Ever since my wife and I co-founded our first business, life has had a way of progressing in fits and starts. The highs and lows of running multiple businesses are pronounced. And I will admit there are times when the idea of finding a job - where I am clear on; what I am supposed to do; the targets I’m tasked with hitting; and the rewards I can expect to receive - is very attractive.

But then again … running one’s own race is also a gift. As a good friend of mine told me yesterday “Hang in there - you’re incredibly lucky to have been able to create this project/opportunity, intense & scary as it must be - try to “enjoy” the process!” Thank you, Rich. Your words really meant a lot to me.

With 19 days left until we open the doors to Run Culture: Live where we will unveil LtW#50 - plus a trip to Chamonix for UTMB wedged in before that - last week was particularly intense. So I thought I would share some of what I have been up to with you.

Monday

I was in London last weekend and Monday was the penultimate day there. But that was not an excuse to enjoy being back in the city. I started the week with a pivot away from enticing more brands to support RC:L. We have some great partners on-board and they are bringing some fabulous activations to the event. The focus now has to be on finalising the programme and selling the final few tickets.

After a full day of calls, meetings and spreadsheets, Julie and I had dinner with my parents and an early night before the long drive from London back home to Switzerland.

Tuesday

My wife and I had driven to the UK from our home in Switzerland because we had some bits and bobs (actually, quite a lot of stuff) that we needed to bring back with us. But that meant an 11 hour total journey time. Actually, road trips like this are a great opportunity to talk, so I don’t mind. And in general the French autoroutes are a pleasure to traverse (although the quality of the service stations seems to have plummeted - or is that just my perception?)

We had to make one quick stop - in a supermarket carpark, laptop tethered to my phone - for a video call with a brand. And that brought home how oppressive 38°C feels in the full sunshine. But apart from that, the LtW team took on all the day’s work.

Wednesday

Woke up ready to attack the day, albeit still with a slight sense of fatigue from all the driving the day before. But excited for what I had ahead of me.

The main focus for the day was on pulling together the programme for Run Culture: Live. Pairing speakers and storytellers with presenters or panel hosts is a great creative task. Thinking about the dynamics between people and how the programme will flow for two days, is somewhat similar to planning an edition of the magazine (a job now ably managed by our publishing manager and US editor, Adrienne Perron and our global editor, Alex Roddie). I was still not done by the time I jumped into the weekly editorial meeting followed immediately by the marketing team catch up. But I had made progress.

Thursday

Woke up thinking the week needed to be longer. But also thinking about the importance of constraints. A friend who had served in the US military, recently wrote a piece about the need for entrepreneurs to make the most of what they have rather than procrastinating while hoping and dreaming for more. In the military, my friend explained, there’s no point wishing you had different, more or better equipment. You have what you have. No go do your best.

We announced some new speakers and activations at RC:L - my personal highlight being someone I admire as an athlete, author, activist and wonderful human being - Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, with whom I will have the privilege of sharing the stage on day two of RC:L.

We were also delighted to announce that British-Australian middle distance track star Adam Fogg will be joining us for a discussion about the recent resurgence in interest in four-lap racing.

I wrapped up the day with a video call with our friends at HOKA to discuss the live interview I will be conducting with ultra-runner and Death Cab For Cutie lead singer Ben Gibbard, at the brand’s On Top Of The Mountain base in Chamonix during UTMB week. If you are in Cham for UTMB and want to come and hear me and Ben talk about ultra running, music, creativity and more, the details are here plus the rest of the programme looks great. I was stoked to be on the call with my good friends Dylan Bowman from FreeTrail and Thomas Neuberger from Believe in the Run - the three of us are all hosting shows for HOKA. I left that call full of energy. But also wondering about what to wear in order to not be the worst-dressed man amongst this group.

Friday

When I checked my calendar first thing, Friday appeared to have very few meetings scheduled - which I saw as a positive thing. But that did not mean a relaxed day. I had a call with the team at PUMA about how the brand will show up at RC:L (I can’t give much away, but it will be really fascinating for the visitors). Plus calls with two people interested in supporting the growth of Like the Wind. It is always exciting to talk about the direction we are taking and a good reality check to dig into how much progress we have made and how much more there is to do.

The rest of the day was working on my introduction for LtW#50 (our editor Alex has kindly allowed me to step back in and write the “Ed’s letter” for this milestone edition) as well as a piece about some of the ways running has changed in the 12+ years since we started LtW. Thinking about that story has reminded me that it really was a very different scene back then!

Saturday

Yesterday involved no meetings. Which allowed for some “thinking with the hand” - meaning writing by hand. It’s a phrase I borrowed from my favourite notebook brand Leuchtturm1917, which they in turn adapted from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant who said "The hand is the window to the mind".

I finished the day feeling positive about the shape of the RC:L programme. And excited - if also a little nervous - about the next few weeks. What I will say is that if you are coming to Run Culture: Live (and quick heads-up - early bird pricing ends tonight) or you’ll be in Chamonix for UTMB, I would love to know. Meeting fellow runners is my biggest pleasure, so let’s make a point of trying to say “hello” at some point.

All in all, this week has been a blast. As runners, we know that linear progression is not the norm. Probably not even possible. I’m finding out that it is the same for growing a business. As my brother texted me earlier this week:

“How can you let anyone down if you’ve given your all? If you went to run a race and knew, at the end, you had some left in the tank, you’d know you hadn’t given it your all and couldn’t complain at losing. If you go all out, that is always a win. Giving everything is all anyone can ask of you.”

Couldn’t put it better myself, bro.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Co-founder and Publisher

The famous writer and pioneer of narrative non-fiction, John McPhee, wrote that the job of the opening sentence or paragraph of any piece of writing - the lead in other words - is to act as a "searchlight" illuminating the rest of the piece of writing. In other words, you need the start of a story to draw the reader into what comes next.

That idea resonates with me. Not just as a fan of narrative non-fiction but also as an entrepreneur trying to build Like the Wind as a specialist running media business. You need the “first” of any project or business to shine a light on what is to come.

When my wife Julie and I launched Like the Wind in February 2014, we had no experience as publishers. In order to make the magazine, we asked people who we thought would know more than us about what we needed to do. We watched YouTube videos and read blogs. And when the path forward was not clear, we made some decisions that just felt right.

Today, with the benefit of hindsight, I’ll openly admit that LtW#1 was pretty bad. At least half of the stories were written by me (not a great writer). And those that weren’t my work, I attempted to edit using an “idiots guide to editing” as my guide. The design was … well, perhaps “functional” is the kindest way to describe it. I remember we had to Google “what font size should you use for a magazine”. And we used a stock image to illustrate one of the pieces.

But, on a very wet Wednesday night - in the middle of a three-day public transport strike - at a bar in central London, we unveiled the first edition of our magazine in front of a room full of friends, peers, luminaries of the running world and contributors.

Was LtW#1 perfect? Far from it. Were we happy? I’d say only partially - we could not unsee all the mistakes. But as the mini-poster that I used to have pinned on the wall next to my desk announced: “done is beautiful”.

And on that night in 2014, hundreds of people came to celebrate the birth of LtW. That confirmed to us that we were making a magazine for people, not worrying about algorithms and brands’ sensibilities.

Today, we created the cover image for LtW#50, with a very talented photographer we have worked with before plus our head of design, Fergus and Julie as creative director. In my humble opinion, this is going to be one of our best covers ever - and that is saying something, because over the years we have had some fantastic covers.

We will unveil LtW#50 at Run Culture: Live.

