Monday Musing #6

Monday Musing #6

We have a dilemma here at Method Seven Ultra Trail. We have a concept. We have a vision (pun intended). We have momentum fueled by personality, inclusion, intrigue, and storytelling, and it is enough to keep us motivated and inspired. But as you know, we don't have a product.

It is a pretty cool place to be, though. The opportunity to rally a community is historically centered around something already existing, or at least the exact concept exists. But here we are, not asking for your money, but asking for your help.

Be a part of our Beta Team, led by myself and Dean Karnazes, the Ultramarathon Man. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we are working with one of the most well-known and well-loved ultra runners in the country? No big deal. And together, we will work toward better eyewear and a better trail running community.

We will gift each selected team member a pair of Brooks trail running shoes, an exclusive Beta Team racing shirt, BU Sunscreen, Spring Energy Gels, and the newly developed TRAIL26 lenses. Your job will be to put these lenses to the test over eight weeks, talk to your community about what you are doing and your involvement with Method Seven, and report your findings back to Dean and me.

In those eight weeks, we will have four meetings to tech you on our lenses, educate you on how our eyes interact with light, and why our lenses are optimized to interact with light to best aid your time on the trails. We want your honest feedback on what you think makes the best trail running frames, to talk shop about brand relationships and what you, as a consumer, think works, and what doesn't.

I am a hopeless gear nerd, and I feel like a kid in a candy shop talking to designers and product developers. Fellow gear nerds, join me!

Above all, we want the team of Beta Testers to finish the eight-week testing period with faith in our mission and our brand. Method Seven CEO, James Cox, mentioned in a meeting the other day that many brands tell their customers they have the latest amazing thing when that is simply not true, and they know it.

In the case of sunglasses, a product will be sold claiming UV protection when they are still letting in a frighting amount of damaging UV! James said in our meeting that when companies make these false claims, they are dishonoring the consumer and the industry. I agree with him.

He might be mad at me for sharing that (shh), but the message is there! And it is meaningful coming from our CEO, the guy with the most to lose. We do not want to blow smoke up your ass for the sake of making a pretty penny. We will not compromise quality to cut costs in developing our Ultra Trail Optics. We want to honor trail runners by being honest, authentic, and making some badass optics.

Our eyewear isn't an accessory. We are not selling sunglasses. We create equipment to help enhance your experience. And we would rather not exist than make our community feel like we are using them by selling crap.

Apply for the Beta Team here to help us! We need you. And the industry needs a lens like ours to exist. Better vision means fuller experiences.

Applications will be accepted until February 1st, and the team will be announced on February 7th.

Let’s do this!