Hi, I'm George Kow. This may be one of my last regular nature walk but you know dog walk business tip videos for a while and the reason is because it's getting cold here and it's a bit more unpleasant to to stay still or to be slow in this cold weather and doing these videos and also fewer dogs are out at the dog park so I need to be playing with buddy more and kind of keep moving so I'll start doing more indoor videos and I wanted to touch on this idea of content stages okay when you first start creating content you might feel intimidated about doing these kinds of videos I've been doing or writing your own blog post because you're thinking what do I have to say so let me give you a couple of stages of content creation that might be helpful for you the first stage really when you first getting started it's it can be really helpful to curate and opinionate what I mean is you simply as you do your research on the topic of your passion you're going to come across articles videos podcast episodes whatever email infographics things that are like oh this is so good so useful and what you simply do is share that on social media share whatever you find useful on social media and here's the key when you share it don't just send a link and that's it share it along with at least one sentence or two a paragraph if you can of what you found most helpful about that article and if you can also add something that you think the article didn't address but you also think is important so that's called I call that curate and opinionate and that's a good first stage for content getting into the whole habit of creating content useful useful and entertaining things for your audience that bring you perspective clients and kindred spirits etc that's the first stage curate and opinionate the second stage is I'll call it casual content creation consistent casual content and this is kind of the thing that I've been doing you know it's funny I've been coaching full-time for seven years but I didn't really start being consistent with my content until this year and it's well I should say probably two three years ago I started being a bit more consistent but that was more like you know one blog post every two weeks or something this year I started as you know doing these uh Monday through Friday videos and it's been awesome I mean it's I've grown so fast and so much as a result of doing casual consistent content casual because it's there's a buddy there casual because it's much easier it's much less pressure it's much less intimidating I can just be out on my regular walk and just be talking to you sharing something useful sharing something that I found to be helpful or a client or an audience member found to be helpful so casual consistent content and you could do this through writing or videos or podcasts anything that energizes you choose the medium that works for you don't necessarily copy me if you don't like what I'm doing just choose the medium that works for you whatever that may be and then the third stage is content series so this is actually what I'm going to be doing again I've done this a lot in the past years but I'm going to be coming back to this this the strategy of content series coming up in in uh January of 2016 and that's to take all of my well take as much of my content as I can and serialize it so make it a step by step how to do authentic marketing or step by step how to do time management or something like that I'll be putting them into step by step series now going forward so that it can become a course and you can do the same thing if you if you first start with consistent casual content to we'll start with curating and opinionating so you can do your research and practice your muscles of saying something a little bit of something on a regular basis and then start doing your own consistent casual content and then go to creating a series that can become an online course that you either get away for free or you charge for and you know some people I I used to make full-time living basically selling online courses now I'm coming back and I'm going to be making it either free or very very inexpensive so that more people can access it so I hope this is helpful you can expect more indoor videos from me from now on and I'll probably doing less frequent videos because I'll be working on my series my step by step series and that's going to take more serious thought and preparation so with that I hope you've been enjoying these videos and I always welcome your comments and your questions what would you love to learn if I were to put together a series all right be well


Jimmy K here, Metal Voice. Look at this. The Metal Voice shirts are now on sale, just go to the video description to find out on how you can purchase one. Metal! Welcome to the Metal Voice and man we got two metal artists on the show today. Of course, Andy LaRocque, King Diamond fame and producer at Sonic Train Studios and of course my buddy Neil Turbin, former anthrax, Death Riders and all the other bands he's in. Andy, tell us about Sonic Train Studios. We've talked about this before, bands you may be producing or what do you do? Tell us about that quickly. What I do, you know, when I'm touring or working with King Diamond, you know, I've got this studio where I produce tons of other bands. I record, produce mix and master. So that's what I do. I can't even count in all the bands. I can produce in here for about 25 years now, 26 years. Hundreds and hundreds of different bands. And I just finished off working with a guy called Peter Lasar. He was like a A&R kind of type style music, great musicians and before that I worked with a US based band called Dialith. I don't know really where they will play it at, except for the US. And I've been working with an Austrian band called The Roche Gang. So, you know, I've been keeping distance for the last couple of months actually, you know, with a lot of different styles and a lot of different bands, you know, and also working with, I would say, working on writing some new material for King Diamond. Oh, that's a good second. I know it sounds, you know, for people like, oh, it takes forever. But yeah, it does. But we want to have the best material, you know, when we pick out, you know, the good songs. And before we start recording, of course, you know, so we're working on that. Yes. Is there any timeline? Can you give us any sort of timeline, like in the year, 12 months, next week, next week, tomorrow, today? That would be great. No, but I mean, our goal is to go out on the road again, you know, when all this COVID stuff is over with. And before that, we need to have an album out there, you know, so, you know, we got some pressure. Yes. King's got, you know, crazy, a lot of crazy ideas.  And I have actually, you know, four or five songs that could be, you know, possible for the next album, you know, and I know he's got, you know, tons of riff and stuff going around in his head, too.  Did COVID sort of postpone things for you guys? Or did it make you more productive? Like this whole lockdown, was it difficult?  But talking about the studio again, you know, with the COVID, I couldn't really work with bands coming here from outside Sweden, because they were not even allowed to come in the country.  So yeah, that's all I can say. Neil. Yeah, so I was going to ask the question, which you pretty much covered about, you know, the studio Sonic Sonic Train Studios, and what a beautiful studio you have there, which we could come and visit you right now, because it looks great. And I believe that, you know, because of the lockdown situation over time, you know, has that in Sweden, has that increased the volume of, I mean, are you seeing about the same number of bands and business, or is that increased because of, I mean, obviously, because people can't get to Sweden, or there's restrictions, that seems like it's been a roadblock of sorts, but I mean, sounds like you've been still pretty busy there.  So of course, it has been, you know, less bands the last year and a half than it was prior to the COVID situation, definitely. All right, so this is what we're going to do today, and we've never done this. All the times we've interviewed Andy, he graciously let us interview him. We've never really counted down or ranked the King Diamond albums according to Andy LaRocque, but we're not going to do all the albums because that, you know, beyond forever. We're going to rank six, not five, not 10, but six, because six, six, six, right, just King Diamond, you know, you know, the whole thing, right?  Me and Neil will give you some color commentary in the meantime, what we think of the album and we'll just sort of count it down to number one. You get ready? All right, sure. All right, so number six, you told me, give me your soul, please, which was the last King Diamond album. Why would you rank it as in the middle, right, of the catalog? Why would you put it there? I would say it's good songs, has a good sound and a pretty good atmosphere on the whole album, you know. It's got a cool mix of the emotion and, you know, heavy stuff and some aggressive stuff and spooky stuff, you know. So, yeah, I think it's a really good album, you know. For me, give me your soul, you're nominated, right, for a Grammy, right, for Never Ending Hill, correct? Yeah, correct. So you're a Grammy nominated composer, artist, right? Yes. To me, King was singing more in the lower tones on this album, less in the sort of highs, which made it a little more darker and creepier. Do you remember, what were the pros and cons when you're in the studio for this album? We recorded, you know, differently at that time because we recorded the drums in the studio in Texas, if I remember right. I mean, this is like 13 years ago, it's crazy. And then we recorded most of the stuff, you know, the guitars and such at King's Place, actually, in his home studio. So it was a little different from the earlier recordings, you know, when we all went into the studio at the same time doing stuff, you know, here we recorded the drums in a proper studio and put on the guitars and bass at King's home studio. So that was a little difference, you know. But I thought it turned out really good, you know, I mean, the overall thing turned out really good with that one. All right, number five. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Yeah, it has a difference feel if you compare that to the earlier albums, of course, you know. All right, you're ready for this, Neil? Number five. The eye. The eye was number, your pick, Andy, for number five, a little bit of commentary on that. New. You, you, sorry, sorry. Any commentary on the eye, Andy, or Neil, whatever, you guys, one or the other? I think that was the last album we did on River on the Records, was recorded summer of 1990. And also a great album, great songs.  