And RC:L will plunge us back into the position where we are creating something for the first time. Not only will RC:L be Like the Wind’s first multi-day event. It will be the first of its kind in the running world.

Will RC:L be perfect? No. I am sure of that and we still have a month to go. Will it be a reflection of what makes LtW special and unique? Yes. And most importantly, it will exist for people who love running and storytelling.

Building something from scratch is messy. Through my work at LtW, I regularly have the privilege of talking to business leaders and entrepreneurs in the running world. Amongst them are people who have started or now steer household names in the running world. And they all tell me the same thing - in one form or another - that creating is inherently chaotic and confusing. But all the more rewarding as a result.

If you are coming to Run Culture: Live you’ll be the first to see the cover of LtW#50 plus the elements we are adding to make this milestone issue extre-special. And I will make one promise to you right now - it will be done and it will be beautiful!

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

The intersection where Like the Wind lives is where running and storytelling come together. But what does it mean to be a runner and a reader?

The co-founder of Nike, Bill Bowerman, said that if you have a body, you are an athlete. Another American - John Bingham - said “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years.”

I think many people struggle to identify as being a runner, at least at the start. I know that it wasn’t until I was running several times per week, had joined a running club in London and owned a handful of technical t-shirts that I considered myself to be a runner. But nowadays I would say that if one makes a decision to run for the sake of running, then that person is a runner. Frequency, speed, distance … none of that matters in my books.

And what about reading? If you read, are you a reader? I think this might be a very similar situation to running. If you read for pleasure (and sadly the number of people who do that has been in decline for a while now) then I would say you are a reader.

But in the same way that if you once ran for the bus, you can’t really consider yourself to be a runner, if you only ever read the ingredients on the side of a food packet or read the instructions for a new gadget, you’re not really a reader.

Which is why at Like the Wind, we seek a very specific type of person. Someone who makes time to run and to read.

From time to time I meet people who tell me they don’t have time to run. And I meet others who tell me they don’t have time to read. And in both cases, I feel pretty confident that what they mean is that they don’t find the time for running and reading. It’s all a matter of what you prioritise. DataReportal has released data showing that on average, adults in the United States spend over seven hours per day on screens - laptops, television, tablets and, of course, their phones.

It’s a painfully obvious statement, but some of those hours could be spent not looking at a screen. I’ll acknowledge that there are many jobs where working on a computer is required (my job, included). But remember, the 7+ hours of screen time is an average across all people, which includes builders, farmers, nurses, emergency services personnel … those who do not need to look at screens while they work (and arguably, shouldn’t!) A second report from the US showed that in 2025, the average adult spent three to four hours per day on personal, non-work related screen time.

I am as guilty as anyone of sitting for hours in front of my laptop for work and then struggling to avoid ending up on a video streaming service or - worse - social media after the work day is done. But much like going for a run, I have never regretted an hour with a book or a magazine instead of an hour of doom-scrolling. What I know for an absolute certainty is that I get to choose where to direct my attention and how I spend my time.

So for that reason, I am proud to say that as often as possible I am a reader and a runner. I guess that is why Like the Wind exists, because 12+ years ago, Julie and I created the magazine we wanted to read. I can only hope the same is true for you too.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

P.S. if you are in London on 4th and 5th September and fancy a night of in-real-life storytelling, films and more, tickets for Run Culture: Live are on sale now.

The etymology of the word “magazine” has been traced back to the same root that gives us the name for the receptacle for bullets in a gun. That might seem like an odd connection, but it does make sense when you go back a few hundred years.

The original word was the Arabic word “makhzan” which means a storehouse. French and Italian traders adopted the name, which evolved in Middle French to “magasin”, still used today as the word for a shop. At some point military adoption meant the “magazine” became the place where gunpowder and ammunition were kept. Hence the link to guns.

But then, in 1731, The Gentleman's Magazine was launched. And the publishers used the word “magazine” to describe this new type of title, because it was a collection of different ideas, articles and voices.

Which is what most people think about, if they consider a magazine today - a collection of different articles, features, stories, images and perhaps news.

So far, so what?

Going beyond ink-on-paper

Well if this definition is taken at face value, then a magazine can be - but doesn’t have to be - a collection of words and images printed on paper and bound into a convenient publication. But by the same token, a magazine can be a radio show, a podcast, a television broad case or - drum roll, please - an event.

After years (and I mean years!) of talking about putting on a “proper” event, the Like the Wind team has unveiled Run Culture: Live. A two-day gathering of runners, in central London, where we can all enjoy storytelling, panel discussions, live interviews, art, creativity and more.

Doing it the hard way

Hiring a venue that can hold hundreds of people, bringing on-board a small number of brands, installing a stage and cinema-quality screen, etc in one of the most expensive cities in the world is a significant undertaking.

Coordinating guests, films, creators, podcasters and more is challenging. Selling hundreds of tickets is really difficult.

But that is the point, really. If something is easy, it is almost always valueless because everyone is doing it, so differentiation is an uphill battle. That is part of the reason we publish LtW in print. There are significant barriers to producing a print title (if you’re interested, ask me and I’ll tell you about all the bumps in the road we have encountered and continue to encounter) but what we create is valued all the more as a result.

The same goes for an event. I believe people innately understand that curating and hosting a two-day event is difficult. And they value it all the more because of that.

Want to join us?

We are hoping that Run Culture: Live (aka RCL) will be the first in a series of annual gatherings around storytelling, art and community. So if you are in or near London or you can swing a trip to the city (it’s really worth visiting, I promise!) then we’d love to see you there.

The details are as follows:

• When: 4th and 5th September

• Where: Truman Brewery, central London

• What: Live storytelling, films, podcast recordings, great local beer, food, music and more

• Tickets are available now at www.runculture.co

I hope we’ll see many of the people who subscribe to, buy or follow Like the Wind at RCL. If you have questions or ideas, please drop me a line.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Tim Ferris has just published the sales data for his physical books. And the numbers are shocking. You can read his post here. But the most striking point is that in 2026, sales of his books are down -57% vs. 2025.

Ferris is, of course, an award winning, best selling author of title including the 4 Hour Work Week and the 4 Hour Body as well as a popular podcaster. So he is in the perfect position to speculate about why sales of his books - and books of the same non-fiction, self-help, informational type - are seeing such a precipitous drop in sales. Here’s what Ferris wrote:

In 2026, millions believe that the best interface is a free chatbot that has read my books—and thousands of others—that will give you a personalized protocol in 15 seconds, adjusted for your bodyweight, your schedule, your injuries, and your aversion to cottage cheese.

Gathering and packaging information - however shallowly and badly summerised - is part of what LLMs were designed for. Scraping data. Plagiarising ideas. Skipping the tedious, time consuming task of actually reading someone’s concepts and suggestions, nuance and all.

Ferris is obviously concerned about the impact AI will have on how he makes a living. But he is reasonably upbeat (even making a comment I loved, especially after I watched Odysseus at the cinema last night: “I’m tying myself to the mast of long-form”) suggesting that actually the way forward is backwards: to the concept of 1,000 true fans. [Side note, Seth Godin - one of the most powerful proponents of that idea - commented on Ferris’ post].

Far be it for me to disagree with a New York Times best seller author, but I actually think Ferris might not be thinking radically enough. There are almost no moats around non-fiction when it comes to AI - the information is all out there. Even in e-books, which LLMs are consuming. No, I think the only moata are creativity and print.

