Singletrack

Chris Chavez | Citius Mag, Building A Running Media Company, Creating Running Fans

Mar 31, 2022

58:19

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Chris Chavez is the founder of Citius Mag, a road running and track and field media company providing original running news, analysis, videos, newsletters, podcasts and humor to fans of the sport.

At the start of 2022, Chris made the decision to leave this long-time position as a writer at Sports Illustrated in order to go “all-in” on Citius Mag.

Chris and I talk about building a running media company, his mission for Citius Mag, and what the operation looks like.

Given his perspective on the sport, we also spend quite a bit of time talking about the entertainment value of running, whether it can go mainstream, what it will take to increase the number of fans, and more.

If you like the blending of running and business, running and media, or running and community - you will enjoy this episode. I hope to have Chris on the pod again soon because we only covered about half the topics I had on tap for us.

Timestamps:

(1:08) - overview of Citius Mag
(3:28) - the inspiration for Citius Mag
(8:44) - balancing Sports Illustrated and Citius Mag for years
(12:25) - skills that helped him go all-in on Citius Mag
(15:15) - what he's able to do with Citius Mag now that he's all-in
(21:04) - business models for Citius Mag
(26:07) - what the Citius Mag team looks like
(30:00) - the long-term vision for Citius Mag
(32:52) - whether running could get more mainstream fans
(41:02) - whether running leaders are in alignment about how to grow
(46:32) - what running will look like 10 years from now
(50:01) - advice for the trail and ultrarunning media

Links:

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#3 - Jimmy Daly | Social Media, Content Creation, Branding For Trail Runners
#20 - Zoe Rom | Trail Runner Magazine, Running Journalism, Diversity Talks
#26 - Sam Parsons | How To Build A Trail Running Team

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