The Human Edge

Hey Team!

Do you ever have those stretches where it feels like so much has happened... and yet it’s only been one week? That’s me right now. I’ve noticed that when you’re really in it, whether it’s something beautiful or something hard, time starts to bend. Maybe it’s because you’re so consumed by what’s right in front of you that everything in the periphery fades out. For me, it feels like it’s been a month since my last newsletter, yet it was only last week that I was writing to you about the G1M Ultra.

As I write this, I’m en route back home after an action-packed week in Austin, bookended by two bigger events. The first was the incredibly inspiring G1M Ultra, where a few individuals ran more than 300 miles without stopping. This past weekend, I volunteered at the inaugural World’s Toughest Mile... and let’s just say I was a very mediocre marshal lol. In between, I found myself connecting with wellness enthusiasts, spending time with great people, and running with four different run clubs. Austin is having a moment, and you can feel it.

A Mental Edge

Last Saturday was the inaugural World’s Toughest Mile, founded by my friend Eric Hinman alongside Guido Trinidad. Knowing those two, I had a feeling it would be a special event. And it was. The format is simple, but brutal: the first 400 meters is burpee broad jumps, the second is walking lunges, the third is a bear crawl, and the final lap is a full 400-meter run. That last lap, I was told by a number of people, felt like the most freeing 400 meters of their life. The winner finished in 28 minutes. Most people took far longer. And that’s the beauty of it. Same distance... wildly different experience. A mile that humbles everyone.

But the real medal of the day, in my opinion, went to a woman named Maxine.

I first noticed her in the opening heat while I was still cutting my teeth as a marshal and hovering around the first stretch of the track. Right away, I could tell she was in for a battle. While others came out hard, Maxine was struggling almost immediately. I stayed close and started encouraging her. She needed long breaks between reps and was moving slowly enough that I honestly wasn’t able to stay with her for very long because I kept getting pulled to other parts of the event. But every time I looked across the infield, there she was... still going.

For Maxine, the first 400 meters took one hour and 15 minutes. Let that sink in. One lap. One quarter of the challenge. And yet every time I checked in on her, she gave me the same response with this exhausted but certain look on her face: “It doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’ll get it done.”

And sure enough, she did.

Maxine finished the mile in just over three hours. She was one of the first people to start and the very last to finish. But she never quit. As a widowed single mother, with her little boy there cheering her on, she wasn’t just competing... she was showing him what resilience looks like in real time. It was one of the most powerful things I saw all week. A reminder that toughness is not always loud, fast, or flashy. Sometimes it looks like refusing to stop, even when everything in you wants to.

From The Field

From Maxine’s story, to last week’s moment with Mike at the G1M Ultra pulling his wheelchair through the mud, to a powerful scene at the Boston Marathon yesterday... I keep coming back to the same thought: the human element of sport is undefeated.

Boston is the marathon of marathons. It happens every year on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday of April, and for most runners, you don’t just sign up... you earn your way in. That’s part of what makes it so iconic. And yesterday, near the finish line, one runner was clearly in trouble. He was stumbling and falling, and barely able to move. Other runners ran past, but then two stopped to help. Lifting him up, draped over a runner on each side, they ran him to the finish line. It was raw and so beautiful... the kind of moment that reminds you what sport is really about.

That’s what I keep seeing lately. Not polished highlight reels. Not perfect outcomes. Humanity. People digging deep. People helping each other. People refusing to fold. From Mike, to Maxine, to Boston, it feels like one giant reminder that even as more attention and money pours into AI, one of the greatest gifts available to us will still come through sport. Community. Adversity. Realness. Stories you can’t script. Moments that hit you right in the chest.

Quick Reminders Before You Start:

Just yesterday, I kicked off my 2026 NYC Marathon fundraising campaign: 26 for Release. Twenty-six miles. $26,000. In 2026. I’ve been encouraged by the traction out of the gates, and I’d love to open it up to anyone here who wants to support it before I start sharing more broadly on social. You can read more about the Release Recovery Foundation and the campaign here.

Also, one of my best friends, Fiona Stevenson, just launched her book on world-class product development. If you’re building a product, selling a product, or operating anywhere in the CPG world, this is absolutely worth your attention. Fiona is one of the best in the world at product innovation, with a long track record at P&G. You can check it out here.

This past week was a reminder that grit still matters, heart still matters, and how we show up for one another matters most. That’s the good stuff.

Catch you on the Start Line,
—Matty