Like the Wind has never been about chasing numbers. For years I watched traditional running magazines jump on the social media bandwagon and try to beat Facebook at its own game. They thought they could “use” social media channels to grow their audience. But they had their lunch eaten by Meta and the others, who hoovered up all the advertising spend that was deployed purely based on one metric - supposed “reach”. No magazine claiming a circulation of 100,000 copies can go toe-to-toe with a platform that has half the world’s population as “users” (interesting word, that) Those traditional magazine titles that stuck to their existing models either don’t exist any more, or they are a shadow of their former selves.

We never created Like the Wind to be “AI proof” - 12+ years ago when we launched the magazine (have I mentioned, LtW#50 is coming out in September?) AI was not a topic anyone I knew was talking about. But we did intend for it to be the opposite of social media - printed, tangible, long form, thoughtful and beautiful. The arrival of AI has simply solidified that position.

AI will never be able to plagiarise LtW. Because we don’t publish much of the magazine online or in a digital form. And we will always (and I mean, always) refuse to publish work that has not been made by a human.

I don’t want this to come across as anti-AI. Far from it. I just believe there is a time and a place for most things. And non-fictional and fictional writing, art, photography and craft - especially about something as physical as running - is neither the time or the place.

So what does all this mean? Well, for the LtW team, it means business as usual: making a magazine for our members and subscribers, not to chase advertising revenue; doing everything we can to have as deep a relationship with our readers as possible; always looking for ways to keep our members happy; and pushing ourselves to do more that AI can’t infiltrate (see below for the next iteration of that).

As Ferris says:

“Voice, taste, and personality may end up being the only durable moats. But “give me the 5 steps to X”? That’s a tough business that’s about to get a lot tougher.”

That is why Like the Wind will remain in the “voice, taste and personality” business. And we’re not leaving!

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Announcing Run Culture: Live - London, 4th and 5th September.

Since day one (those of you with us for a while will hopefully attest to this) Like the Wind has organised events and gatherings. From our issue one launch party in 2014 in a bar in east London to our Summer Party, an annual fixture in Chamonix, France to our 10th Birthday Party (back in that same east London bar) in 2024 to our specialty running retailer tour the same year, getting together with like-minded people to share stories (and some refreshments) has been a foundational part of what makes us tick.

Now we are excited (and a little “start line scared”) to announce Run Culture: Live - a two day event in Truman Brewery, central London - where we will bring the magazine to life, with storytelling, panel discussions, art, creative workshops and more.

Confirmed speakers include: sprint legend Linford Christie, road-to-trail athlete Molly Seidel, Olympian and team leader Colleen Quigley, award winning author Adharanand Finn, running crew movement founder, DJ and poet Charlie Dark and many, many more.

We’d love as many of you to join us as possible. This will be a small, intimate event (and the pilot for more RC: Live events from 2027 onwards) so you can find out more and register your interest for tickets here.

RC: Live

Thanks for reading. As always, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or drop me a line.

All the best.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Apologies for starting with such a terrible pun. I’m writing this on a train from Paris on my way home and the combination of too much coffee and too much thinking time meant that once the title came to my mind, I couldn’t shake it. Anyway, onwards.

I spent last week in London where I hosted a Like the Wind storytelling hour at the Acid Running pop-up store on the King’s Road. It was a lovely evening and I’m grateful to the three people who agreed to tell their stories (public speaking takes guts), the dozens of LtW members who joined us, and the Acid Running team for making us feel so welcome. If you missed the event, I’m sorry. I hope you can make it to one in the future.

And then on Tuesday I took the Eurostar from London to Paris for a week of running activities happening at Paris Fashion Week.

In case you are wondering why and how Paris Fashion Week has become a significant moment in the running calendar, you are not alone. Indeed in an attempt to answer that question, last year we dispatched Josh Rosenthal (writer and podcaster) and Christian Brecheis (photographer) to the city for the summer fashion week to write a feature for LtW#46. This year I thought it was high time I went myself.

What I discovered was that - once again - some of the most interesting things in running are happening at the edges.

The idea that in any aspect of life, what is happening away from the mainstream is the most interesting, is not new. It shows up in music, art, cooking, the automotive sector, literature, technology and - yes - fashion. And from what I saw in Paris, some of the most interesting things happening in running, are happening during an event that is famous for many things, but fitness has not traditionally been one of them (as evidenced by the gaggles of smokers clogging the entrance to several of the running brand activations I attended).

After covering an ultra marathon, criss-crossing the city, I have ended up with two main take aways from PFW:

Brands are (or want to be considered) edgy and culturally relevant

This is nothing new. But it was striking how many legacy brands - often owned by huge conglomerates - were keen to show that they have a cool side. This was especially true where lifestyle and running intersect. There were numerous examples of running brands bringing crews - with which they have aligned themselves - to Paris for activations that involved a lot of noise and hype. The same happened with retailers and cafes in the city, where brands supplied the cash and these partners brought the vibes. This also showed up in the way many legacy brands had pop-up spaces where they showcased running shoes that were either core models presented in exclusive - mainly monochrome - colour-ways or shoes that were based on models from the archives (which seemed to be divided into those that were more or less “runnable”).

The new kids on the block know they need to work harder

The number of new brands - those I’ll call challengers to the status quo - exhibiting at PFW was impressive. That included those that have secured enough investment and momentum to inhabit beautiful, architectural spaces, to others that had rented an apartment and turned the lounge into a showroom. The quantity and variety of new players was really exciting. And it was clear that these new(er) brands know that they can’t compete head-on with the marketing budgets and public awareness of legacy brands. So they have to look for areas which are less populated. In many cases that takes the form of design and aesthetics. In some cases it is about what the brands stand for. And in a few cases, it comes down to what those brands stand against. Whatever the route to differentiating themselves, this year at fashion week showed there is very much something for everyone.

In both cases, the legacy and emerging brands were in Paris to put on a show. It was fashion week after all. The emphasis was not on the performance aspects of their products. There was very little discussion about shoe weights, stack heights and the wicking properties of materials used in garment construction. I think that is because these qualities are a given nowadays. No amount of aesthetics and brand positioning will overcome products that are quite simply a bit crap. Instead, what I saw was masterclass after masterclass in how to attract and maintain a tribe that resonates with a brand and its products.

All of the different positioning makes for a more diverse and even fractured market. Long gone are the days when all running brands essentially looked the same. Now runners are able to bring their personalities to their running through what they wear and the brands with which they align themselves. For many people, running is no longer something you just do, it’s an expression of who you are. And at Like the Wind, we’re here for that. LtW exists to tell stories about global running culture, wherever and however that shows up. Paris was a concentrated collection of the diversity that exists in running. And I have no doubt that this year - as has been the case since the Covid 19 pandemic loosened its grip - is another step on a road to running being one of the most powerful expressions of people’s personalities.

As for me, I loved seeing all the running tribes and brands in Paris and perhaps a little more sure of what brands I personally resonate with. But I’d be dishonest if I didn’t also say that I was in Paris for the croissants.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind Publisher, Pastry Connoisseur and Bewildered Fashionista

Photos by Henry Shipton

Just two days ago - on Friday night - Like the Wind hosted a storytelling hour at an Acid Running pop-up space in London. And it was the perfect expression of what we love to do. This was the programme:

6pm: Doors open and people arrive, grab a drink and start chatting.
7pm: Everyone gathers to hear four stories. The first one was read by me from LtW#1. That was followed by a poet - who answered a few of my questions and then read her poem from a recent edition of the magazine, then an artist who has illustrated several times for LtW who discussed the connection between his art and running and finally a community event organiser who explained why he chose running to support people’s physical and mental health.
8pm: Pizzas arrived. Everyone dug in and continued chatting.
9pm: The attendees started to make their ways home.

