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October Happenings in LocoLand

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Welcome to the 4th edition of the Loco Newsletter!

Lil Loco nugs to keep you informed and entertained.

 

Keep reading to get your chuckle on and feel all the feels (including possible nausea) with an article about weird runner food, the big secret of Loco Trail Camp, and a Haiku from our belt buckle design winner.

Loco Trail Camp...Shh

Loco Trail Camp. Ever wondered what it's all about? Just figured it's one of those overpriced runner camps, where they insist you wake up at the booty crack of dawn, run you around all day, send you to foam rolling clinics, hang out with a bunch of strangers comparing what you posted to Strava, feed

you all the sponsored bars and gels you could ever, never want and then send you home exhausted?

 

You'd be wrong. Trail Camp is none of those things. Well, ok - maybe one of those things. You might go home exhausted, in all the best ways, and our bet (not to toot our own horn) is that you won't be able to wait until the next one. That's the trick though. We never quite know when the next one will be, and we can never quite explain what Camp is because...well...maybe we should let the actual Campers tell you about it.

 

Click the button below to watch Campers try and explain, in their own words, why a Trail Camp description is so elusive.

 

Pro Tip: You're going to want to watch to the end. It's where the good stuff is.

Trail Camp Mystery Video

In the Name of Research

Weirdos. The whole lot of us. Loco put a simple question out in to the social media universe; what is the weirdest food that you like to eat on a run or have eaten at an aid station? We knew we were in for a treat. Over 500 responses were offered to our query. It seems runners like to talk about food as much as they like to talk about their mileage, shoes and run/coffee/poop schedule.

 

From the growing list of bizarre foods that you all like to put down

out on the trail, we chose a large handful of some of the more unique offerings to field test. There were a few things, like fresh buffalo milk (where does one procure such a thing) and garlic bread lasagna sandwich that would’ve been bomb to test out, but either for a lack of time or a total lack of where to find a momma buffalo, we had to skip over a few of the more enticing options.

 

We gathered a small group of our bravest (and most available) Loco runners and set out on our research mission. What did we hope to accomplish? 2 things: discover the magical, secret food that will fuel a runner for infinite miles while never, ever causing runner gut and, no barfing or gagging. Spoiler alert, we accomplished 1.5 of the 2.

 

Chef Sara and Loco RD Karey thought trying out a couple of these items' pre-run might be a decent-ish litmus test for a side experiment on how taste preference can change dramatically when working our bodies hard and sweating everything out. They went with Japanese bean cakes and Madeline cookies, dipped in salt.

 

To quote Chef Sara, regarding the chestnut flavored bean cakes, “I don’t want this in my mouth. I don’t want to swallow it”. Loco RD Karey went with the green tea bean cake and came up with this taste description: 1980s Mary Kay floral perfume, rolled in fish.

 

Of the Madeline’s dipped in salt, both agreed that it was going to be a contender for the Holy Grail of running food.

 

Alright, back to the mission, and the reason you are all here – the list and field test results. Click the button at the end to see a more comprehensive list of the weird $hit you all eat while logging those miles. Here we go:

 

  • Japanese Bean Cakes (green tea, red bean, red bean & chestnut)

All flavors are pretty dry when considering eating them during running. Red bean was the fave, with chestnut coming in second and green tea a hard no. It was decided that red bean would be pretty amazing dunked in coffee at mile 82 and would also solve the choking hazard one might face without liquid to lube the throat hole.

 

  • Snickles (if you don’t know what this is, you are doing it wrong)

Pickles stuffed with snickers. So wrong, it’s right. We used baby dills, but you could go big and use the jumbo circus sized dills for a full meal. This was a definite yes. Pro Tip: Go heavy on the Snickers, unless you like your Snickles more pickle forward.

 

  • Bacon Wrapped Oreos

Absofreakinglutely. Hard yes. Do we even have to explain why? Every meat-eating runner should carry a stash of these in their vest to pull out anytime they need to level up to superhero status.

 

  • Peanut Butter & Cheeto Sandwich

Big fat universal no. In an attempt to make an improvement, and if there are zero other options available, use flaming hot Cheetos instead of the original flavor. It will still be the worst choice you make that day but, at least you won’t starve. Bring plenty of water.

 

  • Peanut Butter, Banana & Oreo Sandwich

To quote Julianne & Linda, “I’d eat it”. Good enough for us.

Pro Tip: If overripe bananas make you throw up a little in your mouth, go with less ripe. We may or may not have failed the “no gagging” goal here.

 

  • Madeleines Dipped in Salt

Dare we say it? Holy Grail of amazing things to eat while running/aid stationing? Say what you want. We are unmovable. Madeleines are some sort of fast fueling wonder food. The sweet of the soft, moist cookie and the salty kick will bring you back to life, no matter how many times you died out on the course. Most options come individually wrapped, making it easy to put a couple in your pack, pouch or pocket, along with a little baggie of salt. If you want to get really crazy and possibly gain super-human powers, figure out how to cover it in peanut butter and dip it in oat milk. After you are done cleaning yourself up, you'll thank us.

 

  • Mac & cheese with Bacon Burrito

Unanimous yes. Even our vegetarian who ate it sans bacon thought it was a win. This franken-noodle burrito is super soft and easy to chew and get down, thanks to those mushy noodles and cheese sauce. The bacon seals the deal. While it could absolutely be taken with you and eaten mid-run, we ate it post run and there was almost nothing better - except for the last item on this list.

