Helloooo and happy Friday, runner! Another week has FLOWN by. In today’s edition: an epic race, a lovely, relatable runner to follow, the Tokyo Marathon ballot, optimizing my running with a smart ring, and

Before we get started, a quick poll:

Also, if you joined last week’s giveaway, keep an eye on the RunLetters Instagram account. The winner will be announced there & on my personal account later today.

Let’s get started ⤵️

Honestly cannot believe this video doesn't have more views yet. Somehow I also didn't see much coverage of 99 Laps on my own feed. Unfortunately, that's how the algorithm often works. Outside your circle → miss out.

Anyway, the event: 100 athletes. 99 laps. Every lap, the last to cross the finish line is eliminated. That inherently means the pace drifts up as the race progresses. The last laps are some of the absolute fastest (though lap 91 seemed to be a slower one for the whole field at that point; after that, it kicked up again).

The entrepreneur behind the event, Alvaro Gellings, built the whole thing in public, documenting the process of building the brand and getting the event off the ground all on YouTube. Something that someone like me, trying to build my own little emporium in this space, can only admire. But it's also an incredible behind-the-scenes look at how something like this is brought to life.

From the Squid Game-like voice doing the countdown for every lap, to the athlete recovery zone, the social media, the marketing, and the website... all of it is documented.

And this particular video of the final event is a perfect closer.

Alvaro isn’t the only one behind 99Laps - his co-founder is David Rost.

This was the first edition of 99Laps. Mark my words: this event will keep growing over the next few years. My only feedback? More women!

We all love a power woman, right? I’ve got one for you this week: Michelle Baxter.

While not an elite runner, she is fast. What’s even more impressive is the PRs she has run after having kids, while in her 40s. I love this. It inspires me.

So who is Michelle? She’s a content creator and coach, who ran her first marathon in 2010, started blogging about it, and running became her thing from there.

While her feed shows posts about racing and training, she also talks about gear and routines. One of her current series is about the best running shorts.

Overall, I think she keeps things real. And that’s something I can appreciate. No sugarcoating, honest opinions, and the right disclaimers where necessary.

If you’re interested in gear tips, balancing your training with a busy life, or staying motivated, I’d give her a follow!

If you are trying to run all the World Majors, or if you’d like to run one of the most iconic races in the world, now is the time to sign up for the Tokyo Marathon ballot. The general registration has just opened.

As you all well know, I’m a big fan of smaller, lesser-known races. Hidden gems. But I think I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t share it when big ballot registrations are open. After all, many of you reading RunLetters do chase the World Majors and/or SuperHalfs (I am personally trying to complete the latter).

And I’ll be honest with you: if there’s one World Major I’d be keen to get into, it’s the Tokyo Marathon. Not just for the race (which I’m sure is a whole experience in itself), but also because Japan is at the very top of my travel wish list. This would be a good incentive to book that trip. This being the 20^th anniversary of the Tokyo Marathon, I’m sure it’ll be an even more special edition.

You have from August 14 to August 28 to sign up for the general entry ballot. Results will be shared on September 18 (after which you have until September 30 to pay the fee, if you have been allotted a slot).

The race itself is on March 7, 2027 (with bib pick-up March 4 to March 6).

When the Tokyo Marathon took place earlier this year, my Instagram feed was full of runners participating. And I have to say: it looked incredible. Many of them prolonged their stay to explore more of Japan, just like I would.

Can you become a better runner by wearing a ring? I'm not talking about your wedding ring, but a smart one. The Ultrahuman Ring Air.

A while ago, Ultrahuman reached out to me to see if I wanted to test their Ring Air. Almost all runners wear a smartwatch, but according to Ultrahuman, our fingers are much more accurate at tracking biomarkers than the wrist.

The Ring Air has a 6-axis motion sensor to capture your body's movements, and a non-contact temperature sensor to monitor your body temperature. It also has a PPG sensor (which uses light to measure changes in blood volume in the skin's microvascular bed) to measure your heart rate, blood oxygen saturation and more.

But what good are all these metrics? Especially without context.

If you were to ask me, having all this data can make a runner over-obsess. Imagine you wake up in the morning, feeling great, but then you check the app from your watch or ring and it says "terrible sleep". Are you now going to believe that? And if so, does that ruin your day?

"Alright, Caroline, but you do wear a smartwatch and a ring!!"

Correct. I think these wearables can be super useful. But it depends on how you use them and how you interpret their data. I won't let a wearable decide whether I slept well or badly. But there are things I do find useful about the Ring Air:

One other feature which I haven't been able to test but am super intrigued by (and will use sometime soon) is the Smart Alarm. It's an alarm that can go off depending on your goal: when you've completed optimal sleep cycles, when your sleep index goal is achieved, when your sleep debt has been paid off, or when your sleep duration goal is met.

Many many many years ago, I used SleepCycle with my phone, but obviously that wasn't as accurate. Combining an alarm with something as precise as a ring makes a lot more sense to me.

If you are interested in trying out Ultahuman Ring Air, you can check it out here.

I’ve featured Siân before, but not this specific reel of hers about creatine. Yet I think it’s a very good one to share.

I’m not someone who loves taking supplements. I firmly believe we can get most of what we need from our food. However, creatine is one of the most science-backed supplements out there, and I’ve been taking it for a good year now. I can’t exactly pinpoint the results, as I think it’s hard to do an exact before-and-after study on yourself, but I’d say it’s positive overall.

And just given the amount of research out there, I think it’s one you should consider. To understand what it does, please check the video below, as Siân does a great job of explaining it.

That’s it for another edition of RunLetters ✅

If you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve been pouring a little bit more love and care into the RunLetters Instagram. Any likes, shares, and comments are appreciated. I hope you like the content!

Here’s to a great weekend ahead ☀️

Caroline

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