Who the hell is Brandon Dutra?

You might know him from a Prophecy Racers event, you might follow him on Strava. Maybe you’ve even logged some miles with him before. I met him in person for the first time at Red Horn Brewery (not the one near Suburban Ninja, weirdly), and I immediately noticed his calf tattoo looked like the artwork from a Converge album. His response? “…it is.”

That’s when I knew Brandon was the perfect guy to chat with for the first edition of AVRG.

Brandon is all about DIY, loves metal, and occasionally organizes races that feel like catching your favorite band at a tiny venue or house show. He shared his story, saying:

“I was pissed off for every trail race having to drive to Dallas or Houston, and I felt like Austin almost had no trail races… So, I thought…I’ll just start a trail racing company here. The city wasn’t helpful, shutting down my ideas for races at places like Barton Creek Greenbelt. They seemed to only care about large events like marathons. Drawing from my skateboarding background, I adopted a DIY approach: keeping race details hidden until the day before. My friend Louie and I provided only essential details, creating a race experience that avoided what I disliked about traditional trail racing.”

Skate culture and running often go hand-in-hand—gathering with friends who share the same passions, which sometimes others might think are crazy.Brandon combined these worlds. If you look at some of his achievements, like setting an FKT for a double loop around Lake Georgetown, you might assume he has an impressive athletic background. But, like many of us, he got into the sport through a mix of peer pressure and life circumstances.

He explained, “I worked for a corporate company in Los Angeles, where a team-building event involved a Tough Mudder. My coworkers suggested the ten-mile option, so I started running to prepare. Initially, I thought running was miserable, having grown up watching my dad run daily for 35 years. However, as I began with short runs and walks, my endurance grew. I soon felt better, lost weight, and realized running was beneficial for my health and my kids. I decided to continue running as a form of cardio.”

Continuing on that journey, Brandon ensured he combined what he learned from the corporate event, while finding and discovering his own intrinsic motivation to run.

“It’s so simple, but everybody overcomplicates it… and they make it their own. I like it because it’s so simple. Like football, you can’t really make it your own, right? But running? You just run. You can literally run anywhere, as fast as you want. Do workouts, long FKTs, whatever. I love the creative, individualistic aspect.

It’s like skateboarding—a simple thing with endless subgenres and ways to make it your own.

I think that’s why I love it...
it feels unlimited.

You can shift and alter what you do, and it pushes everyone differently. Just getting out there is the battle. And then you have to have fun with it, or you won’t keep doing it. Maybe it’s stubbornness, but tailoring running into races and creative outlets makes it fun—and finding those niche communities is so gratifying.”