It's the people, the mission and the product

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic and hurting for a little extra money, I asked my agent to get me as much work as possible. As a professional trail runner with no races or events possible, that meant seeking out short-term influencer contracts. 

I signed several 1-4 month contracts negotiated through my agent and structured as X amount of posting equaled X amount of money. I didn't know the people behind the brand, and often I didn’t know the product until it was sent to me. 

While I fault no one for making a living on influencer marketing, and I am very grateful for my own stint in this type of work, I struggled with it. I didn’t know what to say when I didn’t know the brand. And so when my belt wasn’t quite so tight, I didn’t say a thing. In one instance, I almost had to pay back a brand for neglecting to fulfill my contract. I literally couldn’t think of a way to promote a product I hardly used authentically, and for a brand manager, I had never spoken to. 

After that instance, I called it on the influencer posts. Even if I hadn’t, there is no way my agent would point me to another similar relationship for the sake of his reputation and mine. 

I reevaluated what a brand relationship meant to me. I am at a point in my career where racing is important, but community outreach is everything. And because I want to be so involved with the community, I need to only partner with brands whose products and mission align with my mission and needs as an athlete. I also need to know who is behind the relationship. While I value having an agent more than I can express here, the barrier between a brand or athlete manager makes it much more difficult to rep a logo. I need to be sure that I love whatever product I am promoting, that the brand mission is rad and that the people behind it are good and well-intended. 

It’s with this new realization that I sought out Brooks at the end of 2020. I emailed and emailed until they were sick of it, and finally signed me because I knew I loved their product and their mission. I was a big part of the negotiations and found that I admired the athlete managers, product developers, and marketers I’d be working with. 

But that has been a tough act to follow! My relationship with Brooks has, up until recently, been one of a kind. In talking to my fellow pro ultra runners, I’ve found that to love the product, the mission, and the people is nearly unheard of! And because of that, I haven’t signed another sponsorship contract and am highly picky. 

In my first conversation with Sydney, the athlete manager at Garmin, I was blunt in stating what I needed for a successful brand relationship. I’m not there just to represent a product. I want to grow with and within the brands I work for, get to know the product intimately, help develop new products and foster a true and lasting partnership where both entities feel represented and supported. A very needy athlete indeed! But it turns out that Sydney was looking for the same thing. So she sent me a watch.

Back in 2013 or 2014, I was gifted the first-generation Fenix. It was cool and techy and certainly a step up from my Timex. While I didn't log my training on Strava, I found it useful to track mileage instead of just using time, and it helped me gauge how I was doing in my recent move up to altitude. But the battery was not as advertised and would die after just an hour of running, especially if it was cold! So I sold it or donated it and didn’t think about a GPS watch again for years. 

In 2016, when I was trail running a little more seriously and looking for a way to measure metrics, I bought a discounted Suunto watch as part of the Salomon ambassador program. Having a GPS watch changed everything, and I think it was pivotal in my quick rise to Western States Champion in 2017. However, it kept eating my runs. Meaning I would log it on the watch, and it would disappear in the wifi-world when I would try to upload it. In one case, it ate an FKT and I couldn’t submit it! 

In 2021, I got to test a Garmin watch at a group run. I wish I remembered which watch I tested, but I do remember the maps! As a trail runner, route building and finding are the most important features to me. It has to be easy to use and comprehensive. I remember being able to integrate a route I built on Strava, the easiest route-building tool I have used, with the watch I tested. I was blown away and asked my agent if we could explore a relationship with Garmin. He told me that Garmin was a tough nut to crack and that it might be difficult to get their attention. So I let it rest. 

In April of 2022, Tyler told me he had a contact at Garmin, and they were interested in talking to me. It was timely because my watch had just died on me. After a fun conversation covering everything from comedy to how to appropriately poop in the woods, Sydney sent me a Forerunner 945. The first thing I asked about was the route-finding feature. And holy shit, being able to build a route on Strava, or just let Strava build the route for you, is my favorite feature in any piece of running gear. Running in new places, which I do a lot, became way, way easier. 

I also found that it was just more accurate and consistent. I have never had any GPS issues since switching to Garmin. 

Now, I am using the Forerunner 955 Solar, which has all the features of the 945, but with an updated layout and with solar charging. I can easily view my menstrual cycle, training readiness, sleep, and heart rate variability easily directly on the watch. I found out I had COVID after the fact during a period of extremely high-volume training. In retrospect, I should have known by looking at the data my watch was showing me. My HRV was low, even after several restful days, and my watch was literally TELLING me to rest. Crazy! 

I am also a longtime user of the Garmin InReach and the InReach Mini, which I think should be essential pieces of gear for anyone who recreates in remote places without service. 

I love the watch. I love the people. And I love the mission. And so, last month, I signed a contract with Garmin. I could not be more excited to grow as an athlete and a person with this brand and this team as a Garmin athlete. Seriously! Thank you to Sydney and the rest of the team at Garmin for believing in me as an athlete and seeing my value as a person. I can’t wait to grow, learn, and listen as a Garmin athlete. Let’s run fast and far and see what we can do. 

If you have any questions about my gear, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or in the contact form. 

Peace and love! 

Cat