And yeah, I really, really liked the album. And also, it was recorded a little different, because that was actually the first album when we used like a click track throughout the songs, you know, even though the tempo was shifting and stuff, you know, but that also makes it kind of different for us to play around the click track to make it sound organic and kind of live, you know. On the previous, the first four albums, click track was like, no, no, we never used that, you know. That was a total live feel in the studio, you know. So of course, this was a little different to us, you know, but I think it's a great album, you know. Songs and everything is really good. Songs are great. Neil, any commentary on the I? Well, is there, is there certain songs that surprised you that you weren't expecting to be like, hey, this is the best track to me on the album or the next, you know, after you started using the click for the whole band to record with, did that maybe change, I'm sure it changed some behaviors too. Yeah, it did, of course, you know, but I still think, you know, that I of the which is one of my favorite songs on the album, I think it's a really, really good song. And when we wrote music at that time, we used like a click track or BPM to just, you know, keep it steady and be able to put some keyboards down, you know, the right way, the way we wanted it, you know, so yeah. But I'm not sure if I can, you know, point out the song that turned out completely different from what we thought from the beginning, you know, I'm not sure I can do that, you know, I think it turned out good. Yeah, I think so too. All right, number four, you guys ready for number four? We're ready. Conspiracy, where's conspiracy? I have it here somewhere. Actually, this is my favorite album. There's King. This is a conspiracy them back. But you got that picture of conspiracy of King Diamond there. Tell us about why conspiracy is your fourth, I guess, most liked album. Well, I'm not going to say it's like ranked number four that way, you know, I mean, I think it's one of our best albums for sure. It was also a different situation because just like six months prior to the recording of the album, we moved to LA, the whole band moved to LA back in the summer of 88. And we did a short tour at that summer and just went into the rehearsal room and, you know, put together songs and we went into rumble recorders in the valley together with Roberto Falcao this time also, and also Chris Tangarides, you know, that helped us out with some really good stuff, you know, like he was kind of producing the solos, which I don't know, but, you know, he was helping us out with sounds and stuff, you know, which I think turned out really good. And I really, really liked the album, the sound of the album. And this was also actually a time when Mickey D wasn't any longer in the band. He was just hired to do the album actually. So it was a very strange situation, but it turned out great, I think. Yeah, I think it's a great album. And what do you think, you know, some of the dynamics that changed when Mickey D left the band?  I just wondered, you know, working with different players, you know, you've been a longstanding member of King Diamond besides King, right?  So I'm just wondering, you know, internally, what you would say that some would attribute to that?   And actually, Mickey was down here a few months ago, working on some stuff too, you know, so we're still keeping touching all that, you know, so we're good friends.  He understands what, you know, we're talking about and the feel we're after, you know, so, yeah, I mean, what can I say? I just wanted to say that what I noticed about King Diamond Band as a whole, as a team, is the word team.    But and King sounded so phenomenal.  Yeah.  So we know exactly what to do there. And then before tour, we usually, you know, rehearse really hard for about a week or 10 days or whatever it takes, you know, to get a good, you know, before we go out on the road. And, you know, since like maybe 10 years back, you know, we started to play a lot of festivals and stuff with bigger stages. And we just felt that at least most of it King is still kind of old school. So he's not using like in ears system, but all the other guys in the band does. And that also makes us hear all the details, even if the stage is really big. So and we even, you know, rehearse with that, of course, you know, to get a really good sound. And even if I'm on the other, you know, side of the stage, I can still hear mats, you know, play playing on the ride or the Hyatt really, really good, all the details, you know, in a totally different way.  And that's also part of why I guess, you know, we play very good together. Number three here. Okay. Number three, you told me them little few words about them. For me, you know, grandma has been immortalized in our culture, right, because of the movie at the clerks. But tell us about them. And Mickey D, of course, was a drummer back then on them. Yeah. And back at that time with them, we played together for a few years, we've been on a few tours.   Yeah, I think live, that was just an incredible, you know, when some of those songs were played. And of course, one of my favorites, Welcome Home. And yeah, I just thought that in terms of, you know, the progression of incorporating some of the styles and, you know, just the different approaches to some of the different albums, what would you say is something that, you know, maybe you guys kind of went out of the expectation, the normal framework of what would be expected with King Diamond, in other words, where you maybe wrote some songs that kind of were out, you know, obviously, you want to write for your fans, but sometimes creativity takes you in different directions. So I just wondered if, you know, if that album was them, or if there was other albums that, you know, you felt were maybe in a non traditional King Diamond direction, to some extent, maybe in a few songs. Yeah, well, when you look back at it now, you know, I mean, you can say that them was like really standing out because of its progressiveness, and also the, you know, intensiveness on the album, you know. But that was nothing we really plan when we write songs, we just try songs and, you know, and then we back then, at least, you know, we rehearse together and go into the studio.  And so when you start just with the riff, you know, you might have some ideas and some visions to, okay, this is going to be cool. And then you go into the studio, it turns out different, you know, from from what your original vision was, maybe, you know.  Now we're going to go to the last two, and you could interchange the last two here very easily. But you said Abigail. So tell us, you know, the monumental King Diamond, you know, the album everybody knows King Diamond for. Tell us about Abigail and were you from from the beginning of it to the finished product, was it everything you hoped it would be? I think it even turned out better than we hoped it to be, you know, because this was the second album with King Diamond, and we've been out on a few short tours, and playing a lot together, you know, wrote some great songs, got into the studio, we knew exactly what to do, and it just turned out great. You know, I mean, the atmosphere and everything on this recording and the album just was captured into the album and all the songs, you know, so I would still say this is my favorite one, and I still think it's an amazing album, you know, one of my favorites, definitely.  So I guess with that in mind, you know, that's, you know, your piece de resistance to an extent, you know, when you're writing and when King Diamond, you know, is looking at composing, is that, is that, is there a certain standard that you're looking at as kind of the gold standard, the reference point of, like, hey, it's got to be on that level?  So yeah, I mean, we really try to have a high standard on all the songs, of course, you know, and I would say that, you know, the next album is going to be a little bit looking back to the previous, you know, the older albums, you know, to get that high standard of the songs, you know, that's probably why it takes so long, you know, to write the songs. Well, we're expecting something really big now, right? After all this time, we're expecting like the best of the best of the best. All right, let's move on to the next one. And this is like, and again, they're interchangeable, I'm sure, like one day, fatal portraits, your favorite one, the next day's Abigail, right? I mean, even for fans, we change right over time. We said fatal portrait, okay, as I guess one, but yeah, fatal portrait, recorded in the summer of 1985, Denmark. And that was also different for me, of course, you know, because I joined the band when they already been into the studio for about two weeks. So the drums and all the bass tracks and some of the rhythm guitars were done when I came down to Copenhagen. Mickey called me because they needed a guitarist in the band, you know, they had this guy that didn't really work out first. So Mickey called me and I quit my job the same day with my amp, my guitar, to train down from Sweden to Denmark, Copenhagen, and met the guys in the studio, talked a little with them, you know, and I just said to myself, okay, it's now or never, you know, I got it, I really got to do this. So I went into the studio and they asked me to do like audition for Dressing White, that song, you know, so I played it, you know, a few times, played it through, listened to it and recorded a few things. And later on that afternoon, they said, you got the job, you got the job, welcome Andy. You know, sign here.  I mean, I mean here, 30, what is it, 36 years later, you guys are like the Lenin McCartney of heavy metal, you and King, I find, you know, it's a great writing team. You know, that's what I really like about King Diamond and Neil pointed out that before. There is a family aspect, yes, there's been turnover of musicians, but you and King have always been sort of like the key, right, the core will call it. And I think that's why you guys have been so successful, at least my opinion. Neil. Yeah, I think that's absolutely, you know, factors, having a family, having, you know, a tight knit team and people that, you know, really work well together and chemistry, of course, but I think, you know, over the years, Andy, what would you say is the, you know, the, the, the nominator that, you know, kind of holds it together for King Diamond?   