The Drop

Taylor, Alex, and Reese jump right in this week with topics ranging from personal philosophies on eating food off of the ground to personal stitches. They also chat about the Adidas Terrex Agravic TT as well as sacrifices they are willing to make for races depending on duration and terrain.GUEST: Nike ACG’s poster child, Christian Allen, joins Taylor to talk about his versatility as an athlete, faith, and his big goals in 2026.

Nick Harris-Fry from The Run Testers joins Thomas for this episode of the Drop to talk all things running shoes, YouTube, The Run Testers, and for the first time ever, we do a live review of the Hoka Cielo X1 3.0.

The team went down to Florida and brought the coldest temperatures in a hundred years along with them for The Donna Marathon Weekend. We recap our races and the Winter GRIT party and our time at Waffle House, among many other things. Thanks to everyone that came out, we had an amazing time despite the unseasonable temps.

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Four Points by Sheraton @ Jax Beach
We had the best time ever at The Donna Marathon Weekend and the Four Points is just steps away from the start and finish line, literally the closest we've ever been to a race. With oceanside rooms in a quiet setting, it's the best place to get a good night's rest before a race. It's a bonus that they just remodeled and their happy hour is top notch. Reserve your room here: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/jaxbf-four-points-jacksonville-beachfront/overview/

SOAR
If you don't know, Soar makes some of the best running apparel in the world. Like, the whole world. They take design and performance seriously, utilizing cutting edge fabrics that exceed the highest standards for running gear. We love all their winter apparel and their warm weather singlets are unbeatable. Check out their X-Race collections, which are perfect for al the upcoming spring marathons:
Men’s XRace collections
https://www.soarrunning.com/collections/x-race
Women’s XRace collections
https://www.soarrunning.com/collections/womens-x-race

PILLAR
Collagen Repair is designed to support tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue - the stuff that takes a beating when you’re running day after day. PILLAR Collagen Repair is a smart addition to your routine, ensuring you stay healthy when you're working your hardest. If you want to try PILLAR, you can head to pillarperformance.shop or TheFeed.com/pillar and enter code BITR for 15% off first-time purchases.

SWIFTWICK
You already know that Swiftwick makes our favorite socks for running, from training to race day. We wear them pretty much every day, whether it's the Flite XT crew or the low cut no-show. Get yourself ready for the new year and save 15% off your first purchase with code BELIEVE15: https://swiftwick.com

This week, the Trail Trio discusses considerations for choosing race day footwear - which proves to be much more difficult to come to a consensus than one would think.
Guest: Cade Michael is an up and coming trail runner who has taken some big swings this past year! He’s looking to improve on those results and continue to establish himself as one of the USA’s top prospective athletes in 2026.

Nikhil Jain is the Director of Footwear Product Line Management at Brooks Running. Thomas and Meg had the opportunity to talk all things Glycerin Flex with him at The Running Event.