Helloooo runner! 👋

Another Friday, another edition of RunLetters, with gear discounts, an inspiring short documentary, fun race shirt designs, marathons in Portugal later this year, a trail shoe from HOKA and a free half marathon guide. PACKED!

Before we kick off, a little poll:

VOTE to see what others struggle with.

Voted? Then let’s get started ⤵️

Back in edition 47, I featured Tommy from That’s Runnable. A running coach and content creator with a voice. He doesn’t put his opinion behind a wall and I love that about him.

This new video of his is an incredible production. Well shot and edited, with a strong narrative. It digs deep into Tommy’s story and his motivation to run. But it also touches on things that are relevant and relatable, probably to all of us. The why. Why do you run, and what’s your attitude towards the sport?

A pleasant watch worth your time.

I’ve got a bit of a different social spotlight for you this week. Just to spice things up. Not an elite runner, or “running” content creator.

Sure, Zach is a runner. But he’s also a designer. And I love his mission to make race shirt designs better.

I mean, you don’t want to see the stack of race shirts in my wardrobe that I’ve never worn because their designs are really bad. Neon-orange-with-blue-stars that burn your eyes.

If you are with me, then give him a follow and leave him a comment or some love ⬇️

If you’re still looking for a marathon for later this year, I’ve got you covered. Come to Portugal, my friends.

There are a bunch of marathons this autumn you can still sign up for, including the two big ones: Lisbon and Porto. Lisbon’s marathon is on October 10^th, Porto on November 8^th.

Lisbon’s marathon is quite a bit more expensive at €134 (~$155/£115) per participant. Porto costs about half of that until the end of August.

I ran Lisbon last year. The course is fast and flat, perfect if you want to lock in and run fast. There’s not much support along the course, though, so be prepared for that. Last year it was raining, but I think with some sunshine it’s a lovely route to run.

I can’t tell you how Porto compares to it in terms of the crowd, but the course is mostly an out-and-back. Some runners may love that, others won’t.

However, these races can be combined with an incredibly fun city trip. Porto and Lisbon are both lovely places to go to (as are the areas surrounding the cities). If you haven’t been to Portugal yet, I highly recommend it. And if you’re more of a trail runner, you’re spoiled for choice.

→ Find out more about the Porto Marathon (Nov 08) here

→ And more about the Lisbon Marathon (Oct 10) here

Last week I got to test out the HOKA Mafate 5. So far, I haven’t been a huge fan of HOKA, but this shoe surprised me.

Well-cushioned, good grip (Vibram Megagrip), and comfortable from the first mile. The electric blue upper won’t be everyone’s favourite, but running in them right next to the ocean and under a clear sky, the colour felt like a good match (they are also available in other colours!).

The shoe’s got an 8mm drop, which is quite a bit. I’d say these are best suited for trail distances up to about 50k.

Definitely a decent option if you’re looking for new trail shoes and comfortable enough for the road sections in between. I’ll also note that I’ve never been a fan of the Speedgoats, and I did enjoy the Mafate 5.

As always with shoes, opinions are personal. You may find this shoe horrendous, or love it for 100-milers.

The shoes are currently discounted on many websites. You can also find them on Amazon.

While RunLetters’ readers run any distance imaginable, from 5k to 500k, the majority of you love the half-marathon the most. It’s also the race distance that I’d call my bread and butter (with my recent personal best being 1:23:43).

It’s also a distance I love to coach. As I’m currently gearing up to coach people running the SuperHalfs this autumn, I decided to put together my best tips in one guide.

You can get it for free by simply going here or tapping the image below. It’s completely free, of course.

That’s it for this week. As always, if you have any suggestions for videos, runners or gear to feature, hit reply and let me know.

Have an absolutely wonderful weekend ☀️

Caroline

Don’t forget to join the RunLetters Run Club for all the best discount codes, fun running challenges and more.