And you guys were back and back and back stronger. I mean, that's the other thing.   Become vinegar. I mean, we've been working together for, you know, 36 years this summer and we know each other pretty good after all these years, I guess, you know, so, and we got the same vision with music most often, at least, and also got the same vision with, you know, the show and all the spooky stuff, you know, that's supposed to happen on station or that all has been really interested in, you know, horror movies and all that kind of stuff, you know, and presenting like a theatrical horror show on stage has always been my dream. And with good music to that, you know, it's just great, I think, you know, so that's one of the visions we share. Okay, so now, and you talked about this just a little bit before, now you have these six albums that we just talked about, you know, you're more favorite albums, we'll call it. There are these guys' blueprints for the vision you have, you must have a vision of some sort for the new album, right? And I'm not going to pry too much, but you said they're blueprints, right? What kind of vision would you at least like to have and it might not turn out like that for any new material, their new album for King Diamond? Do you have a vision? I should do. Melodies, of course, super important, you know, without melodies, there is no music.   That's very cool. What would you say is your sort of the diamond, the Diamond in the Rough album that sort of people don't give enough credit to? Like, wow, people should listen to this album a lot more in the King Diamond catalog, like maybe overlooked a little bit? Yeah, I would say maybe Spider's Lullaby will be one of the albums because I think the songs are really good. But the production of the album could have been, you know, a little bit better.  That's right.  But still, you know, the songs are good. And on that note, thank you so much. So we got Sonic Train Studios, right? Do you take, like, intermediate bands, professional bands, what level of bands do you produce? Good bands. Okay, good. That's a qualification. They got it. They got to meet your standard, right?   So looking forward to that. So for those of you who don't know, Neil Turbin's got an album going to be coming out hopefully soon. And Matt Thompson is on it, my King Diamond drummer, right? And some other great musicians, Neil, maybe you want to just throw out the names of the rest of the guys? Sure, thanks. Thanks for that, Jimmy. Yeah, Death Riders, you know, working with Jonas Hornqvist over there, and from Gothenburg, not too far from Andy and Richard, Richard Sward on bass. And we've got some, you know, surprises and so forth on the album. But working on it still, it's still in progress. And Matt Thompson from King Diamond on drums, which is amazing because, you know, phenomenal person and incredible drummer. So honored to have that opportunity and to have Andy LaRocque involved in producing and, you know, and mastering and all the things that he does, which, you know, I mean, we've taken it to people that didn't quite understand the frequencies and how to differentiate and how to work with that. So I mean, that's something noticeably about Andy that is a differentiator to say the least, you know, and it's only people at a certain level that can even approach it because, you know, when you have a lot of things in the mid range and a lot of frequencies that are competing for parking spots, you know, so to speak, in the sonic spectrum, sounds technical, but it's really quite straightforward. But when you understand the style of music and you understand, you know, how it lays out, I mean, that really is, you know, valuable to have someone of Andy's caliber involved. Right on that note, we're looking forward to you guys finishing up the King Diamond album, going out on tour, and hopefully things will get better. Thank you so much, Andy, for being on the show. Neil, always a pleasure. Thank you so much, everybody. Enjoy the interview.


My name is Izzy Heltie from Western Massachusetts today. But these next few tunes, I guess all of these tunes are some songs I wrote. I'm really happy to be here in Arlington. I've never been to this specific city. I always say it's one of my favorite parts about doing this for my life. It's really the places I get to travel, even if it's kind of local.  So it's always funny writing songs that kind of came out of me not leaving my house in the dead of winter because it's very warm. And so it's always kind of funny to think of my mindset kind of isolated in the New England winters when it's like so beautiful outside currently, and also like 7.30 at night and still very bright out, which is unlike winters. But this next tune is a fun little game for me because it's a new song. And that means I never know how it's going to go live because new songs are not so practiced. And so I thought, what better way to really practice than it being recorded on like six cameras? Yeah, this next tune is called Father. And I'm going to the studio to record a new album in September and this and all the other tunes will be on it. So I came out with a very, very small record in April and this summer has kind of been me playing on that record and going out pretty far. Far for me in the United States, far than I've ever gone. I played some funny shows in rural South Dakota and Wyoming and Colorado. And it was amazing. I've never really seen this country and it was kind of an incredible thing. To do it, playing some small wacky shows all over it and also hiking some beautiful national parks. But I say that all because this next tune is the single off that record. It's called the Marching Song. I'm going to do another slightly terrifying thing. I don't know. I don't know what, I think I'm in a spicy mood, but I wrote this song. I finished it a couple days ago. Like I said before, taking the leap when you write a new song into actually performing it live, it feels much more solidified even though it is slightly terrifying. But I think I'm ready to take that leap with you all today with this new song, so let's hope it doesn't go too terribly. I'm not great at tuning time-sensitively in general, but I recently purchased batteries for this tuner at the Dollar Store, which I've learned is not the thing to do. Maybe they get the rejects? I don't know. That was terrifying for me, but you guys are so warm, so thank you so much for hanging out. Again, for those of you just tuning in, I'm really getting into my TV lingo right now, lingo. My name is Izzy Helltie, and I'm a singer-songwriter based out of Northampton, Massachusetts, if anyone is familiar with the area. Oh, sweet, I was having trouble with my Dollar Store batteries again. But I've just got a few more songs for you all today, and this next tune is a song called Stuckin' Stone, and it's off a little EP I came out with in April, which you can get on the internet. I promise you, if you Google my name, Izzy Helltie, I'm the only person that shows up. But yeah, it's all on Spotify, and I guess Apple Music, I don't know, other streaming things that aren't Spotify, the internet in general, it's there. Or if you like what you hear, I got a bunch of tour dates, local and not so local on my website, and a fun Instagram, and Katie and I were talking earlier that I have all the social media, but I can't really figure out Twitter still. I also have a LinkedIn, but that's another one I can't really figure out, or is very relevant to my situation. Trinity is no acoustic guitar player's friend, let me tell you that. But I think I've just got one more song for you all today, but I know it's not totally live, so it's okay I say things like that. If I can get my tuner to work. Oh, there we go. But again, my name is Izzy Helltie. It's been so wonderful being here with you all tonight at the Studio B sessions. I don't know if the cameras picked up on that. I mean there are so many cameras, one of them has got to have. I've been trying to avoid direct eye contact with any of them because I don't know how weird that would look. Yeah, thank you so much for having me guys. Wish me away, any day.


Janetta B. Cole was on a fast track from a very early age and set off for college at just 15. She became a renowned anthropologist dedicating her work to a wide range of issues from labor relations in Liberia to gender inequality in Haiti. But it is as a leader and an inspiration to young black women in America that Dr. Cole has really made her mark. In 1987, she became the first black woman to be president of Spellman College, one of the most respected institutions of higher learning in the United States. During her long tenure as president there, Dr. Cole renewed the school sense of mission. She was a powerful force behind unprecedented growth in fundraising and top ratings for academic achievement. Since then, Dr. Cole has gone on to teach at Emory University and once again took the reins as the president of a traditionally black women's college when she became the president of Bennett College in 2002. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Janetta B. Cole. My sister's all and the righteous brothers who are here with us. This is no ordinary evening. I am deeply, deeply honored to receive this award. And in response, I would like to share with you three lessons, now four, give me four, that my mom taught me. The first, a woman will be known by the company she keeps. And what extraordinary company I am keeping this evening. A second lesson from Mary Frances Lewis-Betch, who was and always will be my shero. She said in response to racism and sexism, my daughter, you're going to have to be twice as good to get half as far. And importantly, my mom believed that I could do that. The third lesson that I carry with me always is this.  Work with others to make sure that you are first, but never last.  She said education is really about coming to understand the world better. But you will not be an educated person unless you also come to understand your responsibility to help to make the world better. And so tonight, as one of the first deeds, I want to simply open my arms with enormous gratitude to my colleague, Arnold Naiman, to an exceptional and stunningly effective woman, Elizabeth Sackler. To the artist every woman ought to wish she could be, Judy Chicago. To my sister friend, Gloria Stein. Not from the top, not from the middle, but from the bottom of my heart. I thank you all.


