Trail Running: The Best Kept Secret

My favorite running adventures are always trail runs.  Not concrete slabs that wind their way through residential neighborhoods but ones filled with dirt, trees and open space.  Trail running is a tougher work out. With more incline and decline, more challenging terrain to navigate, etc., I also run slower on trail and I don’t mind at all!

I love the atmosphere of a trail race.  There are fewer participants, which allows for more breathing room before, during and after the race!  In my experience, racers really respect the thrill of trail running and the challenges it has to offer.  You never know when a root will grab your foot and throw you to the ground or when that gradual incline turns dramatic and leaves you gasping for air.  To me, trail running is one of the best kept secrets.

That’s why a question posed by Trail Runner magazine got me thinking about my view on trail running.  The question is: Is the introduction of bigger prize purses at trail races a positive or negative thing overall?  There are good arguments for both sides.

Selfishly speaking, I think it’s a negative to introduce bigger prize purses.  Larger purses are likely to draw more participants.  Too much popularity and the respect and conditions of the trail will be lost.  Logistically speaking, I question how to move a higher number of participants through certain trails.  Lining up only one or two wide will make it challenging to pass and introduces additional risks for injury.

I think about the surge of popularity in road races like the Color Run and Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Awareness races.  While many super highways around big cities can handle thousands of participants, not all trails can.  Also, many road races bring in a wide variety of race participants, ranging from well-trained athletes to beginners who haven’t trained at all.  Someone who has not trained, much less not trained on trail, ups the risk of injury (gnarly falls, sprains, broken bones).

Now larger prize purses will likely draw in the elites and not the true beginners, but I still like to believe that trail running is a secret, where you earn your way to respect with trails.  Bigger prize purses do draw in more athletes and more press.  More press means more coverage of this mysterious and exhilarating experience.  And that will draw in the masses eventually.

Of course, is that really a bad thing?  The other side of the argument is screaming with excitement about more athletes, more press and more participants.  More exposure to the sport brings more awareness, more sponsors and more money.  That has some benefits.  But it will come with a price and I’m not sure as a trail runner if I’m ready to pay it.

Do you currently run on trail?  What drew you into the trees and what keeps you motivated to continue?  Would you like to see bigger prize purses for trail running races?  Would that incite you to hop on a trail?  Let me know what you think.  You can also join the conversation on www.trailrunnermag.com.

Miss FitGab