Production Team Leans on GXT67 PRO for Leadville Trail 100 Run
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A production company working on the Leadville Trail 100 Run leaned on Midland's GXT67 GMRS 5-Watt Walkie Talkie - GXT67 PRO for communication across the expansive ultramarathon.
Chris Foy, the founder of the company shared how the GXT67 PRO made a difference during the race.
About Yerba Studios
Yerba Studios is a production company based in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
Chris Foy founded the company alongside Jessen Gibbs.
About the Leadville Trail 100 Run
This 100-mile run takes the most gritty athletes through not only the high altitude of the Rocky Mountains, but also the extreme terrain that accompanies it. The race starts at 10,200 feet and climbs to 12,600 feet. It also includes two climbs along the way.
The first Leadville Trail 100 Run took place in 1983 with 45 participants. Ken Chlouber, a local miner created the race because he wanted to bring attention to the town of Leadville after the Climax Mine closed.
A Chef and athlete
Dan Churchill is a performance chef and podcast host with a significant social media presence.
He's also an athlete, partaking in traditional marathons and trail ultramarathons.
In 2024, he competed in and finished the Leadville Trail 100 Run.
Shooting the race
Foy and his team with Yerba were brought the opportunity to cover Dan's Leadville run.
"One of the videographers that I work with a lot, he works with Dan on a regular basis. He does social content. This other videographer came to me with the idea for the project," Foy said.
The team was capturing a documentary about the experience, his progress throughout the course, and his story of running the race.
The team included 3 videographers and others helping out along the way.
“Shooting an ultramarathon is hard because you’re shooting someone running across 100 miles and that requires a lot of coordination in terms of shuttling people to different locations, making sure that everyone is ready and in the right position to hit record when our runner is at a certain position in the race, and also just checking up on people to make sure everyone is doing well.”
Foy said for these types of races, you're usually shooting 15 plus hours.
“It was a new experience filming a race on such a big magnitude.”
GXT67 PRO on the shoot
A few weeks before the race, Foy realized there would be a need for reliable communication throughout the race that sometimes took them off grid.
"When you’re up in the mountains of Colorado, you can’t use your cell phones because you don’t have service. The communication can be very spotty. We figured that we needed a way to communicate and what better way to communicate across that distance when you’re out of cell phone range than walkie talkies.”
He began researching walkie talkie brands and found Midland. Many members of the team hadn't used walkie talkies before so he made sure they all were aware of how to operate the GXT67 PROs before the race.
“The day before, I ran everyone through how to use the walkie talkies. I created a separate channel for all of us to be communicating on. Everyone had a walkie talkie hooked up to a belt or rigged onto their harness.”
The team used the GXT67 PROs for coordination at check points throughout the 100-mile race.
“Throughout the race, every time Dan would be coming to a check point, me and Alex would run out about a mile ahead, we would wait for Dan to come in, when we had Dan in sight we would radio, we would radio into the base camp. We needed to communicate between Alex and I to get the shot, but we also needed to be able to communicate with the rest of the team about what Dan would need."
Foy said keeping connected across the entire team throughout the shoot was key to ensuring they got all the necessary footage.
“I just really enjoyed staying connected with the whole team. There’s like a feeling of comfort when you’re trying to shoot something at such a big scale. It really not only helped our team coordinate and execute professionally, it also kept us in really good spirits."
GXT67 PRO performance on the shoot
The entire team appreciated just how intuitive the GXT67 PRO GMRS walkie talkies are.
“The walkie talkies were just really easy to use. The people that we were giving these walkie talkies to had never used walkie talkies before. I did such a quick walk through and the functionality is really seamless and easy.”
He was also impressed with the battery life and rapid recharge.
"They worked great throughout the day. We charged them once in the morning right before the race and they lasted us through the 30 hours that we were shooting for so the battery life was really good. A few were on low battery towards the end, but no dead radios.”
Over the course of the race, the team noted the GXT67 PRO's range, reaching each other over a 10-15 mile range, only experiencing connection issues when they were separated by a mountain range.
"Other than that, the walkies worked flawlessly on the flat and even sections of the race."
Foy felt as if the GXT67 Pro walkie talkies were dependable, bringing reliable communication.
“I also just really like the durability of the walkie talkies. Being a videographer, I really value quality, durable gear. Having this really rock solid walkie talkie on my harness was great. I was moving around all day, knocking into things and this is a walkie talkie that’s going to work no matter what. That’s a great feeling.”
He also said the GXT67 PRO's IP67 waterproof rating and heavy-duty design are key to performance in the outdoors.
“At times, it rained and we had the walkie talkies working through that drizzle. I never once doubted that it was going to break on me. It never had any water damage issues. We dropped a few and had them bumping around in our trunk while we drove, and I never once worried about them breaking.
The team plans on using the walkie talkies at other shoots in the future.
“After the race, we had a team debrief and every single person said we should use the walkie talkies again. It was so critical to have those. Moving forward, I’m not sure how we’d be able to coordinate, execute, and finish a project like that without these walkie talkies. It was so instrumental for us to be staying connected the entire time.”
Using GXT67 PRO on other shoots
Foy said the GXT67 PRO also came in handy as they worked with Dan on a shoot for Rivian.
"For Rivian, we had to do a separate tangential which wasn’t really related to the trail running race that involved flying FPD drones. It’s a specialized, technical type of drone piloting and flying. It requires communication of the driver of the vehicle and the drone pilot.
Communication was a must.
"It was another case of just how handy these walkie talkies were. I was able to fly the drone in this headset and communicate with the driver as he’s making these turns through this really scenic mountain range. I was able to let him know when to speed up, go faster, they were able to let me know when traffic was coming. If we didn’t have the walkie talkies, we would have had to be on speaker phones, there’s battery issues there, connection issues."
Foy's company does a lot of outdoor, adventure, action sports, and lifestyle shoots. With as much time spent shooting in the outdoors, he needs communication he can count on and now, plans to use the GXT67 PRO.
"Often times, it’s in places where cell connection is really spotty. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a ridge line or a mountain top trying to communicate with a drone pilot, another DP who is in a different location, and the cell phones don’t work. Being able to just have walkie talkies with constant connection is invaluable. Working and operating in these vast, really harsh environments, communication is crucial for the work that my production company does specifically.”
He knows the walkie talkies will be part of his plan for shoots, no matter the location.
“Whether it’s in the mountains or some corporate event in a big city, no matter the production context, I think walkie talkies are invaluable for production companies in general. I think for any shoot moving forward, we’re going to be using the walkie talkies. It’s just amazing to stay connected.”