Yes guys, the video you've been waiting for is here. I'm talking about Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 versus Exynos 2200. Every year, Samsung gives us two SOCs for their flagship devices. That means that we have two different chipsets for what could be the gaming performance that sets up all gaming performances, right? Now we know the Exynos 2200 comes with AMD's GPU. Yes, AMD GPU and Exynos with our DNA2. So which means we should be getting some really great performance.  I've been here around in the gaming business and mobile for a while. Now, when you're looking at both devices, the black version here or the black colored version is my Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the green colored version, which actually looks lovely. I love the color, is the Exynos version. So pretty much it's simply, it should go versus go on. Anyway, I'll leave the wallpapers down for you guys down below, but let's go ahead and jump in here. Now, does this mean that you have two very different devices? No. Now, you have devices that have the same displays, the same camera modules, the same batteries, the same everything other than the SOC, which is the main processors in here. Now, that is where you're gonna be seeing some differences between game performance and maybe even imagery as well. Now, you're wondering, when you get the Exynos version, if you're in the UK, you will get it in. If you have other parts in the world, well, the Snapdragon version is in the US and most regions around the world. Now, let's start off with, of course, benchmarks, because you guys love benchmarks, right? Now, we're gonna start off with Geekbench. Geekbench, I think, is a nice medium to start off and this is where we see the benchmark comparisons. So, with CPU benchmarks, Snapdragon Agent 1 clearly wins, both in single core and multi core performance and it is clear that it's just better at that CPU perspective. Now, when it comes to compute performance, you can see here with OpenCL, that Exynos 2200 wins. It wins with a higher number, about 3,000 more and that is an OpenCL. When we do Vulkan, it's about 4,000 more compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version. So, again, does this mean one is better than the other, especially with the GPU performance with that compute? Well, not necessarily, not necessarily. So, let's take a look at another test. This is the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test. Now, when you look at it, the stability differences are quite varied. 92.5% for Exynos, 79.1% on Snapdragon but Snapdragon has better loop scores and much higher at 25.59 compared to 18.26. And as you can see with Loop Stress Test, yes, it is more steady, kind of on the Exynos, but much higher and still steadier on the Snapdragon. But again, now, does this mean that Snapdragon is better? Well, let's take it to the games. Now, let's start off with emulators. Now, I couldn't test all but I was able to jump into Redream and Redream plays well on both the Snapdragon version and the Exynos version, get 60 frames per second. And I know you guys are saying, what about PlayStation 1s? Give me more time. I'll probably do that for you. But it plays well on both as well as also game streaming services like Xbox Game Pass, that also runs at 60 frames per second. So, those are covered. Now, when we go to our main Android games, let's start off with, of course, with our very favorite game, which is our baseline, Call of Duty Mobile. Now, we saw Call of Duty Mobile on the Snapdragon HN1 run really well, 60 frames per second at the highest setting. This is where things got a little interesting. On the Exynos 2200 version, I didn't have any high settings. I had really low settings and that actually was shocking. So, I played at the low settings and I got 60 frames per second but you're not playing at the highest settings of the game. That means to me that maybe some of the games I'll be playing here might not be fully optimized but those are the numbers I got. So, I said, let's transition over to PUBG Mobile. Now, PUBG Mobile, you know very well that that's a game that we can play at two main settings, Smooth Extreme as well as Ultra HD Ultra. I usually do that in every video and the Snapdragon HN1 version does flying colors, Smooth Extreme, 60 frames per second and Ultra HD Ultra at 40 frames per second. Now, with the Exynos 2200, we don't have those settings. There is no Ultra HD Ultra available yet and of course no Smooth Extreme. So, I played at Smooth High and I got roughly around 30 frames per second. Not the best, not what I was looking for but again, that is not optimized. So, that is living me with a little bad feeling here that I might not be getting the numbers I should be getting, especially if Samsung is saying this is their top tier device and it should be the same across the board. So, let's go ahead and check out, of course, games with high refresh rate and we decided to display Real Racing 3 to see the kind of performance we got there and to the credit, Real Racing 3 gives you very close performance at about 119 for the Exynos 2200 version and 117 for the Snapdragon version. So, we see similar performance there matching the higher frame rate. So, that's a good sign, that is a good sign. Now, what about games that are more graphically intensive? So, I went over and checked out Black Mobile Desert. Now, Black Mobile Desert is a game that you guys said I should check out. Played it on the Snapdragon version and I got about 43 frames a second, steady, solid, the game ran smooth. Again, that's just the frame rate I'm getting for it. Moved over the Exynos version and yes, it's the same frame rate, 43 frames per second. So, it seems that that optimization might be the key thing here for Exynos but performance wise, it's matching on certain games which include Black Mobile Desert. Then, we head over to the game that of course everyone knows is not as optimized as would like, Genshin Impact. Now, Genshin, if you guys remember well in my S22 Ultra Gaming video, that ran on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at about 42 frames per second and we also tested this out against the iPhone and it ran better than the iPhone which did about 38 frames per second. So, what about the Exynos 2200? Well, Exynos 2200 did an average of 37 frames per second. It did lower at some points to the 20 frames per second. Now, I'm not saying that this is the performance for it but again, optimization is key but the key thing here, it is lower than the Snapdragon version which is at 42 and this is at 37 frames per second. So, put that in mind whichever way you want. So, now you're thinking there is a lot of discrepancies between the performance especially now that the devices are available between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version and the Exynos 2200. What about temperatures? Is one hotter than the other? We've heard over the years that the Snapdragon version usually runs really hot and when I look at the temps, both temps are similar when I played games at the same amount of time. The Snapdragon version gave me about a hundred and six hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit while the Exynos gave me the same temperatures as well. So, I felt like I was getting the same temperatures and it felt like at least in terms of temps, you're gonna be ending around the same for both devices which I think is standard and is pretty cool. Now, are there any more surprises? Is there anything else? Well, I decided to take a few images off the devices and I wanted to just show you guys because I'm noticing some changes and differences here between the images from the HN1 and the Exynos which should be similar but I am seeing differences. What I wanna ask you guys here is should I go ahead and do a camera comparison for you? Just leave those thoughts down below because I'm very interested to see what the device is actually bringing up in terms of images and if they are similar. So, overall, here's the big question. Is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Galaxy S22 Ultra better than the Exynos version? Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer is hold on a second. The reason I'm saying that is because as we can clearly see, certain games are just not optimized. If those three main games are not optimized, then a lot of games will not be optimized. Call Genie Mobile didn't have the right settings as well as also PUBG Mobile didn't have the right settings and we can see the poor optimization that we usually see from Genshin Impact. This is why I'll say if you are in a region that has the Exynos processor and you are a gamer, this probably is not the device for you to get right now until updates roll out for those games. I don't know when that would happen. I don't know if that will happen, but we can clearly see that optimization is probably the biggest factor that gives Snapdragon the edge with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. So, guys, that is what I think about gaming on these devices. If there are updates, I would definitely do an updated video for you, hopefully maybe in a month or two or even three. So we'll see where it actually stands and if it's actually better. But if you wanna check out more videos about gaming on these devices, like gaming with the S22 Ultra versus the iPhone 13 Pro Max, go ahead and click that link and check it out as well as also gaming on the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. That's a really big device. So click on the link guys, check it out and always enjoy your entertainment.


