So , and when I came up with that and I just found out how well it was working , I had a good friend that I was talking to about it , who was one of the main people at REI , and I told him about it like , hey , I found this , the separates work way better , but I'm afraid to start a brand with only separates because nobody's doing it and I feel like if

it doesn't work we'll be in trouble . And he kind of told me he said look , if it works so well and it makes a hundred percent chance , you should just go all in on it . And that's kind of what we did . We've never made a short with a liner because of that and I think it's just it's really turned out to be a huge thing for us .

Speaker 3

We were literally getting emails from people saying I bought these shorts and went in there and always cut out the base liners because I can't stand it . And so there's kind of like yeah , I wasn't lying with what Scott was just saying .

More and more customers are coming back that they were specifically looking for shorts without liners but it wasn't really available .

Speaker 1

I mean that is sort of the key to Path is the baseliner and the short . That's where you started . You now have a whole range of t-shirts , shorts , the liners , the long pants , which are fantastic . I think you just came out with socks and now you're into jackets and just brilliant .

Maybe we get into the fabric and those other items in a minute , but just from an innovative feature standpoint , I have the Pyrenees hoodie and this is a really small thing , but as a runner , that little watch cutout on the left arm to stick your watch through and be able to see what's going on on , that Brilliant .

I know that's a really small thing , but everywhere I go when I wear that shirt , people ask me how I went about cutting out the hole in that and I tell them I didn't , it came like that . And they're like oh how the heck did you get ? that .

So just small stuff like that , and I don't know who had that bright idea , but well done to whoever that was , because that's a winner in my book for sure .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I mean I think that when you run and you wear different things that's kind of the beauty of having a company where you can develop product there's certain things that you know having a shirt where the gloves come out , you know the mitts and cover your hand .

But then when you can't see your watch and you can't see what's going on , that's your main gear when you're out doing things is to check on everything , how far you're out , what all your vitals . So having that being accessible was just one of the things that we saw that we thought would be great and kind of tested and it worked really well .

So , yeah , I just think that one of the philosophies I have is like if you can't put out a product that's better than what's out there already , then you shouldn't put it out , and I just feel like that putting out product just to put it out that's not as good or is okay compared to what's out there , then there's no real reason to put it out in the

marketplace . You've got to make it better and you've got to have real reasons why it's better . Yeah ,

Innovative Fabric Selection in Apparel

absolutely .

Speaker 1

Now we talked about the . I think your , your fabric is one of the things . I think that sets you guys apart too . So , if you've got a minute just to chat about that , what what was the decision making process ? How did you go about finding ? I think it's the Primeflex and Tencel . You guys tell me I think that's what it is .

Yeah , but how did you go around finding ? Because they're really specific . It's part of the path package .

Speaker 2

I think these really cool fabrics that these items are made of , yeah , well , when we're coming up with the shorts and the shirts , some of the biggest components is the fabric . You can come up with the best design and the best features , but if the fabric's not any good then it's kind of a waste .

So Eric and I went to these fabric shows , outdoor retailer different fabric shows , met with the different vendors . Eric was really good with fabric so he already knew some of the people that we had to go talk to in the industry .

So from a nylon standpoint of working on the short material , the two best mills in the world are probably Toray out of Japan and Scholler out of Switzerland , and what they make is they make nylons that are called mechanical stretch , so the yarn is actually woven in a spiral so that when it stretches the nylon is stretching .

You don't use spandex or lycra in it . It's done through the actual weaving of the yarn . And mechanical stretch is superior because it doesn't break down , because what breaks down in a in a stretch garment is the lycra starts falling apart and the lycra and the spandex actually absorb water too and they're heavier .

So if you can get a mechanical stretch fabric , it's going to be a higher quality and and those were the two mills we started talking to and Toray was really excited to work with us on this project . So we started this relationship with Toray and they make the Primeflex fabric .

So Toray of Japan is where we get all of our Primeflex fabric and we use that as a staple in our jacket , in our shorts , we use the Primeflex and we're using we've actually just kind of agree to a deal with them or we're going to be a brand that helps test new fabrics for them .

We're going to be one of their key brands and they're going to use us in some of their marketing and what we're doing . So it's really an innovation kind of relationship . And you know we just love a lot of things about Toray . They're not just a company that makes fabrics .

