Salomon S/Lab Pop Up Shop and Trail Running Clinic with Max King and Cat Bradley

by Jeff Valliere

Boulder, Co
10/20/2017

Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the brand's founding in a family workshop making ski edges and saw blades in Annecy, France, Salomon launched their first ever S/Lab Pop Up Shop and trail running clinic. The trail running clinic was led by Max King, all around running superstar and Olympic Marathon trials qualifier (though still has some work to do when it comes to burro racing....) and Cat Bradley, a Boulder local who won Western States 100 this year.

Myself and several other journalists/industry insiders were invited to attend the trial run of their trail clinic, before heading over to Boulder Running Company for the evening festivities (food, beer, wine, raffle prizes, gear sale and presentations).

For the clinic, once everyone who was interested was outfitted with a demo pair of Salomon Sense Ride trail shoes (RTR review here), we all assembled at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, resplendent in Fall colors, then went through a round of introductions and headed up the Baseline Trail at a casual pace.

Once in Gregory Canyon, Max and Cat went over trail running techniques, from posture, to foot placement, stride length, uphill, downhill and of course, the most important weapon in the trail running quiver, walking.  From the Mall Walker to the hands on knees power strider, they had it covered.

All of those in our group were experienced trail runners and this clinic was more geared toward showing us how they will be instructing the clinic to participants the following day.  Max and Cat have trail running dialed and do a great job of explaining techniques that will help just about anyone get the most out of themselves on the trail and be more efficient, more coordinated and less prone to injury.

It was just too darn hot in Gregory Canyon for Adam Chase to wear a shirt.

Max explaining how no matter how fast you are at anything from a 100 miler to an obstacle race, you can still finish dead last in a burrow race.

Max's showing off his donkey recall technique which earned him last place at the World Championships in Fairplay.

Later in the evening, we all assembled at Boulder Running Company, where Ricky Gates and other Salomon athletes/representatives gave fun slide presentations over beer, food and Francois D'Haene's wine, Francois is a full time winemaker when he is not running (l to r, Salomon athletes, Ricky Gates, Courtney Dauwalter, Dakota Jones, Francois D'Haene, Cat Bradley and Max King).

Only in Boulder can you hobnob with so many legends of the sport, Anton Krupicka, Joe Grant, Scott Jurek, Ricky Gates and too many others to name.

Inside Boulder Running Company, Salomon was showcasing their S/Lab product and selling at a very generous promotional discount. S/Lab is Salomon's athlete driven line of meticulously thought out and crafted shoes, apparel, and gear.  In addition to the generous promotional discount, Salomon was raffling off prizes, from the Ultra 2 to packs and craft beer given out on the spot.

The Francois special, S/Lab Sense Ultra 2 (available in 2018, stay tuned for an upcoming comprehensive review. In the meantime see our 2018 Salomon preview article with details Click Here).

In addition to the latest and greatest, they had a mobile museum set up showcasing the evolution of S/Lab products which was very interesting to see.  Salomon will continue to put on the Pop Up Shop and run clinics around the world, so check your local listings!

For reviews of the 2017 Salomon Sense Ride, Sense Ultra 1, Pro Max, and a first impressions review of the 2018 XA Elevate go to the Salomon section of our index page Click Here

For Jeff Valliere's bio see our Reviewers Bio Page here

Comments and Questions Welcome Below!

Visit our Index Page here for over 70 in depth 2017 shoe and gear reviews
Visit our 2018 Previews Page here for 2018 run shoe, apparel, and gear previews 

Like & Follow Road Trail Run

Facebook:roadtrailrun.com  Twitter: @roadtrailrun 

Instagram:roadtrailrun   RTR YouTube: RoadTrailRun

Road Trail Run receives a commission for purchases through the affiliates below which helps support our site's work. Thanks!

SHOP RUNNING WAREHOUSE FOR SALOMON AND S/LAB

MEN'S HERE

WOMEN'S HERE

FREE 2 Day Shipping EASY No Sweat Returns