Helping running brands, talking about running, talking with runners and doing a bit of running

We’re fortunate to have just come back from Chamonix in the week when the great and the good of the international trail running world descend on this small town in the Alps for the highlight of the year – the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. There are actually 6 races across the week, culminating in the 170km circumnavigation of the Mont Blanc massif, which involves 10,000m or more of ascent. None of the team were racing this year, but as well as plenty of running in the mountains we were busy at the heart of the action in the town on a number of fronts.

Like The Wind party

On Sunday we held a party for the magazine we produce to celebrate the end of the week and the publication of issue 10. It’s become the unofficial race after-party and we were lucky to be blessed by the presence of the Nike Trail Team who placed 3rd (Tim Tollefson), 4th (David Laney) and 6th (Zach Miller) in the UTMB; Salomon athlete Majell Backhausen (6th in the TDS), top Brits Robbie Britton and Holly Rush (11th and 8th woman respectively in the CCC); and top runners and influencers such as Charley Radcliffe and the Advent Running crew.

The party was greatly supported by two of our clients making waves in European running with their superb and distinct offerings for runners. Stance used the party as an opportunity to engage with some of the most influential people in running, who were able to sample and take home the best and coolest performance sock on the market. Strava are an official partner of the UTMB and it was great that they supported the event too.

Strava x Like the Wind UTMB shake-out run

On Thursday we helped Strava put on a run and Q&A with some top runners. A large group of people joined us to jog around the town before finishing at the track for an opportunity to quiz Julien Chorier (who placed 8th), Thomas Lorblanchet and Claudia Schroegel on their preparation and plans for the big race.

Stance and the UTMB

We have been working with Stance for some time as they launch and expand their presence in Europe. While our successful Street Art Tour events have allowed influencers to experience the product in an urban setting, the UTMB gave Stance the opportunity to engage with a different audience in the mountains and on the trails. We created a range of content for their social channels, including this video featuring mountain runner and Stance Punk and Poet Anton Krupicka.

Freestak future and our influencer marketing platform

The whole Freestak team was in Chamonix for the week so we also used the opportunity to spend time together and plot the future of the business, especially our growing platform.

So far we’ve brought together a community of influencers with the reach, creativity and ambition to work with brands, and launched our first campaigns with brands including Mizuno, Cancer Research UK and Caxton FX. (There are more details on our blog.) Over the coming months we’re going to accelerate our plans to create the only destination for brands wanting to engage influencers to effectively spread their messages, further growing our community beyond the UK and into a wider range of sports, and opening the platform up to brands on a subscription basis.

Finally…

If you want to chat about what we did in Chamonix, how our expertise and contacts within endurance sports can help your brand, or about becoming a partner on our influencer marketing platform, please do get in touch.