There were no fireworks. No live streaming. No razzamatazz. Just people coming together to spend a couple of hours with like-minded humans.

Over the 12 years that LtW has existed, we have seen - again and again - that the equation that works best for us is simple: bring people together, tell stories … that’s it. And that simplicity contains within it such joyful variety. Every story is different. Every storyteller has their own style. Every group has a different dynamic. And every location has a unique vibe.

We see this with the magazine itself. I remember when Julie and I started LtW, someone asked whether I was worried that we would “run out of content”. That was the least of my fears. Of course, there are a relatively limited number of story archetypes. But within those frameworks, there exists an infinite range of experiences, inner monologues, reasons why and memories being made. And then there are infinite environments, weather conditions, views and so on.

So while the canvas remains ink on paper, the words and images will never, ever feel repetitive. The same goes for the events we organise.

That is the beauty of stories - there’s no end to them.

This year has already started well with the storytelling event on Friday. And there is a lot more to come. Plus there will be more posts on our Substack (I’m ashamed that I didn’t maintain a regular cadence of posts - I’ve set myself a target of fixing that in 2026).

For now, if you are interested in more stories from LtW, may I suggest you sign up for our two emails - LtW Notes (a collection of stories from around the internet that we gather together every two weeks) and LtW:LR (a single long form story for you to read at your leisure send one per fortnight).

All that remains is for me to wish you all the best and happy running!

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and Enthusiastic (If Not Fully Competent) Public Storyteller

I’m writing this sat in a field at a music festival called We Out Here, surrounded by stages on which jazz, funk, dance and world music artists are entertaining 20-or-so thousand revellers who are all slowly cooking in the heat. After just one day, I’ve seen acts of such great quality that the admission price has already been justified. Last night I bumped into Theo, the founder of Love Trails Festival and two of his colleagues. They are here to arrange trail runs for the more enthusiastic festival-goers.

But the fact there is a daily run - which is a very tenuous link to running - is not the reason I’m telling you what I’m doing this weekend. It’s actually to do with shared interests. The crowd at We Out Here come together because of a shared love of the type of music on the programme. The people who attend Love Trails Festival do so because they all love running and partying. The readers of Like the Wind spend their money and time on the stories we publish because they are drawn to long form storytelling that explores global running culture. Or at least that’s what we believe …

In recent weeks Like the Wind has embarked on a survey of our subscribers and readers to understand why they subscribe to or buy the magazine, what we’re doing well and where we can improve or do more. This project is being ably led by Mat, who is our community champion. If you’ve received a link to the survey (not everyone will) but you’ve yet to take the survey, I’ll be very grateful if you can spare the time to help us make LtW better.

The reason a survey like the one we’re conducting is so important is that making assumptions about why people become customers, buy something, use a service or subscribe to a product is a sure-fire way to miss opportunities to make improvements. Which is a sure-fire way to a decline in fortunes.

The people organising the We Out Here festival know that some people love the jazzier end of the programme while others are here for the dance music. Some will get to the site first thing for the relaxed world music artists while others will emerge from their tents mid-afternoon ready to rave until the early hours. There is a shared love of a certain type of music. But there are differences within the group. That is why the organisers will survey everyone that came - to try to figure out how to make next year better.

There’s a myth in business that success stories are built by visionaries that created demand for something people didn’t know they needed or wanted. That is not quite true. What successful businesses do is see a need, offer a product that attempts to fill that need and then talks to their customers to make the thing the business does as good or relevant as it can be. It’s an inexact science, for sure. But that’s no reason to not attempt the challenge. I’m grateful to the LtW team and to those of you who support the magazine in some way for joining us on the journey. If you have ideas for how we can make what we do better, I’m always interested to hear from you.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and very occasional festival-goer

In his book The Infinite Game, author and speaker Simon Sinek posits the idea that life is full of infinite games and that business should be no different. Sinek pillories business leaders who talk about winning or beating the competition. Because in an infinite game there are no winners. The point of the game is to keep playing. Sinek says that this is true of many areas of life - one I particularly like is the idea that there is no winning at marriage. The idea of marriage is to … stay married. Perhaps that is an overly simplistic notion, but it does make the point that at the start, at least, the idea of getting together is to stay together.

In business I have always thought about the long term and what we as a team can achieve. Not the end. A few years after Julie - my wife and the co-founder of both the businesses I have been involved in launching - started our first enterprise, we had the opportunity to join an accelerator which would support us as we developed our idea. On the first week I chatted with the founder of another business that had been selected for the programme. We told each other about our ideas and then my new friend asked me what our exit strategy was. I had no idea how to answer. All I was focussed on was building the company. Selling it or getting out wasn't on my mind at all at that point. I definitely got the sense that my answer marked me out to this fellow entrepreneur as a bit of a loser (although it is worth noting that Julie and I did end up selling our first business while the chap who had been so dismissive of my thinking folded his company after going bankrupt a year after the accelerator ended, so you know … )

Now my focus is on Like the Wind. And once again, I have no exit plan. No idea of what the very long term future will be. I do know what the business can achieve in the next 12 months, the next three years and the next decade. I also know what we need to do in the next weeks and months. First up: we are sending the upcoming edition of the magazine - LtW#46 - to print next week. We have a launch plan to finalise and then execute. We’ll be at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc as a team (I’m so excited about getting everyone together for the first time!)

In this regards, as in many others, Like the Wind is a lot like running. Yes, there are finish lines - print deadlines, launches and selling out of copies of the magazine. But there is no single final, ultimate finish line. Every success is a stage on a longer journey. We know that the future for LtW will not be the same as the past … there are so many exciting launches coming that I’m extremely excited to tell you about. But each edition of the magazine, each event, each new project and so on will aggregate, rather than signalling the end.

I guess the same is for you and I am always excited to hear about other people’s journeys, whether that is one of running, entrepreneurship, study or anything else really. So if you have the time and inclination, drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.

And in the meantime, good luck with whatever journey you are on. Enjoy the successes / finish lines and let’s all look forward to what is ahead.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind Publisher and finish line collector

Like the Wind has existed for almost 12 years. During the early years, because Julie and I had few expectations for the fledgling magazine, we didn’t really worry about how it was growing. Or even if it was growing. All we worried about was improving the quality of the stories, images and design, printing the magazine on time and getting copies shipped to our readers as quickly and efficiently as possible. Of course, we would be excited when we sold more copies than the previous edition or we hosted an event where more people than we were expecting showed up. But LtW was a fun creative outlet and so we didn’t push very hard to make it bigger or more successful.

In the last couple of years that laid back attitude has changed somewhat. Now we feel that LtW deserves to grow and the cultural zeitgeist is primed and ready for a high quality, long form publication that focuses its storytelling on running culture. We believe that the contributions we publish deserve to be read and seen by more people. Our colleagues deserve to work for a growing business. And our brand partners want to be supporting an organisation that is going in the right direction. So we are being more intentional about how we promote LtW.

Part of that intentionality is recording what we are doing and measuring the results of our activity. Pretty basic business practice, right?

What has become apparent is that whilst the effort and investment is as consistent as we can make it, the results are not. They come in fits and starts. As my friend David Callaghan, co-CEO at UltraSignup, wrote to me today “I remain hopeful that there will be bursts of progress”. And I think that is a perfect mindset for any entrepreneur.

