E53 • OCTOBER 18, 2025

Learn how The Lockdown AR-style virtual activity challenge by Rootstock Racing is an example of how you can experiment with asynchronous outdoor event design.About Merchants of DirtMe

E52 • AUGUST 24, 2025

Learn how you can use online membership clubs and virtual events to create year-round races immune to weather and closures.About Merchants of DirtMerchants of Dirt is your insider's g

E51 • JULY 30, 2025

Learn how race promoters can pivot quickly towards asynchronous competition and virtual events to survive local natural disasters.About Merchants of DirtMerchants of Dirt is your insi

E50 • JULY 8, 2025

Learn the 50 race direction lessons learned that can help you build your roadmap, refine your checklists, or just help you find a place to start.About Merchants of DirtMerchants of Di

E49 • JUNE 24, 2025

Learn how to leverage third-party professional services to free you up to focus on new racing experiences.About Merchants of DirtMerchants of Dirt is your insider's guide to the art a

E48 • JUNE 18, 2025

Learn how encouraging women to become better riders can create an environment that encourages more women to attend your events.About Merchants of DirtMerchants of Dirt is your insider

E47 • JUNE 13, 2025

Learn why hiring your friends instead of employees can be the beginning of the end for your racing business.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or

E46 • NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Learn how spectator-friendly events create both excited crowds and marketing buzz for your growing events company.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.c

E45 • OCTOBER 8, 2024

Learn why you are accountable for keeping track of all of your registered customers from the time they arrive to the time they leave your venue safely.Have questions? Connect with Kyl

E44 • SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Learn why you need financial protection for your business, volunteers, family, and yourself from other people’s injuries with event insurance.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr.

E43 • AUGUST 22, 2024

Learn how forming or supporting a collegiate sports club can give college kids racing opportunities while serving as a laboratory for your next race idea.Have questions? Connect with

E42 • AUGUST 15, 2024

Learn the levels of outreach where the marketing of each of your endeavors depends on how much time you have and what kind of impact you want to make.Have questions? Connect with Kyle

E41 • JULY 25, 2024

Jennifer "Jelly" Crawford from Sparent and DC Podfest walks me through the strategies and struggles of directing a conference from the ground up.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and

E40 • JULY 19, 2024

Learn how to build redundancy strategies into your venue setup plan by removing all your single points of failure on race day.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merch

E39 • JULY 19, 2024

Learn the 5 special slog fest challenges that hide within a multi-day race that few single-day race directors experience until it’s too late.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr.

E38 • JUNE 28, 2024

Use these 7 important tips to turn any new trail into a rewarding adventure while on holiday. Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or wherever you f

E37 • JUNE 21, 2024

Learn how to go on the road and use bigger events as a platform for announcing your event to find more racers and break your race out of obscurity.Have questions? Connect with Kyle an

E36 • JUNE 14, 2024

Learn how to scale up your operation and make your races bigger when I reveal the secrets national championship race companies don't want you to know.Have questions? Connect with Kyle

E35 • JUNE 5, 2024

Learn how to prepare yourself for the possibility that one or all of the four horsemen of race planning will show up and wreck your race. Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mur

E34 • MAY 27, 2024

Learn how basing your race decisions on measures or metrics helps you avoid unforeseen problems. Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or wherever yo

E33 • MAY 16, 2024

Why you need to be on your toes when it comes to combating those wannabe activists and trail extremists who are out to sabotage your race.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mur

E32 • MAY 7, 2024

Go behind the scenes of the first mountain bike race in a four-race series and learn what thinking goes into preparing and directing a recent race (Part 2 of 2).Have questions? Connec

E31 • MAY 7, 2024

Go behind the scenes of the first mountain bike race in a four-race series and learn what thinking goes into preparing and directing a recent race (Part 1 of 2).Have questions? Connec

E30 • APRIL 7, 2024

Learn how to get your events into locations you’ve never raced before by building better relationships with local trail stewards and organizations.Have questions? Connect with Kyle an

E29 • APRIL 7, 2024

Learn how to use the Always Be Racing (ABR) business model to make racing a full-time gig by maximizing your sales volume.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchants

E28 • APRIL 7, 2024

Explore why avoiding negligence is a primary job of a race director and how waivers are your first line of defense against personal injury lawsuits.Have questions? Connect with Kyle a