They make a lot of carbon fiber that go in the military , aircrafts and technology and they're a technology company . So they're a really interesting company and we're really happy to be working with them .

And the tinsel fabrics which used in our shirts you know we wanted to find a fabric that felt really good , had a wonderful hand to it , that had technical aspects of quick dry and the anti-odor , antimicrobial and tinsel comes from eucalyptus trees . They use it in fabrics .

It has these wonderful properties where it's antimicrobial , where it's quick dry , where it has a soft hand , it's really strong . It's just expensive and some of the fabrics that we use are two to three times the cost of a normal fabric that people would use .

But because we do it consumer direct , we were kind of able to make the prices affordable , what we felt were affordable . You know they're not the same thing you're going buy at Dick's Sporting Goods , but it's not out of the range , I think , price-wise for what you get . And part of our thing is to make it last long .

And , like you said , I have some friends that say , like I love your product but your brand's never going to do well because it never wears out . Like you need me with your product so it actually wears out , so I need to buy more .

Speaker 1

But that's not really our philosophy actually wears out so I need to buy more , but that's not really our philosophy . So , yeah , I love when products go with quality over quantity . I think , again , that really makes makes you guys stand out and and it is quality product .

Now , as far as the tensile goes , I think you mentioned that's from the um eucalyptus tree . Yeah , the eucalyptus tree , absolutely , it's the pulp , it's the cellulose , right , it's the fibers from the , from the eucalyptus . Did that play into the decision making at all ? Or were you like , hey , this is just the best quality stuff , yeah ?

Speaker 2

I think any time you can stay away from the chemicals and that side of things , I think it's better and a natural fiber that's gonna have natural characteristics is better than synthetic chemical for antimicrobial , Because antimicrobial coatings wear off over time . The tinsel stays in .

So we're excited we're actually bringing more fabrics into the company over the next six months and trying to work with again natural fibers where we can that work really well and have great characteristics for strength .

Speaker 1

Now you jumped on my next question here , which is really cool , because I was going to ask are there any upcoming innovations in the fabrics that you're really excited to explore , where you think , yeah , this could have an impact ? So I don't know if you're able to say but what are some of the things out there that you're really looking forward to ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , I think that we brought on another partner a little over a year ago who has a great access to a lot of different vendors and a lot of different technologies in the companies he was at and he came in and really helped us expand our line and do some new things .

So , yeah , I mean , some of the top things that we have coming out right now is that in June , around mid-June , we have a new product line called Wadi that's working with Toray with one of their new fabrics that's called Field Sensor and it's this really amazing fabric for heat and it works in in all temperatures .

But just the characteristics of the way it wicks , the lightweight , the strength of it it's going to make a great like we're doing a running tank top or running shirt and a hooded long sleeve shirt out of it for sun . That it's just performing brilliant , unbelievable like we had our testers just ran a marathon in it and his wife said did you sweat ?

Because you're not even wet ? And he said , yeah , I slept the whole time because it just dried while I was running . So that's one of the things we're really excited about

New Fabric Technology and Running Experiences

. Another thing is we're working with Toray and they don't not only do fabrics but they have manufacturing and we're using a new micro dot welding . So in our baseliners , instead of sewing them they use this micro dot laser weld . So it actually welds the material together but it stretches also .

So a lot of times when you see the seaming where it's done more with tape and glue , it doesn't stretch the same as the other fabric because of the glues , but this allows it to stretch and hold without having a normal seam . So our new Lynx baseliners are going to this new technology for coming out in July . What else do we have ?

Floris coming out that's super good . We have some new stuff for fall that we're doing this Karushi bonded fleece that we're doing with Toray . That's like this unbelievable technical fleece that's like buttery soft that we're doing with Toray . That's like this unbelievable , like technical fleece .

That's like buttery soft that we're going to do a pant and a zip hoodie out of . We have some new technology and fleece that we're doing a micro grid fleece .

So a lot of summer stuff , a lot of more winter stuff that we're doing , that we're seeing technology wise , but really really blown away with all the stuff that we've been able to develop over the past year and a half that we'll be releasing and and there's also like new product categories that we haven't entered , that we're just testing at this point , we're just

going through the testing phases .