The same idea of progress being inconsistent tends to also be true for runners. It was for me, at least. As we all know (and as I keep reminding myself) consistency is key when it comes to training. But progress and results come clustered together. I clearly remember reaching a plateau after I had run my first sub-3 hour marathon. Getting quicker seemed beyond me. Thankfully I had a good training group (big shout out to the Mornington Chasers from 2008 onwards) that kept me from doing anything stupid. And then, seemingly out of the blue, I ran a sub-2h45m marathon. Then six months later a sub-2h40m race. Shortly after that, I ran my personal best of 2h37m07s. The improved times all felt like they came in a rush after a period of stagnation. Perhaps you have experienced the same in your running life (if so, I’d love to hear about it … sharing stories like this is always interesting to me).

It is a cliche that running is an analogy for life. But something is a cliche because it is true. So as I sit writing this at the end of another week when every member of the Like the Wind team have put their best feet forwards, I am confident that we’ll see a “burst of progress” soon. In the meantime, I am hopeful - assured, even - that we are all enjoying the journey. All it will take is trust in the process and continuous effort. Simple, right?

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind Publisher and Process Truster

There’s an inherent tension in running (and most - if not all - outdoor activities) around the idea that everyone would be better off spending more time being active, ideally outside, while also acknowledging that many of the environments in which people are active are fragile and under threat.

Last weekend I was in California for two weeks during which I witnessed the Broken Arrow Skyrace and the Western States Endurance Run (WSER). And as I write this, I am in Chamonix, France for the Arc’teryx Academy. All three events were world class experiences for the participants and fans. And they also - each in their own ways - were advertisements for getting active outdoors. But the area around Olympic Valley, California and the Chamonix Valley, France are delicate ecosystems, vulnerable to climate change and the impact of humans who seek to exploit the resources these places offer.

By way of two small examples of how climate change is impacting these places, I took to the trails to run part of the WSER course last weekend. It was blisteringly hot, touching on 40 degrees centigrade by the time I finished. And the area surrounding the trails and as far as the eye could see, was covered in the burned carcasses of trees lost to wild fires that have happened in the last couple of years. I could not help but feel that this land was not built to withstand the heat and that people running through it was almost reckless.

Then when I came to Chamonix, I checked the weather (you never know if a duvet jacket or waterproof shell will be required even during a heatwave in July) and was presented with a measure for the air quality: “Poor” intoned the weather app. I have been here for a summit on air quality, so I know that this not an isolated occurrence. The huge number of diesel lorries crossing from France into Italy and back using the Tunnel du Mont Blanc, means that the valley gets flooded with pollutants which are then trapped and concentrated by hot air that sits over the town like a lid.

And yet in both places, local governments, brands, athletes and many other well-meaning parties, are on a mission to make trail running - and being outdoors generally - more accessible. To get more people to lace up and head out. And that means more vehicles, more waste, more consuming.

I don’t know how I feel about all this. On the one hand, as I ran with a group in Chamonix yesterday, which included two people who had never run on the trails before, I was overjoyed to see their smiles and hear their enthusiasm for this activity and this place both of which I love. In California, I met families who were bringing their young children to the wilderness to see athletes take on 100 miles of beautiful mountain trails and hike some of the routes themselves. Those young people could well grow up to have lives filled with health-improving outdoor sport and adventure.

I’m also aware that I am part of the problem. I flew to California. I drove to Chamonix. I impact the environment when I’m in these places. Multiply my impact by thousands or hundreds of thousands of people and we have the problems that are so clearly evident today. And let’s not forget, Like the Wind is also involved - we publish stories that we hope inspire, move, educate and motivate people. And some stories are bound to sow the seed of wanderlust in our readers. We have even been accused of “chopping down trees which is bad for the environment” - to which I have to say that the server farms using gigawatts of electricity to power social media channels are far worse for the environment than the regenerative forestry practices that supply the paper we use. But hey, why let the truth get in the way of a good story.

I guess in the end, we each have to try to make good decisions. No human is going to live on the planet and not have an impact on it. So it is a matter of making the impact we do have as positive as possible. Certainly as I ran through the cool forest on the southern side of the Chamonix Valley yesterday, with the dappled sunlight giving the trails a magical look, I knew that I was exactly where I wanted to be and clear that as much as possible I will make choices that do as little harm as possible.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind publisher and conflicted outdoors fan

The snow that started falling on Palisades Tahoe yesterday afternoon was not expected. But while a few people (me included) were caught out by being unprepared for the cold snap, the general feeling was that the dusting of snow just added to the magic. Because that is what everyone has been feeling at the Broken Arrow Skyrace - a sense of magic and wonder. On Friday we had gale force winds. Yesterday snow. Plus we’ve had blue skies and t-shirt temperatures. Oh and thousands of runners pitting themselves against courses ranging from 11km to 46km. What a buzz there has been.

Before the unexpected snow yesterday, I stood - cheering - on the side of the course close to the finish of the 11km race and the start of the second loop of the 46km event. Some runners were about to complete their challenge, where they would ring the bell hanging above the finish line and be anointed by a member of the Skyrace team with their wooden medal. Other athletes grabbed fresh bottles of water and a couple of gels from their support crew before heading off again for the second half of their race. And as I watched this spectacle unfold, I talked to a colleague in the running industry about how meaningful this sport and activity is for so many people while also being pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of life. Starting in one places and exerting effort to run in a big circle to return to the same place some time later, does not have a big impact on society or the planet. And yet …

To see the people at the race yesterday - athletes, supporters and organisers - was to witness something very special. A coming-together of people with a shared passion. It was witnessing people achieving something unexpected. Learning something about themselves previously unknown. It was seeing people changed - even if only a little - by the majesty of the mountains and by community.

The reason I felt all this so deeply is that like many entrepreneurs, I often consider the “why” behind what we do at Like the Wind. As the business leadership author Simon Sinek wrote in his book Start With Why, many people work in companies where they know what they do and how they do it, but far fewer know why. And without the “why” success is far less likely.

Yesterday I was reminded of one part of the “why” behind Like the Wind: creating and being part of a global community of runners. Geographically, California is a long way from where I live in Switzerland. It is a long way from where all the members of the LtW team live. In the majority of cases, California is a long way from where our contributors live. And yet, Palisades Tahoe felt like home yesterday. In the same way that the streets of New York or Berlin - when they are filled with runners - feel like home. Or how Hampstead Heath in London, during the national cross country race, feels like home. Same goes for stadia around the world during athletics meets. Or how it feels in a quiet carpark, on a chilly morning as the sun rises and a gaggle of runners - bouncing on their toes and clapping their hands together for warmth - wait for a couple more members of their training group before setting off for the day’s run. Home is truly where the runners are. And I’m grateful and humbled that Like the Wind can be part of that. Even if I came completely un-prepared for snow on this trip!

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind Publisher and happy global running family member

In business, people also regularly talk about entire sectors. But entrepreneurs know that they have to focus on a much smaller part - the mile they are in - because the wide lens view can be intimidating or depressing (or both).

In recent months a couple of friends in the running industry have told me that “print is in decline”. Now I respect both these men. But I also wonder whether they are actually doing research into the media sector (I suspect they aren’t because they are so busy building their own businesses outside of the media space). My intuition is that they are probably simply repeating the commonly held view that “print is dead” (thanks Egon Spengler).

