Michael McKnight | 200 Mile Racing, Arizona Trail Showdown, Running Industry Reflections

Michael McKnight is a professional trail runner for Salomon based in Logan, UT.  You may recognize Michael as one of the top athletes on the 200 mile racing scene and we do talk a bit about that towards the end of the episode, but this conversation delves a fair bit into the philosophical as well as Michael reflects on being outspoken on social media on a whole array of issues, managing a coaching business through turbulent economic times, and the takeaways from working on the corporate side of the sport in many capacities. We also talk about and build up some hype for Michael’s next project - and what I believe is one of the most unique events our sport has seen in a while - a head to head battle for the Arizona Trail FKT taking place in October.

Sponsors:

• Kodiak Cakes - use code Singletrack15 at checkout for 15% off your order
• InsideTracker - go to insidetracker.com/singletrack to get 20% off your order
• Trails and Tarmac - go to trailsandtarmac.com and mention this podcast in the contact form to get 20% off your first month of coaching

Timestamps:

• (3:06) - experience and takeaways working for Altra in customer service, events, and athlete management
• (18:32) - motivations for the move from Altra to Salomon, getting into coaching
• (28:19) - living and training in Logan, UT
• (34:53) - social media, being outspoken about certain hot topics in our sport
• (41:31) - specializing, building a career around 200 mile races
• (47:00) - whether a playbook is forming for how to run 200 milers
• (52:51) - Arizona Trail FKT showdown

Links:

• Follow Michael on Instagram
• Get coached by Michael for 200 mile races

Additional Episodes You May Enjoy:

• #73 - Joe McConaughy | Cocodona 250 Win, Long Trail FKTs, Coaching Ultra Runners