Speaker 3

One example is we're working on arm sleeves , which trail and ultra runners can often use as well , whether it's for sun protection or whether it's for if it's cold in the winter months . So both from a trail perspective , it can work well on the road running front too .

So we're working on a few collaborations , a few different product testings , but some of these things you don't know until you truly start going through the product testing of how is the right fit , what do people really look for ?

And so this is where a team of reliable testers comes into place too , even beyond just us , because we're just the three of us , but we want to get this tested in , like extreme hot or humid weather and sometimes the really colder climates .

Speaker 1

Yeah , now you guys have a pretty wide base of ambassadors and other folks out there as well . I think those are the guys that do your testing , I , I assume . Or do you have professional testers , I don't .

Speaker 3

I don't know how that works well , we , we work with a lot of non-elites , but with some really legitimate podium guys as well , yeah , and so some of those guys run a lot of races , some , some of them .

Obviously , once you start going into ultra endurance space , you're not able to race that many times because you just need a little bit more recovery in between . But , yeah , we definitely have a team of guys out there that are providing a lot of good content .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and it's interesting too . Sometimes when you work with people , you'll find that some people are just product nerds and they look at every detail and everything and they'll give you just , you know , some people will be like , yeah , it worked great , okay .

And some people will be they'll give you a five page document on every little thing about it and what worked and what didn't , and and really get down to specific details which you know those people are really great too . So we um , we try it on a .

Speaker 1

We have a pretty good group of guys that we work with right now yes , and on behalf of everybody in texas , thank you for a heat shirt and sleeves , because it is hot as crap out here most of the time .

Speaker 2

I have to tell you yeah , so yeah with the sleeves . We're really working on this merino blend , trying to find the perfect material that works in all temps .

Speaker 1

Now , you guys are not just into the business side of things . I think we were chatting before coming on air . You guys run as well . So , from a running or a race perspective , what do you guys like to get out and do if you even have time to run ?

Speaker 2

I'll answer first because Floris is the real runner of the group .

I am definitely a non-elite non-elite I would probably be three non-elites in there but you know I love to run in general and I used to be really into more adventure running finding a trail that hadn't been ran and or a trail that I found when I was traveling somewhere and just kind of training for that specific trail and doing it by myself kind of thing .

I haven't ran really organized ultras before . I ran a lot of distances and a lot of things , but I really just got fell in love with road running because I was traveling a lot for my jobs and I could bring my shoes and do it anywhere in the world . And then that went to trails , which I fell in love with trails , and that's kind of just my background .

But I love to run . I loved a mountain bike . I snowboard all winter , I love hiking . I'm really a multi-sport person but running is kind of my base for everything .

Speaker 1

Yeah , that's some pretty good cross-training right there , that's for sure .

Speaker 3

Loris , how about you ? So I ran my first marathon in 2007 , so about 17 years ago and swore that I would never do another marathon again . It was one of those where I thought I was going to die at the end and then took a break of like a good , whatever , good whatever .

Six , seven years and then really started getting into more consistent training , like focusing a bit more on recovery , and I discovered the trails in about 2013 . So initially it was more road running and then it became more trail running and ultra running .

From there did my first 50k , then first 50 mile and did some races there and then eventually ran like 100 mile , but with two young kids at home too and like we're busy with path and with my own podcast and whatnot .

Eventually it was a bit of a trade-off sometimes with how many hours can I train , and sometimes I actually ended up leaning a little bit more towards road running races than necessarily like really long trail races . So I just finished the six-star world major marathons . It took me about 10 years from the very first one to like .

Last month I ran the London marathon . That was my sixth one . So that was a nice check in the box to get all of those done and now , like it's after that road running , now I feel like all right , I want to start doing some more trail running adventures again , because I truly love the trail running out there for sure .

Speaker 1

Now I've got to ask you about those six marathon majors which was your favorite and which one did you like the least out of the six ?

Speaker 3

It's kind of an interesting one because each and every one of them has got something special , like , I think , when I when I look back . For me , one very special one was the the new york marathon that I ran in 2019 .

I ran this for a video project for strava , where we were documenting first-time marathoners , and so this was one that I didn't race , but I was running with a first time marathoner and he had gone from like all right , he put in a solid training block , but it was really fun to actually watch along the side .

It took us a little bit longer than it normally would take me to run a marathon , yeah , so I think it took us about four hours , four and a half hours .

