I always noticed how running has been portrayed by pain and exercise, work and struggle.  

You are supposed to work harder, sweat your brains out, turn your body into a photoshopped model, and do it all faster than you did yesterday.

When you get back from your run, you can post it on an app and see exactly how fast or slow you are compared to everyone else in the world.

And there is something to all this - running can be hard work, and it is empowering to push through the pain and discomfort and sweat. It’s this bad ass thing that you do, and you should be proud of it.

I ran in high school, and I remember this quote I had up on my wall: “Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.”

But that isn’t the whole story.

A few months before I started Territory, I quit my job and took a road trip across the US. I didn’t have a specific direction, I was just running in cool places and meeting new people.

I was drained from a job that took too much and gave too little, and I needed to escape for a while.

Near the beginning of that road trip, I drove into Salt Lake City.

I remember seeing this big grassy mountain from a distance, and thinking wow that looks like a cool place to run.  

So I started driving towards it. No GPS, no map, just this mountain in the distance, and the roads I was guessing would take me there.

They did.  

I reached the base, found a trail, threw on some shorts and a tee, and ran up that mountain.

I had never done anything like that before. And yes, the run was hard.  It was a mountain, and it was a struggle to get to the top. But what stands out to me in that experience was the feeling of absolute freedom. Of seeing a mountain you want to run up, finding a trail, and going for it.   

Just you and the trail.

I created Territory Run Co. to share this side of the running story. To empower people to run their way and chase down whatever dreams they have.

To seek out the wild places, a long run with a great friend and escape all of the noise in life to find something true out on the trail. 

When I got back from that road trip I set up a website and started Territory with one t-shirt design.

I am glad to be showing the side of running that I have always identified with and I welcome you to our trail running community.

-Brett Farrell

 Brett Farrell, Founder, Territory Run Co