For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. The night of May 3rd will go down in history as one of terror in Colombia. In cities across the country, members of the National Police and Army carried out unprecedented levels of violent repression against the civilian population. Human rights organizations and social movements have declared that massacres were carried out, and due to the number of reports they received, numbers of dead and injured are still unclear. In Cali alone, reports estimate that at least six were killed, one of the victims was an 11-year-old boy. Videos circulated across social media of defenseless civilians being fired at by heavily armed anti-riot police on tanks, police patrolling streets with machine guns, and houses being set on fire by members of security forces. In one video from Florida Blanca Santander, police drove by a lone student walking on the street and shot at him. Members of a human rights verification mission in Cali, who were accompanying the United Nations, were physically and verbally assaulted and shot at by the police. The horrific violence is a continuation of days of repression by Colombian state agencies against the people who have come out onto the streets in large numbers. So why are the people of Colombia protesting? For the past week, hundreds of thousands of Colombians have been on the streets across the country, protesting as part of a national strike. The national strike, which began on April 28th, was organized by trade unions, social movements, and left political parties following the presentation of the Sustainable Solidarity Bill by Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla. Far from having to do with solidarity, it was a tax reform bill, attempting to make Colombia's working class pay for the government's fiscal deficit. The Solidarity Bill would have increased the vat on staple goods, fuel, and various public services, expanded the tax collection base, increased the tax on agricultural inputs, increased the tax on pensions, frozen the wages in the public sector until 2026, eliminated subsidies on various public services, imposed toll tax on roads connecting countryside and cities, among other measures. After five days of massive protests and at least 600 municipalities of the 1103 in the country, Ivan Duque announced that his government was withdrawing the bill and would present a fresh tax reform bill drafted between different parties. Organizations warned that the withdrawal is only a partial victory and that their demands go much further. What are some of the other demands being raised by protesters? In the immediate term, organizations have demanded the withdrawal of the army, the end of repressive actions against protesters by the police and the army, the guarantee to the fundamental rights of the population, and a full and thorough investigation into the violations of human rights carried out by security forces over the last week. In addition to the more than 26 people killed in protests, human rights organizations have also reported more than 761 arbitrary detentions, more than 50 disappeared, nine cases of sexual assault, 17 people with eye-related injuries, and altogether more than 1,000 cases of police violence. Other demands have to do with an end to the systematic and violent repression of dissent and social protests that has been going on in Colombia for decades. The protesters have demanded that the government respect the peace agreements and the genocide of social movements and dismantle paramilitary structures in the country. What is the history of this violence against social movements in Colombia? Throughout the 60-year-long internal armed conflict, Colombian social movements and political organizations have been declared objectives of war by successive conservative governments. During the 60 years of the conflict, more than 80,000 people have been forcibly disappeared. The reign of ex-president Álvaro Uribe Vélez from 2002 to 2010 was one of the bloodiest periods in Colombian history. The president enjoyed full support from the United States and one of the biggest military aid and training packages called Plan Colombia to allegedly help the country fight the war on drugs and terror. During Uribe's term, it is estimated that at least 20,000 people were disappeared. 6,402 Colombian civilians were also killed and illegitimately presented as guerrilla fighters killed in combat from 2002 to 2008, known as the false positive scandal. His government oversaw the persecution and assassination of human rights defenders, trade unionists and left political activists. Colombia's current president Iván Duque held some Uribe's Democratic Center party and has continued the legacy of Uribeismo. Since Duque took office in August 2018, his government has waged a war on the people of Colombia. It has pushed for harsh neoliberal economic policies such as the current tax reform, cuts the public health and education sectors, labor legislation reform and others. It has also intensified the persecution and violence against social movements and political organizations. Since 2016, over 1,100 social leaders, human rights defenders and ex-combatants have been assassinated and over 700 of those occurred under the rule of Duque. His government has also systematically undermined and abandoned all obligations the Colombian state has with Havana peace accords and the peace process that began with the National Liberation Army. The government's neoliberal reforms, violence against the population and attacks on peace have been met with consistent mobilization and resistance from diverse sections across Colombia. This was seen with the student strike in September 2018, the social minga in March 2019, the national strike in April 2019, another national strike in November 2019 and the massive protests against police brutality in 2020. As is the case with this latest national strike, all of these protests were met with a militarized and disproportionate response by the state, causing dozens of injuries and several dead. What is likely to happen now? After nearly a week of protests and violent repression, international human rights organizations and bodies such as the United Nations, the European Union and others have started to condemn the actions of the Colombian state and security forces. Former President Uribe has been harshly condemned for his tweets that encourage the use of firearms against protesters. Notwithstanding, the government has made no moves to decrease repressive actions or demilitarize the cities. In spite of the unrestrained violence against them, the people of Colombia continue to take to the streets to make their voices heard, to demand an end to the policies of death and destruction, an end to the genocide of social leaders, human rights defenders and ex-combatants, and justice for the victims, an end to the war against the people and for those resources to be used for the guarantee of basic rights, such as education, housing, food, basic services, and employment.


Does it lend itself to a type of runner like Jim? Hell yes, man would I love, man would I love to see him. Following the huge announcement recently of the brand new World Trail Majors Race Series, I took the FMR cameras up to St Albans in Hertfordshire to speak to James Elson, who is the founder of Centurion Running and whose flagship race, the South Downsway 100, is one of nine races in that series. Welcome to Fill My Run and if you're not already subscribed to the channel and you're excited to hear about the World Trail Major Series, then do click the link down below and also the bell icon if you don't mind so you're notified every time we upload a new video. Now we'll get back to the juicy stuff in a minute, but first I wanted to ask James a little bit about Centurion Running. So Centurion Running, we are principally an event organiser. We started in 2010 and in the last 12-13 years we've organised just over 100 ultra trail races in the UK. I think that's what we're probably best known for. So we began with the North Downsway 100 and that became 400 miles on trail, 450 miles on trail and in more recent years we've added the Track 100 where we saw world records going which was just an incredible thing and then a trail 50k and just coming up our first 200 mile race. So I think probably we're best known for that then we also have a coaching side to the business so we've got nine top level ultra distance coaches and then the store where we're sitting now and this sort of doubles as our event store, office and shop all in situ. Yeah so I started calling myself Founder because it was always RD and of course now we've got four RDs soon to be five probably. Hot take and really that's not an accurate representation of what I do now. I'm trying to as you say sort of steer the whole business. I started Centurion in 2010 because I was going abroad to do the types of races that I wanted to do. So longer distance 100 miles specifically on trail, really awesome courses at great time of year for running, running races and marked well supported. So I could show up somewhere no matter where I'd come from by myself and have a great experience and get to know that community and there wasn't much ultra distance activity in the UK towards the end of the 2000s. It was the quietest decade really we've probably ever had in the sport because it was bigger in the 80s for example. So I came back and then we put the North Downsway 100 together and things just went from there. We added things on more races the shot coaching everything as the kind of boom started through kind of the mid 2010s to where we are today. So fortuitous on the one hand that it was kind of just at the start of probably just before things started growing exponentially here. But also partly driven here I think by us and by the races we've put on especially in the southeast you know there just wasn't anything else going on. So I got into it and I'm still in it because I'm a runner. If you ask me first and foremost what am I I would say I'm a runner not event RD or retail manager or any of that stuff. That's lessened in recent years as we've got busier and my kids have grown up a bit and time is less available but still for me getting out the door every day is what it's all about. So what exactly is this new series? What is the world trail majors? It's a series of nine global events that share a similar set of values and have come together because of those set of values. So principally that they're independent. We're each in charge of our own race. There's no you know overseeing factor that we're responsible to. Authentic community driven and some of these might sound like cliche throwaway terms but they're really not they are the things that underpin what we do. You know we have 100 plus volunteers out at every 100 mile race without that the sport literally doesn't exist. So that community isn't just you know something that we try and foster and is important for business it literally allows the sport to take place and these events all hold the community and the volunteer network at the very heart of what they do. So those things