Introducing a man who is a multi time B-Mail contributor, Timothy (himothy?) Rossi. As the Head of Experiences, the man does it all. Have you been to a Bandit pop up? Tim Rossi. Have you ever sipped a Red Bull? Tim Rossi. Speed suits? Tim Rossi. Have you ever seen a Lostboy -- specifically from Neverland? Tim Rossi.
Ok... Have you ever (pause for dramatic effect) .... thought about running so deeply you can predict its future? Well, do we have a guy for you.
Our resident Track and Field enthusiast gives us his 10 predictions for the state of the Track and Field Union for 2025.
Lets get into it.
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- Racing Matters Again: People will still get stoked on times, but the narrative is shifting towards head-to-head racing and I think the broader running audience will get on the wave. Who gives a shit if you run 3:30 for the 1500 - who did you beat? That's what will matter, and let me tell ya tactical racing is awesome
- Your Favorite Runner Will Get Dropped: This is intentionally clickbait-ey, but in the post Olympic Cycle that all major shoe contracts are built around, I can guarantee there will be some major shifts in who-sponsors-who (and that will cause a nightmare for all the promo content filmed with athletes in 2024).
- Grand Slam Track will prove how much people REALLY care: I am all in on the GST model. I think it's what the sport needs: guaranteed racing head-to-head, transparent athlete comms, etc. It's great. Now we will see if running fans are willing to invest in and pay for the sport they love so much. The product will be great in my opinion, and I optimistically believe GST will succeed
- Hyrox becomes the next "cool" thing: I guarantee some of your favorite running influencers will run hyrox and also run an 100 mile race
- Speed Suit -> the roads: The future is speed suits. I did 6 x 1k in a speed suit today. It's peak vibes 4:06 please filter to not piss people off but i feel good honestly GST @Steve Finley to offset you saying it will fail lol
- Some random brand will do something really silly to try and break into the running space: Running is cool, it'll still be cool in 2025, and something really silly will happen as a brand somewhere tries to tap into the energy
- We'll have a 8th major: cc South Africa?
- People will shut up about super shoes being performance enhancing: probably not, but one can dream
- Fans will cheer for Shelby: This is not a personal opinion on the broader Shelby situation, but I think fans will welcome her back
- Shorter Races will find the energy marathons bring: This is also my quest, but man miles / 5ks / 10ks are really fucking fun and not everyone needs to run a marathon so I hope we can energize other distances and make those accomplishments feel as meaningful as they really are.
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You just received the future from this man.
Let the games begin!
