The Trail Gangstas, a duo who both run and create rap parodies, offer some sound advice for runners in their new video called “That's So Trail.”
“Ditch the roads, hit the trails.” They rhyme, or sort of rhyme. No matter, we can’t look away.
One half of the team, Ruairi Moynihan, has always enjoyed rap and started writing parodies in college when he made a YouTube account for them. His love of the genre has even helped him connect to the high school students in his English class that he teaches at Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona.
“I ran Division III in college, and I coach cross country and track at my school now. So ‘That’s So Trail’ was just a way for these two hobbies of mine to merge,” Moynihan told Runner’s World by phone.
RELATED: Eminem Should’ve Stuck to 8 Mile(s)
Eminem has always been one of Moynihan’s favorite rappers, so naturally he chose the classic “Without Me” to parody. And once he and the second half of the duo, Miguel Moreno—who Moynihan met years ago at a track workout—started writing, they realized it was easy to spit lyrics that fit perfectly with the beat.
Once everything was written, it was only fitting that Moynihan and Moreno find some trail runners to be in their video.
“I’ve always found a sense of community with trail runners, so we wanted to bring that community into our video and have them be part of it,” Moreno said.
ALSO: Jim Walmsley: Eat Like an Elite
So look out for runners like Jim Walmsley, who is competing in Western States this weekend, rapping to lyrics like, “No days off, don’t call me Bueller. I'm the master of the trails, I could be your tutor.”
If you are anything like us, you’ll be watching the video on repeat all day.