we're putting always these events put in local businesses and local people first enjoy really good relationships in their local areas and have a local trail running community. But the courses and the style of event lend themselves to bigger interests. So you know we've all got bucket list races and it's about bringing people from all over the world to one race plus their local event and that's the sustainable side of this. We're not asking people to race nine events globally at a time like this. We're asking them to compete in their local race and then pick one other sort of bucket list race from the list annually to complete in the series or compete in the series. So only two races will count. So we share a set of values and it allows us as a group of races to move forward to discuss to grow to learn from one another and work together and then provide the trail running community both locally and internationally this opportunity to be part of similar races with a similar ethos in these incredible environments. James talks a lot about the races in the series being community driven, authentic with a real feel for the local area in which they're run. But some of the races in the series are huge international events. Madeira Island, Ultra Trail, Trans Gran Canaria they attract huge international elite fields. So how can these events be so community led when they exist on such a huge international scale? I think there's always a behind the veil thing with events and I see it a lot with Centurion you know people come into events and you see the website and you see the numbers and you see the scale and the number of events and you build a picture in your head of what this is and I think a lot of people come into Centurion races or maybe views Centurion races from the outside of that haven't been there as quite big commercial events. And the reality as you know firsthand is that you get there and you're looked after by individuals you're looked after as a person and the events that are part of the series ultimately are the same as us. They have one person or a small group of people in most cases who are responsible for the direction of the organization. So yes of course the staff team grows massively on Race Weekend for all of these but they might have an RD for a specific distance within the overall Race Weekend but they're one event with a shared sort of value that underpins everything that they do. How much they've grown in their local environment is often a product of how long they've been going or how big the community is that their opinion is. So with Trans Gran Canaria the reach just within the Spanish Trailer and Community is enormous let alone the global athletes coming in. There's also a lot to do with elite athlete presence and then how much attention that then draws onto the event. So you know someone like Aravipa with Black Canyon Aravipa and Centurion are probably the two that have got the most in common in terms of we organize a lot of other events aside from the one that's going to sit within World Trail Mages but that event Black Canyon has grown substantially and there's room for growth in some of the smaller races in the series of which South Dunsway 100 is obviously won in pure numbers terms it's a smaller event but we operate the same way and it's very clear since the outset that even though there are some very big international events there they're still essentially managed by one or two overseen by one or two people who have this core set of values and that hopefully comes across. Next I asked James about funding for the series is there going to be a headline sponsor? Will there be a headline sponsor? My feeling is yes we're certainly open to that idea we potentially could look at firstly the sponsor needs to or sponsors need to fall in line with the set of values that we are striving towards so we won't be going out getting a sponsor headline sponsor because we're desperate for some cash to pump in to get this thing to happen we're in the privileged position of saying we can make this work ourselves as organizers and that's fine would we would we want to attract a headline sponsor that fits with the values of the series absolutely and I'm hopeful that that will happen and obviously work has been going on for some time to develop relationships for that to kick off the big thing with this is timing so we've launched obviously two weeks ago I forget could be a week time moves quickly the series essentially starts jam 1 2024 and Hong Kong 100k is the first race so would we like a headline sponsor on board before we kick off 2024 yes we would is that going to change anything for us make or break no it's not so I think you will see in time a headline sponsor my feeling is it will be synonymous with the values of the organization or the association and we will then grow from there whether there's second tier third tier sponsors in time it's a work in progress but is there a risk that bringing in a headline sponsor across all of the events will give them a homogenized feel rather than that local community feel that they are striving for so I think that kind of polices itself and that if you take any one individual event there's already a raft of sponsors on board we have serious sponsors for centurion running that are sponsors of the south danceway 100 last word to either pets or in Jinji ultimate direction tailwind goo and then you've got Hong Kong 100k and you've got ultra child Cape Town that have got their own they're all of these events have got their own rafter national sponsor we cannot have something which directly clashes with the already wholly integrated fundamental local sponsors of each event so you can probably work out in your own minds where that might lead in terms of some of the conversations we're having and which which kind of categories suitable sponsors will come from but firstly it will have to sit the sponsor will have to sit in line with our principals and secondly they will have to work alongside of the existing sponsors for each individual races so do I see a big brand from within the sport fitting in with those things possibly but it's unlikely there are some very obvious ones that are immediately going to be ruled out by the very nature of things yes yeah I think it's fair to say we won't be approaching or having a conversation with with dashy or a day so I don't even know how you say it but yeah so yes in time I think you'll see a sponsor it may be sooner than later but it will sit within the values of the organisation this is the first time that centurion running and the flagship event the south downsway 100 have been involved in any race series why did james feel that this was the right fit and why now good question so since we began I always saw the south downsway as the jewel in the crown like it was our pinnacle race it was the one that I put the most into I think it this I don't want to marginalise our other events but for me it's our it's our dream course it's point to point the south downsway is such an iconic place the views are incredible there's enough climate dissent to make it exciting and challenging without it being you know overly difficult the track finish you know for me going to western states in 2011 I got to experience that track finish and I thought this is how I want to finish our events hence the reason the north downsway also ended up that way so I'm pleased it sort of viewed as the kind of runnable dare I say it king sort of a queen hundred mile race in the UK obviously now with winter events like the arc Lakelanders continue to grow and puts on a stunning show but they're very different types of events with very different challenges navigation being in winter very harsh conditions so I do think the south downsway stands out I have always tried to grow centurion very organically so for me it's always been about sustainable growth both in terms of the business and not taking risks on but also making sure every runner always came away feeling like they were well looked after and that they were a name not a number and giving control away of that and sharing control of what we do has not come easily to me so we've had plenty of conversations in the past about being involved in wider reaching series or organizations or affiliations and I've always been a bit resistant because I've been quite happy just to sustain it as we are and just you know keep the thing ticking over again yes this is commercial for us but it's far more than that it's about putting the community at the heart of it and I didn't want to damage that we're now 13 years old the market has completely changed in the UK when we started there were no other marked trail hundreds in the UK period none I suspect now that there are probably more than one a week how do we lift south down's way to become or to maintain ideally its status as the sort of destination the best organized that the most incredible sort of hundred mile trail experience in the UK we need to be part of something bigger we need to lift our expectations and the logistics and the the media and the coverage of the event to give people this all-round this next level experience the sport has moved on if you look at western states utnb some the araviper stuff a lot of the world trail majors events already the coverage of those events is reaching tv proportions and we are in danger of getting left behind and I want to give runners the opportunity to still be a name not a number to still run in a very community driven event but for that event to get coverage on a bigger level to be part of something bigger for those runners to go away feeling like they're part of a big international race but with the local feel that's what we're going for now and that's why we've kind of stepped into this scary it is a scary thing and put our head above the parapet and gone for this kind of agreement this association would I have done it five years ago no would I have done it with any other group of organisers no so it's much more about the opportunity arising at the right time of the right group of other organisers for us so there could now be a huge wave of international runners coming to Sussex who know nothing about centurion running and nothing about the south downs way at all you're spot on I think initially the influx of international runners might not be that great I think the series obviously we're two weeks in having launched this thing we saw an initial boost of entries like straight away like people literally have bought into the idea like this is what I want to be part of maybe they'd already eyed up the south downs 100 as interest for next year but they'd now sort of that's tipped the balance and and they're they're super keen you've hit the nail on the head and this is so important and it was so hard to communicate alongside everything else in the initial launch but the way this is sustainable is that we want people to race their local event and then pick one of the other events in the series not race all nine so you're only traveling once internationally will that change in time will there be other more local or certainly nearer options will the