But just seeing the part of like at mile five , he was all smiling and laughing and he was all bubbly and I was like matt , you might want to slow down a little bit over here and sure enough , like mile 15 or 18 came around and you just saw like the whole transition . There was no smiling anymore . It was just like let's get this done , kind of thing .

But just the experience of sharing that and being able to see that from a first time marathoner perspective was really special , and I will say I just ran the Tokyo Marathon in March , and that was a super special one too . Like , the audience is just completely different there .

The crowd , although they're not as loud , a lot of them dress up and a lot of them cheer on in their own sort of way . So I think all of them have something unique .

Speaker 1

The right answer was London from my perspective , but I'll go with your answer too . That's just as valid . Yeah , I won't tell you what my marathon time is either . If you're slow , running is 4.30 , and then I'm definitely not telling you my marathon time .

Speaker 3

Marathon times . It's just a number . Honestly , I have much respect for anyone there getting to the start line and showing up , so that sounds pretty interesting , though , running alongside somebody .

Speaker 1

But I can't even imagine running my own marathon , never mind filming somebody as I'm going and getting those extra miles . So I've been watching Cocodona this past , what week and a half or whatever it is , and seeing all those folks go back and forth the camera folks . I feel so bad for them , but it's such good TV to watch .

Speaker 3

Totally .

I was just sitting next to Jamil , who is the founder of Cocodona Races at Camp Strava last week , and we were talking because the very first year I was out there four years ago where we had four of our ambassadors that were doing the race , so we went out there and we're sleeping in the back of our car and documenting it from A to Z and I was giving .

We were sitting there with , like the head of content from Strava and with Jamil and I basically just like told him like I think Jamil and his races did such an incredible job documenting that film or like that whole event , because it's a five-day event , like they had drones going on , they had live coverage for like an entire period over there and he , as the

founder , actually ran the entire 250 miles with a camera , handing off the camera to the next one .

Speaker 1

So it was , yeah , that was a fascinating way of documenting that race it's unbelievable , to state it out loud , but watching a five-day race , they make it pretty riveting to watch that stuff , right , I mean ?

Speaker 3

they keep it exciting . They really do . Yeah , the whole community gets behind it too , though the camera gets passed on and like it's a great event for sure it's really well done and it definitely seems to get better and better each year .

Speaker 1

And just this year they had a lady watching the final finishers go up eldon there and just mind blown like right behind these people as everyone just incredible , incredible foot did yeah , that too what .

Speaker 3

What blew my mind was seeing the youngest runner finish , and I think he was whatever 13 or 14 years old yeah , like 17 , and then his brother and then his mom , and then there was like a 73 year old finishing the race as well , which is like , yeah , that was incredible to watch incredible racing ?

Speaker 1

yes , absolutely so , based on all of your experience .

Clothing Tips for Long Distance Races

For our listeners here , folks towards the back of the pack , much like myself , what should we be looking for when , when we're looking to do something like cocodona or other long racing ? What should we be looking for from a clothing perspective to balance performance with comfort when you're going for such a long distance ?

Speaker 3

I can start out with that one , and I'm sure that Scott has plenty of thoughts on this as well . When I look at any race distance , in particular over the marathon , I look at what are the areas where people get in trouble , and it's typically three different areas .

One is the pacing , where people simply start too fast or they don't take enough walk breaks early on . One is nutrition , so not taking in enough calories and not being able to take in enough calories , or hydration , so actually getting on a consistent schedule from early on to force yourself to get in calories . And the third one would be actual gear .

And so what is it that often in running gear causes issues ? It's chafing or it's blisters . And like fourth one , when ultras get really long , it's the sleep . So in what sort of way do you calculate breaks in ?

But I think the third one Scott and I can talk about a bit more is in particular , finding ways that you're not going to chafe , that you stay comfortable , and whether that is the right sizing of your clothing , the right items of your clothing .

I think in particular when I look back at Cocodona and some of these other events , like trying to protect your skin to some extent from the sun , like if you're out there and it's very hot and you get beat down on the sun all day long like there's something to be said about that almost using extra energy that way and so but even at night it's going gonna

start cooling down again . So having some apparel options where you're actually having flexibility and protection is a is an important one there . But sure , scott has a few things , yeah .

