Motivation

SportsShoes x Kendal Mountain Festival 2024

As the proud retail sponsor of Kendal Mountain Festival, SportsShoes showed up in force at last weekend's 2024 edition of this world famous event, in partnership with some of our key outdoor brands.

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Photo credit: Kadeer Ali

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On Saturday, we kicked off proceedings with Muslim Hikers and The North Face, embracing some seriously wintry conditions on our hike to the summit of Loughrigg. But we didn't let the weather dampen our spirits as over 120 hardy souls braved the snow to enjoy a fabulous day together on the Lakeland fells.

Want to know what it's like to take part in a Muslim Hikers event with SportsShoes and The North Face?

Then check out all the action from Kendal Mountain Festival 2023 in the video below;

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From here, we headed to base camp with The North Face for the UK film premiere of Homegrown, which documents the incredible journey of local athlete Josh Wade as he strives to become one of the world's best ultra-distance trail runners.

Kendalian Josh spends most of his time training in the Lake District but far and wide he is a 3 x winner of Ultra Trail Snowdonia, a podium finisher of the 2023 Eiger Ultra Trail and has other top 10 international race finish credits. Homegrown is a beautifully shot film that charts Josh’s phenomenal journey from local fell runner to 11th place UTMB finisher in 2024.

Following the film, our very own SportsShoes athlete, Ben Mounsey, interviewed Josh live on stage in front of a packed out crowd, alongside The North Face Explorer James Poole, the Homegrown filmmaker and accomplished sponsored ultra-runner.
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Pictured: Ben, Josh and James on the GORE-TEX Bothy Stage

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Sunday was dedicated to the all things GORE-TEX.
First and foremost, an exciting Road vs Trail race, organised by Unsanctioned Athletics, to see which running discipline would come out on top.

Kept in the dark until 30 minutes before the race, our athletes were transported to two different locations outside of Kendal & challenged to race back by their own compass, either exclusively on road or by trail - with the winning team taking the spoils, along with the bragging rights.

All kitted out with shoes featuring GORE-TEX Invisible Fit technology to take on the challenge, provided by ASICS, Brooks, HOKA, Nike and Saucony, the runners were faced with some tough conditions following heavy rain in the days leading up to the race, but battled through heroically to make it back to KMF Basecamp.

It was Team Trail that emerged victorious, with the Brooks team crossing the line first after an epic race that took them through waist high waters on flooded trails to take the win.

The top 3 was completed by the Trail teams representing Nike and Saucony, whilst our first Road team to make it back were the Nike team.

Congratulations to our winners, along with everyone who took on our unconventional race yesterday - we salute you.

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Finally, the race was followed by another trip to base camp for a live Q&A, as host Ben Mounsey was joined by Luke Myers of Unsanctioned Athletics, SportsShoes ambassador Juliette Denny and GORE-TEX expert Moire Mackensie, as we chatted about the race, the importance of running communities and GORE-TEX Invisiblefit footwear technology.
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Pictured: Action from the GORE-TEX Unsanctioned Athletics event

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Let's also not forget the launch of our new Instagram channel @sportsshoes.outdoors - specifically dedicated to trail running, hiking, mountaineering and other outdoor sports.

Here you will find a wealth of new and exciting kit and products, links to informative and inspirational articles on our Advice Hub, plus the chance to win some incredible prizes in regular competitions.

Follow SportsShoes Outdoors on Instagram here

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Thank you to all who joined us this year - we had a blast!

We hope to be back for Kendal Mountain Festival 2025, where over 200 live sessions including 300+ speakers, 190+ films, and 60+ activities will be programmed engaging over 25,000 adventure-seekers and outdoor enthusiasts.

Save the dates for 2025!

Find out more about Kendal Mountain Festival 2025 here

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Are you feeling inspired? Then join our SportsShoes Strava Run Club and become part of our inclusive community.
And for more inspirational tips to become stronger, better and happier, then check out our Motivation category. Because it’s no fun standing still.