series grow will there be more events involved undoubtedly yes so this is an initial sort of starting group of events and we'll now speak to the myriad of other organisers have already approached us obviously and decide the best path forward with each of those so there'll be more options going forward which don't involve such long haul trips necessarily if that's not something you want to do the south downs way 100 is a point to point 100 mile trail race from winchester in the west to eastbourne in the east and takes in pretty much the entire south downs way national trail south downs way became a national park about six seven years ago and he's sort of held up in the southeast as this kind of magical area it's it's kind of a ridge almost like a wave when you approach it from both the north and the south it appears almost like a wave on the horizon so it's a sort of chalk and ridge that runs across the south of the country and is just stunningly beautiful because everything around it is so flat unfortunately we don't have any mountains where we are but this is the next best thing and what it does is it provides this really runnable but rolling in a kind of don't get me wrong some of some of the climbs are legitimate hills but they're over pretty quickly and the descents are often pretty forgiving the other side from a pure running point of view it's fast you know 14 hours for a trail 100 anywhere is quick and that's our course record which mark has already been in touch to say he'd love to see challenge but he's not very happy with us for chucking some international runners into it and so super you know june in the uk as well you've got four five hours of darkness so you know for the front runners they're finishing and without needing a head lamp it's super fast racing it lends itself to having crews and paces which have been fundamental to our events so runners can be well supported it's a marked trail there's 14 checkpoints so you can come from anywhere and race on an even footing and just run this beautiful challenging but not overly difficult 100 mile trail race point to point trail race is it a slight spin off of the western states template yes you know i was going to the states to do these races western states i got a chance to run in 2011 absolutely captivated me and i wanted to bring some of those things back to the uk scene and that's what essentially it was in the early days so that's that's what the event is 120 volunteers looking after four to five hundred runners will that be more this year we'll see but we won't grow it too much do you know the option so i think it's i think it's fairly well known that the course is as you say probably closer to 99 miles and i know that does cause issues obviously we start within matterly bowl matterly estate which is this beautiful private estate and our relationship with the landlord there is such that he basically says to us do whatever you want so we can definitely stretch it by a mile perhaps we ought to just i don't want to see any more watches with a 99 on i'd far rather see that mind you than 105 where they've got lost so yeah by the way if you're finding this video useful or interesting or entertaining please do consider subscribing to the channel we're trying to grow we're a small channel we're getting bigger your support is absolutely vital thank you very much for that now there are of course a number of runners who come and run the south downsway 100 every year so how is the race going to change for those runners that's a really good question so i think we can talk about what's going to be different for 2024 now and then what's going to be different 2025 and beyond is the second phase really so 2024 you will see essentially all the same component parts that we've always had there so there will be no fundamental change to the infrastructure we're not about to allow a thousand extra runners in and completely change the look of the event if we get substantial uplift in interest which would be great by the way we will allow 100 extra starters possibly 150 at a stretch on top of the normal starting field we've had wave starts there in the past so that won't come as a shock but essentially you'll be looked after exactly the same way as you always have been with the benefits of we will increase the coverage of the event so the media side tremendously we will invest heavily in getting multiple photographers out and sharing that media live as the event you know goes ahead there'll be live streaming from various checkpoints the finish line out on course there'll be much more coverage on the video side of things so what's the direct value to a runner there as the events happening not nothing to them in the in the moment but afterwards so much more to reflect back on and for friends and family at home to be able to follow the race in a different way so they've ever been able to follow anything we do before don't get me wrong open tracking is great and following dots is fun but we can do so much more than that so that's going to be the investment from us you'll see an expanded start village so there'll be other things available at the start you've never had access to obviously we've always had the kids races we've had sponsors there before and food and drink offerings but we will expand that out and then there'll be so there's a tranche of like secondary information coming with world trail majors where we will start to share what the series means for every runner not the scoring system necessarily for the elites and prize money those those are things that are coming to but what will it mean for everyone else in the race the travel side of things i hope we have addressed a little but we'll continue to address in that there'll be we only want you to compete your local race in one other plus there'll be more race options in the future the other thing was what does this mean for me as a runner like what's the scoring system what do i get for completing or competing in the series those things will be announced in the second tranche of information as will the prize money side of things so there will be prize money for the series and quite possibly prize money for each of the individual events in the series those things we have a template we have it all ready we're agreed but until we want to release the second tranche of information and it wasn't suitable to release all of that at the same time we will control that narrative and we will launch that next so i think within the next month or so those questions will be answered in far more detail the south downsway 100 has been running for some 12 years yet in that time there hasn't been an appearance by a truly world-class athlete tom evans did run and win the 50 mile race the south downsway 50 a few years ago but he's never run the 100 i asked james what would attract an elite athlete to come and run in the sussex countryside i would say today you're absolutely spot on we haven't had a truly international field at south downsway 100 we just haven't and we barely have had one in the uk period there's been the world trail championships in wales 2015 i think it was which ricky won we've had obviously world-class fields at things like our track 100 where we've literally had world records going we've had world-class athletes occasionally pop up at something like west island way 10 years ago west island way race it was one of the few really iconic 100 milers and scotland as a destination super appealing we just don't get it here we just in the uk period i think uts changed that a little bit with the income of utnb and the stone system and the index system and the prizes on offer to elite athletes have been part of the utnb world series more so as a result of the contracts they have with their individual sponsors than utnb prize money itself we have we did see some properly you know high-level international competition this year and last so do i want to see south downsway 100 i'm absolutely desperate to see it remember south downsway 80 which this course is essentially 20 miles plus the 80 was the world trail running championships that was what it was so back in the day the fields were four or five hundred deep you were getting all of the top international runners coming to compete to win this thing and i think the history of that is not really not that old but has been completely forgotten from 25 years ago so we already have that heritage and now it's about trying to get summer's athletes back to compete against the best of british because we've had you know marx 1403 or you know beth and 1640 these are incredible performances if they're pushed by international competition or we have truly international caliber runners coming over and competing i mean those times will go down and down and down you know it could be so exciting to watch i don't really think unless it's at uts british runners have had an opportunity to compete against international competition on home side that's really what i'd love to see is it all about the elite athletes absolutely not is it an important part of this for us yes it is yep it's obviously not gone unnoticed by the ultra running community that this announcement of the world trail major series comes off the back of a very turbulent few weeks in the sport given the recent whistler controversy if you've not seen my video with the iron man group about that then click the link up above there to watch that but given that and given that now some people have been calling for a boycott of the utmb races and given that there's already a number of different race series in the calendar is there a gap in the market that the world trail majors series is trying to fill the timing of the whistler outline meadows uh black coom veil resorts iron man utm b announcements conversation social media back and forth was completely um separate to any kind of ongoing conversations that were being had by our association needless to say the conversations on world trial majors have been going on many many months if not actually years after utwt ended the fact that this all came out publicly with regards to wam and gary a couple weeks ago was absolute coincidence of timing is it relevant to what we've done or said since absolutely bit born had no impact whatsoever hasn't changed anything for us um i think people are put in two and two together and saying well you know world trail majors were announced off the back of this almost this conversation and at a time when utmb iron man are somewhat in the public dock for actions they may or may not have taken against gary and and coastal mountain trails that's fine as a narrative is it something we're looking to promote and you know benefit from absolutely not we simply want events to have their independence to have their authenticity and for the trawling communities in the areas around these events to be upheld and protected and the direction to travel with utm behind man is is growth that's what iron man are about and that's fine do they put on an incredible event yes they do have i run utm b yes would i ever run a utm b event again in the future tbc but i certainly wouldn't rule it out and