Speaker 2

I think for me it's always been don't try anything new In the beginning . You know , when you're getting too close to race day , don't be like oh , I've heard about this , I'm going to try it on race day , or try it . I'm always a big fan of like getting your stuff and being super comfortable with it .

You know we talk about baseliners but people will email us like what's the best baseliner ? Well , it's different for every person . Everybody has a different body type . I mean we're we're big fans of long baseliners , like eight inch baseliners that go down and cover your leg and protect you more .

But there's different materials on how big your legs are and and you know , getting that fit right , getting the short that you love , having that shirt that you love , having the jacket that works well for you .

You know when you're doing these longer races and where you're going , like you want to have something that you've ran multiple times and you've ran close to the distances or maybe these distance before .

And if you're trying something new , you want to try it when you're , when you're practicing , when you're three months out or a couple months out from something , or maybe you want to try it a few times and not race in it and then go back to training , trying it .

But for me a big thing is like make sure the last thing you want on a long race or a long run is having your product not work and and that just it's mentally is terrible . So that's just . My standpoint is like get your stuff , stuff , try your things , find what you like and stick with it .

Speaker 3

You know , on that race day I think that's a really good point , and sometimes , even typically , I don't do any longer runs like probably about three weeks out is my longest long run and then from there on it typically becomes a taper , whether it's a three week taper or two week or a 10 day taper , depending on the race distance .

But yeah , that part in particular , like almost doing a few dress rehearsals , where , let's say , sunday is going to be a long run , like on saturday night , what do you eat the night before race , what do you eat the morning of , and then have your gear already laid out and that's what you're going to be putting on , and that's not just only the shoes and and

the shorts , but it's also the baseline , it's the socks , it's the hat , it's whatever you're going to be wearing so that you can go through the same motions on race day and not get any surprises over there .

Speaker 1

I fully agree . I love when gear can cover multiple purposes too . So the you know when , when gear can be can be two things , like the liners . For me , when I ran my most recent 220 mile race , I had the liner .

I had a couple of pairs of the liner which are small and easy to pack , but I had just like one pair of your shorts and one of the kill them , kill them long pants , and so it's really easy with the liner base to just okay , it's , it's getting night , it's been warm during the day , it's's coming to night .

I can just literally whip the shorts right off with the liner still on and throw on the long pants and roll the shorts up in the back and you're off . So there's nothing more or less to it than that .

But you know small things like that where you can kind of maximize the usage of the least amount of items in your pack , especially if you're going really long . I really love that from the perspective .

That's one of the reasons I buy those is because you can just change out real fast on the fly , in my case in a McDonald's , which I don't need to get into that too much .

Speaker 3

We had a few customer testimonials . They proudly shared with us that they wore one baseliner for the entire duration of either Cocodona for five days . It was 250 miles over the Volstate 500k and they're like , yep , only use one baseliner . I was like I feel sorry for your crew , but well done Really really product testing .

Speaker 2

Yeah , and we had another guy with our pyrenees , jimmy dean , who was pacing for someone . At what race was that ? That was a badlands , and bad water , bad water and he said it was so hot .

But every day he would pace in this thing and sweat and he'd throw it in the corner at night and just let dry out and pick it up again and put it back on and run again . He goes . It didn't smell the whole time and so we were like , oh , that's another great testimonial . But yeah , I mean for our gear too .

I mean I think I said it in the beginning I'm a minimalist and I really enjoy not having a lot of different things . And the t-shirts that we have , like our Basis Tinsel t-shirts I wear them every day , our baseliners I wear as my normal underwear . So I'll wear them as underwear .

I'll get up , you know , when I'm traveling , I'll go for a run and after you can wear them for a day and wear them for a run and then wash them after . That you don't have to wash your shorts every time you run .

You know , there's there's certain things that I think having multi-use products that you can use for a lot of things and not having to have all these specialty products that you can only wear for one thing that I think is good for the planet and it's good for your , your life and your just your , your simplicity of your life absolutely , and I won't tell you

how long I wore my base liner on that 200 miler , but it was probably too long .

Speaker 1

Looking back , fortunately it was just me , so it was a , it was race , so nobody cared . And I will tell you .