There is no doubt that the number of print titles and the total volume of printed material has dropped since a long-ago heyday in the 1950s or 60s. The internet delivered on its promise to be a significantly more efficient and cost-effective delivery system for much of the content that people used to get from printed media. The arrival of social media accelerated that trend by providing a source of entertainment (distraction?) that challenged the incumbent media channels. But, much like in other industry sectors, that is not the whole story.

Here are a couple of industry trends that impact where I live in Switzerland.

In 2024 the world drank less wine than in any of the previous 60 years. Part of a trend that has been observed for several years now (excluding the Covid period when people apparently were drowning their sorrows and alcohol consumption actually increased). This trend has resulted in many headlines along the lines of “The wine sector is doomed”. But that is a view based on a very surface understanding of the situation. The total amount of wine sold has fallen, but the amount of premium, super-premium, organic and biodynamic wine being sold has actually increased. If you are in the cheap, industrially produced wine sector, you should be rightly worried. But if you are making a high quality product, not so much.

There is often a similar view of the mechanical watch making industry. The emergence of digital and quartz (battery powered) watches reduced the demand for mechanical watches. And the ubiquity of smartphones has further reduced the sales of wristwatches, especially mechanical ones. So many people I speak to, when I tell them I live in the heart of the Swiss watch making industry, tell me authoritatively that “no one buys mechanical watches any more”. However according to Cognitive Market Research: “The mechanical watch market was estimated to be worth approximately USD 62,514.8 million in 2024 and is projected to increase to USD 103,461.7 million by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% during the forecast period … The rising trend of customization, limited-edition collections, and vintage watch investments has significantly contributed to market growth.” There has been a decline in the market for some mid-priced mechanical watches. But high end watch manufacturers - as evidenced by the stream of private jets flying over our apartment and landing in the aerodrome at the end of town - are doing OK.

This is all to say that industries change. But change ≠ death. There are incumbents in every industry who aren’t able or willing to adapt in the face of change. But that does not mean the whole industry is dead. For every Kodak - killed off by the arrival of digital photography - there is a Rolex that simply can’t (or won’t - that’s a topic for another day) make anywhere near enough products to satisfy demand.

What I see in the media world is that there have been changes that are obvious to everyone and which have negatively impacted some businesses and certain sectors. But as we all know, every action provokes a reaction. There is undoubtedly a growing indie publishing world and I am hugely energised to be a part of it.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW co-founder, publisher and OG Ghostbusters fan.

P.S. if you too believe that print is not dead, then the latest edition of Like the Wind might be for you!

P.P.S I will be at Broken Arrow, TrailCon and Western States Endurance Run in a couple of weeks. If you are going to be at any / all of these and fancy meeting for a run, a coffee or a beer, let me know by replying to this Substack.

It might be a case of frequency illusion but recently I seem to continually be seeing posts and articles predicting that we have reached “peak running”. So much so that my good friend Mario Fraioli and I recorded an episode of his excellent podcast - The Morning Shakeout - discussing that very subject. And then this morning I read a piece by the organisers of consumer running shows that theorised the exact opposite.

So what is going on?

I think it is inevitable that when something attracts the attention of a large number of people, there will be a period of heat and then a cooling off. You see it frequently. For example, athleisure was everywhere a decade ago and then several anti-reactions picked up momentum, perhaps the most obvious coming in the form of “quiet luxury”. The same was the case with gorp-core which saw people wearing highly technical waterproof jackets and hiking or trail running footwear in city centres (and even spawned a trend of social media content creators wearing their shell jackets in the shower as a way of showing off). There appears to be a lot less of that now.

For a while, both athleisure and gorp-core burned bright in the public consciousness. And then faded away.

So does the same fate await running? Well, on the surface it might appear that some of the same factors are in play: surging demand (for hype brands’ products and race entries for example), rising levels of brand investment, social media clamour, traditional media interest (you know it is a trend when the Daily Mail piles on), growing numbers of specialist interest groups and more. And it is worth noting that with the increased popularity has come a shift in the demographics of running - more young people are participating than has been the case for a very long time - which is a hallmark of a trend.

But running is not the same as reaching for the dressing-up box. In the cases of athleisure and gorp-core, participation was simply a matter of spending money and then wearing the gear. And aside from real - or perceived - heightened social status, wearing a fashionable outfit doesn’t generally confer much real benefit. Running, on the other hand, is not just a matter of getting dressed (although that is definitely part of it). Running involves … well, running. And running does deliver tangible benefits. So people who start to run regularly - even if they have been inspired to do so by seeing that running is booming - are highly likely to feel positive, life-enhancing differences. Which are what will keep them coming back.

Of course, I imagine there will be people who have jumped on the running popularity bandwagon who might jump onto a different one when that starts to become “the next big thing”. But I am confident that many newly minted runners have quickly found that it is an activity and sport that is worth keeping in their lives.

Like the Wind magazine was launched in 2014. Long before the Covid-19 pandemic that undoubtedly had a significant part to play in the rise of running’s popularity. Which in turn has birthed so many new runners, running brands and crews. It goes without saying that LtW is enjoying the renaissance of running. But whatever the next decades have in store for our activity and sport, LtW will remain dedicated to it, whether it is considered trendy or not.

All of this is to say that I don’t think we have reached “peak running” because that suggests it is all downhill from here (and as any runner know, if someone in a group in which you are running says “don’t worry, it’s all downhill from here” you shouldn’t believe them!) I know that due to some very unusual factors, more people than ever are running. And I’m confident that, because of the positive nature of running, many of those people will stick with it.

Whether you are new to running or a seasoned stalwart, I would love to know why you started and what has kept you going. After all, the strap line of Like the Wind is “it’s why we run”. So if you have a moment, please leave a comment. And in the meantime, I hope you have had a great weekend.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW co-founder, publisher and optimist about the future of running

Have you ever had the experience of preparing a meal for others - probably a complicated meal that requires hours of shopping, chopping and cooking - and by the time you serve the food to your grateful guests, you aren’t all that hungry or excited about it? I imagine that is the curse of chefs everywhere. Having been so close to the whole process, preparing ingredients, tasting and watching the transformation in the pan or oven, the magic of the first bite has gone.

That was my experience of publishing Like the Wind for the first decade. Along with my co-founder and wife, Julie, I was involved in almost every aspect of the process of putting the magazine together. I was the editor, picking the stories we would publish, working with the writers, liaising closely with our sub-editor. I had a small part to play in the design of the magazine. I was involved in the production process, the shipping, the marketing. And I was the person responsible for all the brand partnerships.

So when advanced copies of each edition of the magazine arrived, I’d be happy to see it had all come together. I’d be proud of the work of the contributors and LtW’s small team. I’d feel a sense of relief that we’d avoided most, if not all, of the pitfalls that every indie publisher fears.

But I didn’t feel the thrill of opening the magazine and seeing it with fresh eyes. I never had that first bite. Unlike thousands of subscribers around the world, I knew what was coming. I’d read every word a dozen times. I’d seen every layout, illustration and photograph. I knew what the cover would be weeks in advance.

But with LtW#45, that has changed a little. Now we have an editorial team, with Alex, Emily and Adrienne taking responsibility for the stories. Our other Alex - the magazine’s creative director - has brought to life the visual heartbeat of the pages and the all-important cover. And behind the scenes, Stella, Mat, Nichole, Laura, Jacob and Amanda have all toiled to make sure the business is running as smoothly and effectively as possible.

