Singletrack Kelly Newlon: Real Athlete Diets, Crewing FKT Projects, Athlete Sponsorship Thoughts (Sunday Conversation)
Oct 6, 2022
01:06:07
Kelly Newlon is the Co-Owner of Real Athlete Diets, a catering company that focuses on feeding ultra endurance athletes. We talk about her experiences and insights supporting well-known runners in our sport on fastest known time projects, as well as her interests in and knowledge of the athlete-sponsorship landscape in trail and ultrarunning.
Sponsors:
- Rabbit - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://www.runinrabbit.com/discount/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- HVMN - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://hvmn.com/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
Timestamps:
- (1:40) - overview of Real Athlete Diets (RAD), role in trail and ultrarunning community
- (2:52) - how relationships are formed between RAD and trail running teams/athletes
- (4:38) - what a standard relationship looks like between RAD and the athlete
- (8:10) - the role that food catering services play in fastest known time (FKT) attempts
- (11:52) - whether these services are a competitive advantage for athletes pursuing FKT attempts
- (14:17) - other interesting food-related logistical insights from FKT attempts
- (17:38) - how to keep athletes as nourished and healthy as possible on long-trail FKT attempts
- (21:49) - final thoughts on food-related FKT logistics
- (24:22) - interests in the athlete-sponsorship relationship, Athletes’ Coalition
- (31:07) - critical questions athletes should be asking in the contract negotiation process
- (38:05) - whether both sides (athlete and sponsor) are generally satisfied with the current state of affairs
- (46:16) - educating athletes earlier in their careers
- (49:33) - whether all athletes and all brands generally want many of the same things out of contracts
- (51:56) - whether the Athlete Manager or marketing team is most influential in the direction of a trail running team
- (56:01) - commenting on trends like team sizes, road versus trail investment, etc
- (61:56) - whether we are still growing or we are at a high point in terms of athlete opportunity in the sport
- (65:06) - final thoughts
Links:
Additional Episodes You May Enjoy:
- #98 - Steff Gardner | How Salomon Is Building Their North American Trail Running Team
- #99 - Robert Muecke | How Adidas Terrex Is Building Their Trail Running Team
- #106 - David Kilgore | How On Is Building Their Trail Running Team
- #108 - Jordan Hamm | How Brooks Running Is Building Their Trail Running Team