I found a way to clip my Path t-shirt onto the back of my thing , so it was drying as I was running and wearing the second one that I bought , so I would wear one and the other one is on the back of the pack drying while I ran drawing while I ran .

Speaker 3

There you go , there you go . That sounds epic .

One more thought that I just had , as we were talking about product testing and about kind of a dress rehearsal several weeks before your main race I'll never forget before I did my first self-supported 100 miler , I did not realize how heavy my pack was going to be beforehand , and so I'd done my training runs and I would typically have a pack of , let's say ,

seven pounds , eight pounds . All of a sudden I had to bring a lot more on race day and my pack ended up being close to 15 pounds . And it is different how your gear responds when you have a heavier pack , how how things feel your running gait might get impacted . You're running , everything might get impact .

So I think the more we can test that stuff beforehand , the less surprised they're going to be .

Speaker 1

It does make a difference and definitely test that stuff out . Stick a bunch of things in your pack , put everything in you're going to use and test it well before you get on the

Men's Focus Brand With Song Suggestions

road . I've obviously spent a lot of time looking at the site and going through the products . One of the things , though , looking at the site and going through the products One of the things , though there doesn't seem to be that much female specific out there on the site . Is it mostly unisex ? Is that how you're going with it or is there any thought of ?

Maybe there is some sort of female specific items we might venture into at some point ?

Speaker 2

Well , where we went with this was , you know , when the company started , it was just Ericic and I and I know from the past I've had companies where we made women's specific product and and you have to have women involved and you have to have women that are into it and because it was just a you know , the two of us doing it , it was a passion project .

When we started it , we we just stayed men's focused and from the fit and what we're doing in the aesthetics , because it was just us doing it and we were that's all we had as we grew the line and we tried to add things and florist came on and now Brian came on and it's the four of us really running it , with a couple assistants .

We kind of just made the decision that , like you know , to do women's product and do it right , we would need to bring on a whole women's team and we're really at the size right now where we're trying to really push the boundaries on how good we can make our product and our new categories and what we're doing .

So we're really like men's focus right now and we have women that wear our hats and that wear some of our shirts and it's um , and women that wear our shorts too , but it's more women that are used to wearing like unisex or guy stuff and that works for them . So , right , you know the the really direction .

There are specific women's brands and there's brands that do both , but from our focus standpoint and attention to detail , I feel like if we tried to do women's stuff , we'd just screw it up , like we would just not do a good job at it , because between the four of us , we probably each have , you know , 20 to 30 years between us of developing product , and

we're guys , so we're really focused on what we're doing and maybe at some point we'll bring on a woman's team , but I think we're a ways away from doing that and having it , so really we're just men's focus brand right now . I think that's fair .

Speaker 1

Back to the quality that you mentioned before . Let's just do what we're doing and do it really well , and we don't feel comfortable in that space , so we'll just stick to where we are for the moment anyway . And a lot of that stuff is unisex . I mean , you can definitely wear those t-shirts and the shorts and those kind of things . Kudos to you .

Nice explanation , very good .

Speaker 2

It's probably not the most politically correct answer , but it's the truth . We can only do what we can do .

Speaker 1

I was just going to say , yeah , you can do what you do and I , and I'm sure listeners , appreciate the fact that you're not just going to half-ass it and throw out some women's gear without getting the full input of that group , so I think that's okay .

Now , one of the things we do here on the show each episode we like to encourage guests to pick a song to add to the free Spotify Choose to Enjoy playlist . Usually it's something family friendly . We like to help lift you up , motivate you or keep you moving while out on the trail . Is there a song that each of you throw on the playlist there ?

Throw on your Spotify playlist that when you're having a tough time on the trail or on a run , you're like I got to chuck this song on because it's going to really help pump me up and get me going . Do you guys have a song choice , something that would fit in that category ?

Speaker 3

I got two to come to mind . One is a song I often use during breathing exercises which is Comfortably Numb , by Pink Floyd , oh yeah .

Speaker 1

Okay , that one typically does well .

Speaker 3

Oh , yeah , okay , that one typically does well . The other one is Ludovico Analdi , in a time lapse , and that's one of my songs that I always use when I go in an ice bath , and it has an intro of about 20 seconds and then , once the 20 second drops , I have no way out but to go in my ice bath .

Speaker 1

Wow , well , that's pretty different and unique .