 

  • Watermelon Dipped in Broth

Nope. No. No thank you. Watermelon is best cold. Broth is best hot. It's so confusing. Nobody wants hot watermelon so, cold melon and broth it was. The horror of this combination is difficult to explain but it was a little like munching on sweet, sandy ocean water, if sand came in giant Styrofoam like chunks.

 

  • Tikka Masala (chicken, potatoes, red peppers, red curry-ish sauce)

Winner, winner, Tikka Masala dinner! Real food that tastes great and doesn't upset the tum-tum. Vegans and vegetarians could use baked tofu, instead of chicken. Either way this was a surprising favorite. The only downside is that it wouldn't be very convenient to transport. That is why we are sending out hundreds of requests to aid stations everywhere, insisting they serve you all Tikka Masala. You're welcome.

 

A huge thank you to Linda L and Julianne W for coming out to field test these scrumptious runner treats and to everyone who helped compile the huge list of weird foods to choose from. May your tummies stay iron clad and your taste buds tantalized!

 

Click the button below to check out more of weird foods you all provided us via social media, texts and word of mouth.

More Weird Runner Foods

An Interview, Some Laughs & a Haiku

Jumping on a quick call with Josam Mulinyawe, our belt buckle design winner, was hot on Loco’s radar, Monday morning. Despite Loco RD Karey’s 3-year-old trying to hop on the call with them, Josam remained all smiles and kindness. In fact, as we scoured the interwebs for just the right photo of Josam, we found that they all had the same thing in common. Josam had the most genuinely huge smile in every single picture – except one. And wouldn’t you know it? That’s the one we chose.

Why? Easy. Although Josam’s smile and positive attitude is contagious, the pic we chose shows a different side of him. Beast mode, in action, at the No Business 100 in Tennessee and Kentucky. The side we believe we will see at the Loco Challenge 100 miler, where he will earn the belt buckle, he designed!

 

Ready to get to know Josam? Let’s go!

 

KAREY: Hey Josam! Thank you so much for the interview. Before we start, would you mind telling us where you are from & what age group you run in?

 

JOSAM: (all smiles) Hi Karey (more smiles…love this guy!) I currently live in San Jose, Ca but was born in the Philippines (he moved to the US when he was 14). My age group…45-49 category.

 

KAREY: How did you hear about the contest?

 

JOSAM: I follow your page on Facebook and saw it.

 

KAREY: Did you know right away that you wanted to enter, and did you have a design in mind then?

 

JOSAM: Yeah, I did. I have done buckle designs for other 100-mile events (what?!) and knew I wanted to design one for Loco.

 

*It was around this time that Karey’s mini me munchkin interjected with her glasses and insisted on helping her put them on…up her nose. Josam was still all smiles.

 

KAREY: You won free entry to all the Loco events of 2023. Are you going for all of them or just have certain ones you want to run?

 

JOSAM: All of them! I’m going to try to make it up for all the races.

 

KAREY: Which distances are you wanting to run?

 

JOSAM: Well…all the longest ones!

 

*This is where we reference that picture of Josam running the No Business 100. It turns out that he collects miles like some people collect mustard bottles (no? Just us?). In bulk! He has earned countless buckles that he doesn’t wear and are just screaming to be worn. And, if you are wondering, yes. Josam earned a Loco 100-mile buckle in 2019. He had a pretty epic finish. Ask him about it sometime.

 

KAREY: Finish these two sentences: When I am on the trail, I never want to see a…

 

JOSAM: Dead animal!

 

KAREY: The last thing that I want to eat, that is typically found at an aid station, is…

 

JOSAM: PB&J! (Same Josam!) In the beginning of trail running, they were good, but now I have had SO many!

 

*If you are wondering just exactly where Josam got his beginnings, it was at the Diablo 50k. Sure, why not pick an incredibly difficult race and distance for your very first trail race? See what we mean, beast!

 

KAREY: So, we asked you ahead of time to grace Loco readers with a very special Haiku that describes you, as a runner. What did you come up with? (Loco was ridiculously excited to hear his answer, and he did not disappoint)

 

JOSAM: Oh (flashing that great smile again) yes!

I like to run far

I do not give up easy

Eat all the food, yo!

 

What a perfect end to a really fun interview with Josam (and just in time too because Karey’s little monster was heading their way with his pumpkin and stack of books to do his own interview).

 

A giant Loco thank you and congratulations to Josam. If you see him out on the Loco course in 2023, give him a high five and let him know you loved his haiku!

That's A Wrap!

For those of you who haven't connected with us yet on social media, why not?! Do yourself (and us) a favor, click the social buttons at the bottom of this email to connect!

 

For the next two weeks you can save 15% off the Loco Challenge, Half Marathon. Use LOCO15 at checkout and don't forget to click the button below the Trail Camp article to see what it's REALLY all about! Pro Tip: watch the video and stick around to the end.

 

Next Loco Newsletter will be hitting inboxes November 1st, where we dive deep into whatever the heck fastpacking is (and why we want to know), get to know our Loco digital & graphic art geniuses and chat about this year's Loco Mystery Boxes.

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