I have, of course, been involved in the production of LtW#45. But not in the hands-on way of the past. So when I got my hands on an advanced copy of the magazine, it felt new and fresh. Like running in an unknown city or on a new trail. There were surprises at every turn (of the page). To a hitherto unknown extent, I had a sense of what Like the Wind’s community feels when a new edition drops on doormats and arrives in mailboxes around the world. And I’m here to tell you, it is a great feeling.

All of which leads me to say a huge thank you to the team for all their hard work, to the contributors for their creativity, to our brand partners for their support and mostly to all the people who subscribe or buy a copy of LtW. Without all those people, LtW would not exist. And I would miss out on pouring myself a coffee and opening a fresh edition to enjoy the (new) thrill of discovering what’s inside.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Co-founder, Publisher and avid LtW fan

P.S. if you want to join the community, you can subscribe here. We have officially - and somewhat unexpectedly rapidly - completely sold out of LtW#44. So to avoid missing out, don’t sleep on this.

In a video clip published by our friends at New Balance, one of the founders of Japanese clothing brand United Arrows - Hirofumi Kurino - talks about how the concept of luxury has changed in the modern world. One definition that Hirofumi lands upon is the idea that taking the dog for a walk every morning wearing a carefully crafted pair of New Balance 1300s is a form of “modern luxury”. Chris Davis, Brand President and CMO at New Balance wrote a caption for that clip, saying “Luxury isn’t about price points... It’s about craft, quality and creating a sense of belonging through authenticity.”

This definition is exactly how we see Like the Wind.

In recent months, the Like the Wind team has been working hard to understand and define the business’ brand and how it can be articulated. One thing that is very clear to us is that the brand lives in everything we say about the magazine, how the brand shows up online, how we appear at events and in the products we create beside the magazine. But it is most evident the moment someone holds the magazine in their hand. The attention to detail, the production values of the highest level, the quality of the paper we choose, the types of stories we tell (as well as the ‘content’ we don’t publish). Everything places LtW in the “affordable luxury” bracket. But we do need to put words to this idea because we are aiming to present the magazine to people who have not held a copy in their hands.

New Balance, with this short video, is doing the same. Someone who has never worn a pair of New Balance shoes will understand what sets the brand apart from all the other footwear brands through this idea of “modern luxury”.

So what can constitute luxury?

For me, one of the biggest luxuries we can afford ourselves is time. That’s what makes running so special. It’s a moment to ourselves. Something that can’t be compressed into a few snatched seconds here or there. Running - in my opinion - should not be jammed into the smallest possible timeframe. Of course, sometimes a quick run is all that is possible. But the experience of heading out knowing that you have given yourself an hour. Two hours. Maybe even half a day. As far as I’m concerned, that is luxury.

The same goes for reading. Picking up a book or - dare I say it - a really well made magazine and spending half an hour reading, is a luxury. If you take the time to make a great cup of coffee to sip while you read, then more power to you.

I realise that taking time for running or reading (or any other activity that is a pleasure) is not easy these days. I regularly meet people who say they “don’t have time to read” or “can’t fit running in to their lives”. And I think they really believe that. At times I have said that too and believed it. But (at least in my case) I know I'm not being honest. I take a lesson from Barak Obama who, during his time as President of the United States, found time to work out and read almost every day.

I guess what it comes down to is whether you make a decision to afford yourself one or two “modern luxuries”. And if you do, I certainly hope you will consider heading out for a run followed by half an hour with a copy of Like the Wind. That’ll be the two I’m going to try to afford myself!

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind publisher and seeker of affordable luxuries

Whenever something is made, it is made for someone. Or to put it another way, there is always a person or people for whom the product is designed. This is a pretty obvious statement, I realise, but I’m not sure people think about this as much as they might.

This idea was rattling around my head as I was making lunch yesterday. It was obvious that I was making lunch for me and my wife. All the decisions about what to make and in what quantity and when were based on the tastes my wife and I share. I was not making the meal with anyone else in mind - because it was highly unlikely anyone else would be eating it (although you never know - we might have had an unexpected visitor. But then they would have to eat what my wife and I wanted). From this starting point, it’s easy to expand the line of reasoning and come to the conclusion that whatever someone is making (or doing for that matter) is always designed with an end consumer in mind. Even if that end consumer is the person making something for themselves.

So what? I hear you ask. Well, one of the exciting challenges of making Like the Wind, is knowing who we are making it for. We have an idea of who reads the magazine, of course. But whenever we do research into who buys copies of the magazine, or subscribes, or reads the free content we publish, we get surprises (all of them positive, I assure you!)

Within the newly expanded team at LtW, we are building the capacity to understand the type of people who become readers. Because quite simply the readers are the most important element of what we do. Of course, we highly value the team, the contributors (writers, photographers, illustrators) and the brands that partner with us. But if there was a race between all of those involved in LtW, the readers would edge the win by a nose at the photo-finish. It makes sense, really: without readers around the world (in 40+ countries according to our data) there would be no point making the magazine. Then there would be no team, no contributors and no brand support.

All of this is to say that in the coming weeks and months, you will likely see more from us getting in touch to find out more about you.

Of course, if you want to get a head start on that and reply to this email, I will be over the moon. Tell me about what running means for you. What you like, love or dislike about the running stories we publish at LtW (and running stories in general for that matter). Whether you are a LtW subscriber (and if not, why not - don’t worry, there won’t be any recriminations: I am just interested to know). What you think we could do more or less of. Anything really.

In the meantime, we have LtW#45 almost ready for the printer. That will be out 1 June. And there will be some exciting events at which we’ll be making an appearance. So keep your eyes peeled and as always, thank you for your support.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and seeker of knowledge (about readers)

In 2019 business leadership author and speaker Simon Sink published a book entitled The Infinite Game. The book explored the theories of New York University Professor James P. Carse who made a distinction between how different businesses choose to play either finite or infinite games. The former involves “winning” based on short term goals while the latter is concerned with playing the game with no defined end point. In the case of an infinite game, the aim is simply to continue playing.

Sinek makes the point in his book that there are lots of infinite games we play - relationships for example. You can’t “win” at marriage and the aim is to stay in the relationship for as long as possible (‘til death us do part, in many cases).

It goes without saying that racing is not an infinite game: there is a start and finish line and the goal is to get from one to the other as fast as possible. I can’t think of any situation where running forever would make sense or even be possible. Even Forrest Gump stopped at some point.

The thrill of racing - as a participant and as a spectator - is its finite nature. There is peril hardwired into a fast-approaching finish line. One person will get there first and be the winner. Everyone else will be a runner-up. And athletes know that effort will yield a result and the pain will not last forever.

But business is not the same.

In business the aim of the game is often (but not always) to keep playing. For infinite businesses only way to “lose” is to leave the game. Plus everyone is playing their own game. In Boston last week and in London this week, I have had the chance to observe and - in some cases - interact with brands. And it is fascinating to see how they all have different visions for what they are trying to achieve. Looking from an outsider’s position, it might be tempting to think that all running footwear brands are in direct competition. But that is not at all true. In almost every sense all brands are playing a game against themselves. That is definitely true for Like the Wind.

Yesterday I visited one of my favourite shops in London - magCulture in Angel, Islington. This is an emporium of magazines, with perhaps the best collection of independent titles in the world. Seeing LtW on the shelves is always a thrill for me. And that is amplified by seeing that there is only one independent running title that explores the culture and spirit of running through long form storytelling. Basically, Like the Wind magazine is playing its own game.

