A RUNNING DREAM COME TRUE

By: Briston Rains

What inspired you to start Race Directing and what was the driving force behind bringing this vision to life?

My inspiration to become a race director came from Rob Goyen, the former race director of Trail Racing Over Texas. When I was 17, I ran one of his trail races and had the chance to speak with him afterward. Witnessing all that he had accomplished planted a seed in me, making me realize that race directing was something I could aspire to one day.

The driving force behind my vision has always been an attraction to the unknown and the idea of creating something out of nothing

Can you walk us through how your Trail Running race came to fruition, from the initial idea to its current success?

In August 2020, I was 18 years old and a week into my first year of college at Southern Arkansas University I began to ponder what I wanted to do with my life I knew I loved running so being a coach would be neat, and maybe even race directing would be something I could do A few days later, I was sitting in a class when I began to jot down name ideas on a piece of paper for the name of a running organization Then I wrote down a name that stuck with me I ran back to my dorm room, I knew I was onto something big I told my roommate how big this was going to be In a matter of seconds, I opened up a journal, and with a pen, the Texas Outlaw Running Company was born Our first race was a small road 5K in December 2020, followed by our first trail and ultra-marathon race, the Chupacabra 50, in May 2021

Balancing life as a full-time college student and athlete was challenging, so I could only host races during winter and summer breaks After my freshman year, I was ready to drop out and focus on Texas Outlaw Running full-time, but I felt the Lord guiding me to stay, so I did I graduated a year early in Spring 2023, and for the first time, I could fully dedicate myself to Texas Outlaw Running Newly married and with a family to support, I went full force with Texas Outlaw Running and began hosting races all over the State of Texas and neighboring states I began to add races so my family and Texas Outlaw could survive By January 2023 though, the Lord had really blessed the trail races We began to see tremendous growth race after race t specific goals do you have for the e growth and development of your and how do you plan to achieve m? oal is to grow into the best trail running ts in this part of the United States. I care a bout each runner that cross the line and I to make sure I do my part and thing in my power to help them cross ine and do something special. growth and development of our trail races mple; to do the little things right Anything slicing fruit at the aid stations all the way e finisher medals at the finish line. has your personal journey and riences influenced the way you oach organizing and directing a race? n I was 15, I stumbled upon a video of eone running through the wilderness ugh the mountains. Instantly, I was ed. From there I began running local trail in North Texas. The races I ran help build oundation for how I would organize my

In what ways do you envision your race making a lasting impact on the Trail Running community and beyond?

The butterfly effect is the idea that small actions or changes can have large, unpredictable consequences over time, like how a butterfly's flap might eventually cause a tornado It illustrates how every action is highly sensitive to forever consequences.

When someone signs up for a race, they don’t just dedicate a few hours and go home, they dedicate entire months to years to train They travel, race, travel back and recover. This is all time that the person who signed up could’ve been spending elsewhere But they chose to give their time to make a pivotal change in their life. All of the thousands of runners that attend our races are all lasting impacts that expound much like the butterfly effect.

How have you seen the community surrounding your Trail Running race evolve and grow over the years, and what role do you think your race has played in fostering this sense of community?

I’ve seen our community just explode. When I show up to races, whether it’s the volunteers or the runners, I see many familiar faces. A lot of the people have become much like family. There are some people we see every single month at a race Used to when I race-directed a race solo, I felt a bit alone Now when I show up to a race, I know that there’s going to be a bunch of people there that I have genuine relationships with and that I got their back, and they got mine

What unique aspects of your race do you believe contribute to creating a supportive and inclusive environment for runners of all levels and backgrounds?

The registration button is open to everybody! There’s nothing particularly unique we do to try and create inclusive environments

We are an open door and anyone can come in.