it's certainly still the ultimate goal for a lot of runners out there and we're not by any stretch telling people to change tack come and do our series not utm bi man that's not what this is there is another way though that's to the utm bi man model and that is what we're offering people you know it's not a template every race maintains their own set of values their own community has say in how they operate and can move dynamically within that and therefore there is huge value to that and the trail run community the values that they hold at their core the values that we're trying to impress upon them that we are upholding as well and and it will provide a viable alternative to that you're absolutely right to bring up the fact that there's gold trail world tour series there's there was the utwt there's world marathon running associate world mountain running association the world marathon majors spartan this is different to all of those things it's a different group of events and events that have come together that there hasn't been a group of events that have held their own place the way we all hold ours within our individual communities and i think in time the values of that will come through and shine through and the value to the runners and taking part in those events will only increase and brutally honestly the number of events involved in this will increase too providing like a it's it's going to be a process we're not launching this nine set of events and saying come and do this this is the be all and end all this is everything you've seen it all this is phase one of 50 on the journey it's the first step but remembering also that this is like i said at the start a beta of utwt there is an existing foundation a relationship between us as organisers that we're growing off of this isn't started from scratch in a heartbeat so is this race series an attempt somehow to redress the balance given the direction of travel that trail and ultra running has been taking in the past few years yeah look i mean this is a response to where trail running has gone is going we as organisers have literally said we don't want to be part of something we don't want to be owned and governed and managed by something that's bigger than us we want to be we want to remain independent we want to be in control of our own destiny and we want to hold the community at the centre of that and that is going to be possible within a series for the first time we're able to do both things if we had become part of something else and yeah people will put two and two together and say well all of these events possibly had had conversations about becoming part of something else along the way if we'd done that we would have lost autonomy over our own events there's the whole reason each one of us does what we do is because we love the sport and this isn't i mean it's cliche again but it's not just a job we we fundamentally believe in trail running and the value of that community and being in charge of our own destinies and that's that's something we've consciously decided to to uphold and move away from the direction of travel general direction travel yeah so here we have a race series which is setting out to provide perhaps a different path for ultra runners some of whom have made it very clear that they are not happy and uncomfortable with where the sport is currently headed and these races are not only wanting to attract runners like you and me but the top level elite runners so what interest has James had in the south downs way 100 from the top echelon of our sport that is a really good question and i the answer is there is interest from elite athletes and you've probably already seen it in on social media that many of the more vocal or the ones that have a bigger social media profile tend to put themselves out there a bit more have even priced this announcement coming out been questioning where they want to go the direction of their running and racing in 24 25 has this put another option on the table for them yes it has i think the fundamental thing for elite level runners is understanding what the scoring system and then picking the events that suit them both in terms of maybe where they want to run or what they're excited in but opportunities to race to the best their abilities ultra mount fuji or mount fuji 100 as it's now known is a very different proposition to black canyons 100k one is directly suited to certain type of run another to another so i think elite athletes are waiting to see what comes next the interest is there for us the importance is also working with their sponsors and the key brands in the sport to help them put place value on competing in the world trail majors because we all know that if you're a sponsored contracted international athlete trail runner you are given incentives for competing in and doing well in the marquee events that doesn't include world trail majors at the moment maybe include some of them they might be written in independently individually but generally it'll it'll state western states or utmb or hard rock whatever it might be and placing importance on this series and it is about us working with the sponsors and the athletes to say this is valuable come and run here this will provide the exposure that you were going to get somewhere else but in a different way in a more authentic way and then the value is there and then they're more like to come so do i see that we're going to get you know a dozen male and female top tier runners coming out of utmb to compete in the south as we're 100 of course not do i want to see the competition gradually going in the right direction and certainly a handful of very exciting male and female athletes really pushing course records and racing each other and pushing the best of british that that's what i'm after initially really even if we could attract a few in in the first year or so because some of the events trans grand piano and what the like they're going to have that level of competition anyway anyway so for us the sort of lower end of the spectrum in terms of field size and elite athlete pedigree that'll be interesting to see whether we're seen as a good opportunity to pick up a win easy point because you're still going to end up winning a world trail major event that's a big deal that should mean a lot that's what we want really is is some of the elite runners to buy in and and obviously we have good relationships with a lot of them anyway um so it's about just branching the conversation out and moving forward really look let's be blunt about it the south downsway 100 course is absolutely perfect for jim warmsley's style of running it's fast it's a runnable course could we see jim warmsley at the south downsway 100 one day does it lend itself to a type of runner like jim hell yes like obviously is it also the biggest match for jim to burn or an athlete like jim no it's not because you're looking at sub 13 hour potential finish times is a very different thing to you know grueling your way around utmb in 20 hours it's a different type of race and it you know there's a whole different set of variables that flow down from that is it compatible with the seasons they've already undoubtedly kind of outlined and planned for in 2024 i doubt it do we do we see any one sort of main main big big hitter pulling out of you know utmb and running south there's 100 in 2024 i don't see it they might they might some of them are uh you know master their own destiny enough they they care enough about the values that we are upholding that they might just go you know what i'm going to throw my eggs in this basket i'm going to be there in the first year it's the inaugural set of races i'm going to go for this thing there is prize money if they can convince their sponsor that there is value in being there at the outset of this really valuable like independent series anything's possible i think there'll be a second tier of runners that we probably attract initially and then we might see the flow move away from one to the other but as i've said already it depends so much about what the sponsors want and how much say the athlete have in the races that are written into their contracts because they're trying to earn a living here right is it is jim going to get everything he wants out of the sport and be able to earn a living by doing south dunesway 100 versus utmb i mean they're just completely different things yeah but i would i'd love to see him man would i love man would i love to see him now it strikes me that in terms of female elite athletes the south dunesway 100 course wouldn't really suit corny de waltz's style of running the kind of running that she likes to do so is there a female elite athlete who james feels would be a good fit for the south dunesway 100 camille i think a lot of the us the synergy between the us scene and the uk scene is much greater regardless south dunesway 100 than the the european scene you know where it's all mountain based you've got a right even western states western states has only marginally more climb than south dunesway 100 ledfield has the same amount of climb as south dunesway 100 yes it's an altitude but essentially there's still runners courses and black canyons is the same havelina anything on the east coast they're not big mountainous races they're trail races and that's what south dunesway is whereas you know for corny who she don't get me wrong she can do corny can do anything is she better placed and does she enjoy being in the mountains more so she does mount fuji hundred there yeah i mean that's that makes much more sense for her so if you are interested in running the south dunesway 100 next year or in future years as part of the world trail majors series where do you go what do you do so entries are open now www.centurianrunner.com scroll down the event list you find south dunesway 100 front and center of the homepage at the moment is the world trail majors thing so i think we're at about 420 30 entries or so so there's places available as i say we opened last week with world trail majors and 10 percent of the entries went in a day so i think the movement is going to go and we're not just simply going to let everyone just keep piling in i have allowed a certain sort of cap there's definitely a couple of hundred entries still there so if you're interested check it out there's a pretty qualifying standard you've got to finish the 50 mile race in the last four years within 15 hours or equivalent if it's more mountainous race you can email us and we'll we'll tell you whether we accept the qualifier but as simple as that that's all you gotta do if you found this interview with james interesting entertaining useful then please do consider subscribing to the channel if you would like to watch my wife victoria and i running the south dunesway 100 then we'll see you over here very shortly thank you so much to james elson for taking us through the ins and outs of the world trail majors series and there will be more information about that series coming very soon in the meantime thank you very much for watching and we'll see you on the start line next time bye bye