Underdogs

New trail documentary, going all-in, and having fun along the way

It has been a big last few weeks, to put it mildly. In the shadow of the chaos that is the U.S. at this current juncture, I am grateful to have Open Fuel and training to focus time and energy on. Yes, slinging carbs and electrolytes might be our main source of revenue, but I whole heartedly believe how we choose to operate as a company can have an impact far beyond that.

I’m excited to share two updates with y’all this week…

The Javelina Junderdogs

On Friday, we released our first documentary, telling the story of Will Murray’s historic Javelina Jundred win. For those who aren’t familiar, Will suffered a cardiac arrhythmia AND a broken ankle in the month before last years Western States 100, forcing him to drop from the startlist. He handled the heartbreak with grace, building from it and setting his sights on gaining entry back into the 2026 edition of the race via a golden ticket at Javelina. Watch the 18-minute film below. (not only would it mean a lot, but you can also enjoy the b-plot of me trotting my way around the course)

This was the first of this kind project I have been a part of, and the story behind it has a few interesting components. We were actually slated to make a film around Will’s Western States debut last year, having already hired a videographer and made travel and lodging arrangements. When Will called me to break the news about the arrhythmia, we had still planned to head out and capture something. Even if it was him just finishing the race and chasing cutoffs. Will underwent a procedure to “shock” his heart back into rhythm, which caused optimism, until he broke his ankle while reconning the course. Instead of forcing a story, we put our videographer on retainer for a future opportunity.

We opted to take another shot at Javelina, with a mindset of just being there and not forcing any story. Simply capturing what we could. Turns out, everything came together like a dream.

While storyboarding the film, there was debate on whether or not to include my race, along with our friend Addie who is not an Open Fuel athlete but won a golden ticket herself. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best footage of Addie’s race, but opted to include mine to give folks a view into the brand and decide for themselves if it’s run by people they’d like to support.

The first cut was ok. Then, our videographer went through a period of heartbreak himself, so we took a pause and moved out our timeline. Similar to how patience and understanding paid off following Will’s Western States DNS, giving time and space to our videographer allowed them to come back with a stellar second cut. The final version went through about seven total revisions, but the overall narrative arc of that second version was the foundation.

One thing that is important to me is using real music, as opposed to the soulless royalty free slop. Everything included in the film was purchased direct from artists via Bandcamp. Will listens to Lord Huron before every race, and though we had to go deep into their catalog, we were able to include a tune from them in the doc as well.

All in all, we spent a little over $5k on the projeect. So far the video has catalyzed about a dozen orders of Open Fuel. More importantly, we are closing in on 10k views (solid for us, especially with spending $0 on marketing it) and exposing a broader audience to the brand.

Going All-In On Open Fuel

I officially left my day job as a software product manager last week. My plan is to focus on Open Fuel, training for Cocodona, and volunteering over the next few months.

Even though I am extremely lucky to have the financial stability to do this (my wife is still working), it’s still scary. Our sales are not where I’d like them to be, which creates a bit of a chicken or the egg scenario – my feeling is I need to dedicate more time to the foundation of Open Fuel US, and then sales will follow. Andrew, Open Fuel founder based in Cape Town, is going to follow suit and leave his corporate gig later this year.

We strive to be different as a brand. Other brands, even ones billed as upstarts, are still relying on the old formula of wastefully repackaging unflavored bulk powder, using marketing hype and paid ads to drive sales. Our desired route is a longer one, but we know it’ll land us in a better, more sustainable, place.

We are true underdogs. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cocodona Training Update

Going to keep this short, but the last two weeks have been very solid on the training front. At 15 hours of total work, each week, they are my two biggest ever by time. I managed to get 80 miles of running in with 10k ft of vert, paired with a few days on the skis and bike trainer.

I’m giving myself grace as I dig out of a hole of back-logged Open Fuel tasks while still building volume to my goal of 20+ hours per week. Could be a little better, but also could be a lot worse!

For a closer look, check out my latest training vlog (linked below). Later this week I am headed to Black Canyon to race the 50k and see a bunch of athletes. Stay tuned next week for a recap of this massive weekend in the trail scene.

As always, I so appreciate all the support! If this is your first time here, I’d love if you subscribed to get direct updates and access to new Open Fuel products and discounts. I have a feeling the next few months are gonna get a little crazy, will be well worth following along.