Speaker 2

You know , here I am with a Rocky theme tune and you're all kind of into it . That's cool . I'm definitely going to find it . If you can get it on Spotify , I'm going to add it to my playlist for about the last year that I really enjoy and it goes to multi-sports , because I love mountain biking .

I'm a huge mountain biking person and a huge snowboarder and from a snowboarding standpoint , I love backcountry stuff and being out there .

So it's Into the Trees from the Cure , it's just such a good song in the whole aspect of the trees and that's kind of where I'm my happy place , whether I'm snowboarding or running or mountain biking , I love Into the Trees .

Speaker 1

I'm a big fan of the Cure too . That might be a bit early for us , I don't know .

Speaker 3

No , it's definitely on one of my playlists , actually , probably way back at the back of one of them somewhere .

Speaker 1

I would imagine you seem a little cool for the Cure , although the Cure was very cool and probably still is . I don't know , I love it . Well , excellent , thank you .

Yeah , and really the song choice really started off as a fun little thing for the show , but you'd be amazed at how many people have these real emotional attachments to the songs that remind them of a particular place or rough spot in a race , and so we've had some really interesting talks about songs where I just thought it was a you know , it's a fun song ,

right , but it really means stuff to people and it's really interesting to hear what and why those songs have that emotional attachment .

Speaker 3

There it is . Spring 2024 playlist . Which one ?

Speaker 1

There it is , the Cure , the Cure Just like heaven . That's a great song , I have to say . Not Into the Woods , though Boys Don't Cry .

Speaker 3

It's also on there , that's a good old term Boys do cry , that should be on there .

Speaker 2

Everybody cries , cries they don't know that right exactly that would be a good cure , one everybody hurts , sometimes by rem we should just sit here for 10 minutes and make our own playlist , for sure totally I . I created a , a playlist that's all for foggy runs .

Foggy runs Because foggy runs I always enjoy running and when it's foggy on the trails it just gives you like that whole kind of dangerous little misty .

And I created a whole playlist for just foggy runs and it was called Foggy Runs and it was like some Pink Floyd and some just different things that were like kind of eerie and but just like when you're running in the fog , it was great .

Yeah , it's spooky only foggy runs , like you don't have a sunny day or I do have party time and I do have all kinds of different ones for different things , but yeah , but the foggy run one was when you're just running in the fog one day and the song just perfect . When you're just running in the fog one day and the song is perfect and you're just .

I have to make a whole playlist pretty sure over here .

Speaker 1

I would just have to have one playlist and it's called . It's hot as crap out here , yeah well I ?

Speaker 2

I would think that would work better . In the uk the foggy runs would yes , it's raining , that would that would cover probably every day in the uk

Speaker 1

as far as I can tell , yes , it rains a lot out there . Well , brilliant , well , thank you , we'll definitely get those . Well , we'll get a selection of those added to the playlist . I think we've just doubled the size of the playlist , so we'll get those added so that folks out there can enjoy those tunes as much as you guys do .

Scott and flores , thank you so much for joining us today

Path Projects

. I hope this conversation has offered you guys out there something of an understanding of Path projects and what makes them unique in the ultra apparel world , why you should go check out their products , along with a little bit of practical advice and some helpful suggestions along the way .

I can tell you , as I've alluded to , I have bought and own a variety of the Path gear myself . I've used them to great success in all manner of races , so I'm personally vouching for and recommending the quality of the clothing as much as anything else , and you should give them a try too if you have the opportunity .

I will , of course , link the Path website in the show notes below if you want to go , and I will , of course , link the Path website in the show notes below if you want to go and have a browse of the products directly and , while you're on the internet , check in that site out .

Don't forget to subscribe to the show , get notified each time a new episode comes out and , of course , follow , share and maybe even consider taking two minutes or so to give the show a review . That would be very much appreciated .

Doing any of those things really does help with the algorithms , and that , in turn , gets the word out and helps other runners like you find the information that guests like Scott and Floris have to share when they give up their time to chat .

You can find us here on Instagram , facebook and at choosetoeendurecom , so be sure to head over to any of those , check us out , say hello , drop us a message , suggest a topic or provide some constructive feedback if you have a moment .

Definitely love getting all those interactions , so until then , go buy some Path products to help you run long , run strong and keep choosing to endure .

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