How We Got Here

Track3D started after two mates finished some pretty stupid distances.

One knocked out 107k, the other a Miler and 2 weeks later it was his birthday.

I’d started playing with 3D printing to design other projects so I wanted to create something different for them, like most of us, they already had medals and race photos, so it needed to mean something.

At the time, I wasn't trying to start a business. I just wanted to create something that reflected the actual journey they'd been through.

Anyone who has spent time around ultra running knows that the finish line is only part of the story. The memories that stick are usually the things that happen along the way.

The long stretches where your brain starts negotiating with itself at 3am, the stomach that doesn’t want food, the legs that don’t want to move anymore.

The low points, the unexpected moments, the places you pass through, the people you meet and the challenges you weren't sure you could overcome.

I started experimenting with ways to turn a route into something physical. Something that captured not just where they'd been, but what the journey meant to them.

The first pieces were rough compared to what Track3D produces today, but that wasn't really the point.

They were made for two mates and outside of perhaps doing a few more for myself or others in my circle that was pretty much it.

A shared photo online led to a few people asking where they could get one. So I did some limited prints and before I knew it I needed to start tracking orders. Without really intending to, I'd stumbled into something that clearly resonated with other runners.

The more experiences I printed for people, the more I realised the terrain and route only told part of the story.

I found myself spending more time refining designs, learning new software, exploring what was possible through code, testing ideas, building a website and figuring out how to really capture the journey.

The 3D terrain maps and course were nice, but they didn't capture the struggle of the climb, the relief of reaching a checkpoint or the significance of the start and finish line.

What started as a gift for a couple of mates slowly became Track3D.

The products, equipment and designs have all changed a lot since those first prints, but the reason behind it has never changed.

Track3D exists to celebrate the journeys, the places and the people that make this community what it is.

Every piece still starts with a journey that meant something to somebody.

That's how we got here.