As runners make their way from Blackheath to the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace along 26.2 miles of tarmac tomorrow (I’m writing this on Saturday afternoon) almost all of them will be running their own races with a very well understood finish line. At the same time, all the brands who have congregated in London this week to try to engage with the tens of thousands of runners here, are also playing their own infinite games. As is Like the Wind. And I believe it is worth remembering that: all brands are running their own races and at LtW we are in it forever. Or at least for as long as people are running and there are stories to tell. So, that’ll be forever, then.

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and Finish Line Denier

On paper there is nothing exceptional about the Boston marathon. Sure, it’s old. And that means there is a lot of history and many traditions that imbue the event with a deep patina. It’s not easy to get into. But then so many races are hard to obtain a place for - London might not have a qualifying time, but 840,000 people hoping for one of perhaps 12,000 places is, according to many people I know, as difficult as trying to run a BQT (Boston Qualifying Time). And the Boston course has some undeniable qualities - the point-to-point straight line and those infamous hills. But New York has hills. And in London runners pass the King’s official residence as well as many world famous landmarks.

And yet despite all this, the Boston marathon is undeniably special. I’m writing this on my third day in the city, with the race just about 24 hours away from starting. I can tell you that the vibes here are dialled up to 11 and arguably beyond. And I’ve been wondering why. Because this sort of energy lifts running to a whole new level.

Before I get to why I think Boston is so special, let me explain what I mean about energy levels and why I think that is important.

Running often suffers from a lack of pizzazz. Outside of events like the Olympics, perhaps the World Athletics Championships and some really high profile races like the World Marathon Majors or the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, the sport of running rarely inflames the passions of people beyond it’s hardcore fans (and even amongst its hardcore fans in many cases). And it is perhaps because of this lack of excitement that more people don’t feel drawn to the activity. Watch children in a playground and they will play soccer, baseball or cricket far more readily than they will set up an impromptu foot race (although, of course that does also happen). These same children will have the names of their team sports heroes tripping off their tongues far more readily than they will the participants in the latest Diamond League 5,000m race. Young fans of soccer will dream of a team jersey with their favourite player’s name emblazoned across the back for Christmas. That happens less rarely when it comes to a race singlet with a track athletes name as decoration.

But here in Boston, it feels as though everyone is excited about the big race on Patriots Day (tomorrow). The area around Boyleston and Newbury Streets is awash with brand pop-ups, shakeout runs, massive queues for coffee as well as tourists and locals alike meeting and greeting one another and chatting about the up coming activities. And there is at the same time an unofficial trade convention happening as all the brands come together like Blue Whales drawn to huge sholes of krill. This must be the closest thing running has to carnival.

So why here? Well, I think the answer is of the chicken-and-egg variety. I’ve been to Boston a few times out of marathon weekend and the number of runners is absolutely astonishing. My friend Amory Rowe, who will be running the marathon tomorrow, tells me that there is always a vibrant running scene here. Margaret Coogan, who features in the Metropolitan Times newspaper we have create in collaboration with our friends at Tracksmith (pick up a free copy at their Trackhouse on Newbury Street if you’re here for the race) said the same thing. Is that because of the marathon? Or is the marathon here because of the passion of the people for running? I couldn’t begin to guess.

Instead, I will just revel in the atmosphere of positivity, some nerves and a lot of love for running. Oh, and hang out with my new friend Bill Rodgers, who I bumped into in a coffee shop on Newbury Street. As you do!

Simon

Simon Freeman
LtW Publisher and fanboy of legendary marathoners

Well, hello there. It’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote something on Substack. And whilst I’m not a big fan of making excuses … here’s my excuse: the Like the Wind team has been - and continues to be - involved in many exciting (and time / energy-consuming) projects. We’ve been managing multiple overlapping deadlines and I’ve found that writing more has not been possible. But today is a relaxing Sunday, which means I’m back at my keyboard.

So “what have you been so busy with that Substack had to take a backseat?” I hear you ask. Well, we have several really exciting collaborations happening. Plus the next issue - LtW#45 - rushing towards us. And some longer-term projects that require effort now otherwise they won’t happen. I’ll give you a quick run down and then tell you why all these projects are so important.

The most imminent project is a collaboration with our friends at Tracksmith: a newspaper called the Metropolitan Times, the first edition of which will be released in Boston for the marathon next week. The second edition will come out at the London marathon, six days after the Boston race.

The Metropolitan Times is a newspaper-form publication in which we are telling stories of runners for whom Boston or London is a special place. We also explore the importance of storytelling for Tracksmith and Like the Wind. Oh and no newspaper would be complete without a crossword puzzle, a classified ads section (with really cool items of running memorabilia for sale), an agony aunt column and a comic strip (by the immensely talented Zoe Si, no less). The Metropolitan Times will be available for free at the Tracksmith Track Houses in Boston and London, so if you are going to be in either city for their respective marathons, head to Newbury Street or Chiltern Street to pick up a copy. And it’s worth me saying that I will be at both races, so if you are around and have the time and inclination to meet up, let me know - I’d love to say hello in person.

After the BOS - LDN double, we will be releasing LtW#45 on 1 June. Our plan is to be at the Western States Endurance Run training runs on 24 - 26 May with some advanced copies (thanks to our friends at HOKA). So perhaps we’ll see you there? And if not, you can make sure you get hold of a copy by subscribing now and your copy will land on your doormat or arrive in your mail box soon after 1 June.

From the WSER Training Runs, we’ll be heading into a very exciting 10 days starting at the Broken Arrow race (where we’ll unveil a very special project we are producing with the race organisers). Then we’ll be heading to TrailCon, organised by our good friends Brendan Madigan, Doug Emslie and Dylan Bowman between 24 and 25 June in Palisades Tahoe, CA. And finally we’ll be at the Western States Endurance Run race itself, which on both the men’s and women’s sides is shaping up to be one of the most exciting trail ultras in recent years (a “face melter” as D-Bo described it on a recent episode of the Second Nature podcast).

After all that, the calendar is a little fuzzier. The LtW team will definitely be at the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, where several of us (which does not include me, I have to make clear) will be racing. We will host our summer party and we’ll be releasing LtW#46. Later in the year, we’re planning to extend the Metropolitan Times project to the Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons. And there are some trade shows towards the end of the year at which we’ll aim to make an appearance.

Writing all that has the potential to make me feel a bit overwhelmed. It’s a feeling akin to realising - mid-race - how far you still have to go. But as a friend, UltraStu, once told me, when we discussed the nature of endurance and dealing with discomfort, “Remember, you wanted this!”

What I do know is that we have a great team at LtW and they are all up for the challenge. That’s one of the best aspects of working with runners! For my part, I am really excited to see so many new projects coming to life and having the opportunity to meet LtW readers in person. Please don’t be shy if you see me - connection and community are the #1 reason LtW exists - that and sharing a coffee or a beer and a good story!

Connecting with the LtW community of readers as well as people we don’t yet know, is the reason for all the activities in which we’re going to be involved this year. I believe that running is a great way to meet people. So whilst we are still maintaining our digital presence (this Substack, for example) we’re ramping up the opportunities we have to meet runners IRL. I hope you will be one of them!

One final update: last week when I was back in London, Fernando Pacheco invited me to be a guest on Monocle’s The Stack radio show. It has been a few years since I was last in Midori House - the nerve centre of Monocle’s media empire - and it was a pleasure to return and talk to Fernando about everything we have going on at LtW, what has changed since I was last on the show (seven years ago) and whether Fernando should join his colleagues for their regular lunchtime runs (spoiler alert: I said he should!) You can listen to the show here.

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind publisher and wannabe carry-on-only traveller