It seems like Speedgoat is everywhere in trail running and ultrarunning these days.
There’s the shoe that dominates the start line of many ultras around the world, in its newest iteration as the HOKA Speedgoat 6; there’s the mountainous and rugged race in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, the Speedgoat Mountain Races; and then there’s the man behind it all, Karl “Speedgoat” Meltzer.
From the origin of Meltzer’s nickname in 1998 to the start of the race in 2008 to the launch of the original Speedgoat shoe in 2015, and now the shoe’s newest version in the summer of 2024, the name has a legacy that Meltzer couldn’t be more proud of.
Introducing the HOKA Speedgoat 6
The HOKA Speedgoat shoe line has rightfully earned a reputation for having an outsole that’s grippy on technical terrain, a midsole that’s soft enough for running 100 or more miles, and an upper that provides ample support and lockdown.
The HOKA Speedgoat 6, releasing this week, has gotten several notable updates on its predecessor, the HOKA Speedgoat 5.
The Vibram outsole maintains a similar cutout pattern with 5mm lugs — deep enough to grip but shallow enough to perform on harder surfaces as well.
The updated midsole is made of a single-density foam that is lighter, firmer, and more responsive than that of the Speedgoat 5. The shoe also has a 5mm drop, moved up from 4 mm on the previous version.
For the upper, HOKA eliminated the engineered mesh of the Speedgoat 5 and went to a more supportive woven knit upper with an internal chassis system to provide increased support around the midfoot.
While the Speedgoat line has evolved since its first edition, it continues to hold the spirit of the original brainchild in Meltzer and the shoe design engineers at HOKA.
Speedgoat Karl: Nicknames That Stick
Most people in the trail running and ultrarunning world know the name Karl Meltzer, aka Speedgoat Karl. It’s hard not to know him. He’s won more 100-mile races than anyone else — 38 as of this article’s publishing, including the Hardrock 100 five times and the Wasatch Front 100 Mile six times.
He was the 2006 “UltraRunning Magazine” North American Ultrarunner of the Year, set a then-fastest known time for men’s supported run on the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 2016. And, he played a world-record 230 holes of speed golf in 12 hours.
It’s generally only the really good, and the really bad, nicknames that stick, and Meltzer lucked out with his. Originating from an off-hand comment he made while driving home from the 1998 Pikes Peak Marathon with his buddies and commenting on a speedy jackrabbit crossing the road, exclaiming, “What a speedgoat!” it wasn’t long until Meltzer himself became synonymous with the name.
The next summer, the race director of the Zane Grey 50 Mile changed Meltzer’s name on the entry sheet to Speedgoat of the Wasatch, and Meltzer embraced the moniker fully, going so far as to trademark the name in 2000.
Years later, when he approached HOKA with the idea of the shoe line, it was only natural to call it the Speedgoat.
Speedgoat 50K: Origin Stories
Meltzer was originally a ski bum, the profession that first brought him to the Wasatch Mountains in 1989. Trail running soon took priority, and by 1993, he placed in the top 10 of the Pikes Peak Marathon. He raced his first ultra in 1996, the Wasatch 100 Mile, won his first Hardrock 100 in 2001, and for well over 15 years, was at or near the pointy end of races.
While working at Snowbird ski resort in 2007, deep in the Wasatch Mountains, Meltzer and John Collins, the Snowbird event director, decided to host a race at the resort. Collins challenged Meltzer to get 100 people to the start.
Meltzer is the first to admit that the first year of the event was a bit of a mess, but they got 112 runners on the start line, and everyone learned a lot in the process. As the event grew in the following years, things started to go much more smoothly.
In 2012, the event was part of the Skyrunner World Series in its Ultra category, and attracted international talent, such as Kilian Jornet of Spain, to the start line.
Of the early days, iRunFar Editor-in-Chief Meghan Hicks says, “I ran the second edition, in 2008, after hearing others talk about the wild inaugural race the year prior. Only a half decade into trail running and ultrarunning then, I was trying lots of different kinds of races. The Speedgoat 50J was definitely part of my slippery slope into racing and running on bigger mountains.”
About the event’s competitive development, Hicks continues, “During the years 2012 to 2015, there was a focus on getting strong competition to the race. iRunFar covered the race two or three times during this era, when runners like Anna Frost, Ellie Greenwood, Jornet, Anton Krupicka, and many more like them filled the front of the races.”
Nine years later, in 2021, the race became part of the UTMB World Series and expanded to 2 days of racing and four events, adding a 28K, 20K, and 10K, to accompany the original 50K event.
Meltzer has stayed on as the race director throughout the various evolutions of the event and hopes to stay involved in the future as well.
A Lasting Legacy
Meltzer acknowledges that he’s been able to create a legacy in the sport with the Speedgoat name. While he’s far from done with running, he says, “I think the shoe is going to be the legacy. And I really hope the shoe does last for a long, long time.”
If the current popularity of the shoe is any indication, the line will indeed last for a long time. During a chat about the Speedgoat shoe line, Meltzer says, “I see it every day. We stopped at the Ouray Brewery [in Ouray, Colorado], and the host at the door was wearing the things. And I’m like, ‘Nice shoes.’ I always say nice shoes.” And while Meltzer didn’t tell the host they were his shoes, his wife did, leading to an extended conversation about them.
HOKA Speedgoats are found everywhere. And Meltzer, now 56 years old, is still running strong.
On July 13, Meltzer finished the 2024 Hardrock 100. He says that in preparation, he put in more vertical this June than ever before. This was his fifth 100-miler finish this year and the 85th of his lifetime.
“My focus now is to try to get to 100 of them,” he says. “ I think in a couple of years, I should be able to get to that. It’s a different goal, but I think it’s going to be pretty monumental when I hit that. Hopefully, it’s Wasatch that will be the 100th. It was my first.”
It’s been quite a run for Meltzer and the Speedgoat name. “I’ve done all right for some knucklehead who dropped out of college and decided to be a runner from a ski bum.”
This post is sponsored by HOKA.