E27 • MARCH 20, 2024

You can't fix a race you never start, so stop caring about what other people might think and go define your own race direction style.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy a

E26 • MARCH 20, 2024

Cy Sack walks me through the State of Adventure Racing (circa 2017) and shows how a little data can go a long way to making big decisions.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mur

E25 • MARCH 20, 2024

Avoid race day woes using these registration strategies to improve your next event's participation numbers.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or w

E24 • MARCH 20, 2024

Mark Montague and I walk step by step through his latest adventure race launch and learn how to SPROUTE an Adventure Racing course.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at

E23 • MARCH 20, 2024

If you can communicate with your customers, your customers will communicate back by showing up to your races.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or

E22 • MARCH 19, 2024

Michelle Faucher and I walk step by step through her latest adventure race launch and learn how to Brake the Habit.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.

E21 • MARCH 19, 2024

Race day volunteers can be a key element in your race’s success but only if you can recruit, manage, and effectively deal with them.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at

E20 • MARCH 18, 2024

Having an accurate timing process starts off being essential to deciding who won or lost your race, and ends up helping you pay for future races.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and

E19 • MARCH 18, 2024

Fix a bad race course with a good design strategy that includes walking the course, testing your design, and getting feedback from real racers.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr

E18 • MARCH 18, 2024

Build your location development strategy using the scout, planner, and course designer roles to help you decide which locations can support a race.Have questions? Connect with Kyle an

E17 • MARCH 18, 2024

Learn how to develop a tried-and-true process for obtaining legal permission to use public venues that stops permit denial runaround.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy a

E16 • MARCH 18, 2024

Bounce back from missed deadlines, bad schedules, forgotten equipment, and ruined venues by using a few simple race day risk mitigation strategies.Have questions? Connect with Kyle an

E15 • MARCH 11, 2024

Bounce back from customer disappointment, racer injury, or even a lawsuit, by using contingency planning to create a risk mitigation strategy.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr.

E14 • MARCH 11, 2024

When it comes to Mr. Murphy, you need to take emergency response planning very seriously when -- not if -- you need to save a racer's life.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mu

E13 • MARCH 11, 2024

When it comes to Mr. Murphy and bad weather ruining your off-road race, you need to have a cancellation policy, a rain day, and be ready to give refunds.Have questions? Connect with K

E12 • MARCH 11, 2024

Why simply improving the way you treat people, your business will be rewarded with customer attendance, money, and most of all, their love.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mu

E11 • MARCH 11, 2024

Picking your race dates is an important part of your strategic process, but includes more than just sitting down with your calendar and a pen.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr.

E10 • MARCH 5, 2024

Understand how market forces, competition, and customers work before you base your racing business on another off-road racing fad.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at m

E9 • MARCH 5, 2024

Let's talk about money, budgets, and getting your race expenses under control.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.com or wherever you find trail grinde

E8 • MARCH 5, 2024

I gave an interview to Carey Green from Podcastification at DC Podfest where I delved into the origins of Merchants of Dirt.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchan

E7 • MARCH 2, 2024

It's time to debunk the myth race promoters have about money and why so many off-road race businesses are afraid of making a profit.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at

E6 • MARCH 2, 2024

Learn why the secret to building a successful race is in how you turn repeatable tasks into a manageable business system called a roadmap.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Mur

E5 • MARCH 2, 2024

Listen to the rant I recorded at the DC PodFest this past weekend and learn about the new Race Promoters Group I started on Facebook.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy a

E4 • MARCH 2, 2024

Learn the subtle but important reason why all race promoters are race directors, but not all race directors are race promoters.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merc

E3 • MARCH 1, 2024

Take a guided tour through the creation of the strategy every race promoter needs before they start getting dirty.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr. Murphy at merchantsofdirt.c

E2 • MARCH 1, 2024

Walk through the top five things I wished I had known before I built my first race and learn how to avoid and overcome these common mistakes.Have questions? Connect with Kyle and Mr.

E1 • FEBRUARY 27, 2024

Learn the three reasons why now is a great time to get into off-road racing and the three lessons I learned after 20 years in the endurance sports industry.Have questions? Connect wit