Trail running is a track and field discipline that involves elements of cross-country running and running on natural terrain. In 2015, it was officially recognized as a sport.
Today, there are hundreds of thousands of professional athletes and amateur enthusiasts practicing cross-country running in Russia alone. Many regularly meet at competitions several times a year, forming a community of runners from different regions of the country. Like any unifying principle based on the principles of a healthy lifestyle (HLS) and a competitive pattern, trail running is very promising.
Origins and connections
There are several recognized athletics disciplines that are based on running. But there are different ways to run.
- This is a daily run in the format of health running and a healthy lifestyle in general, running in the format of a competition over different distances – cross-country and marathon, running with obstacles, running as an element of all-around events and others.
Moreover, each type of running has its own rules for competitions. Among all the above, free-paced and cross-country running are considered a special type. Cross-country conditions include non-standard road surfaces, except for a flat road – a track or a special surface of running tracks at a stadium.
The main difference is determined by the road's features – the terrain, the unevenness of the route, sometimes elevation changes of more than 1000 meters. Forests, desert conditions, hills and ravines, as well as paths in the city park, are quite suitable for the definition of a conditionally new sports discipline that has long been popular in Russia. The number of trail running popularizers is growing progressively. As well as amateur running athletes in general.
Founded at its first congress in Stockholm in 1912, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is small in terms of the number of member countries, but exceeds the FIFA community and even the UN. Since 2019, the federation's name has changed to World Athletics – “International Athletics” (WA).
The first vice-president is a track and field athlete, Doctor of Sciences in physical education and sport Sergei Nazarovich Bubka, multiple world champion. Among the twenty members of the council (management) of the organization, Mikhail Butov is represented from Russia.
103 years after its official foundation, the IAAF recognized trail running as an international sport in 2015. It is practiced at any time of the year. And competitions are held in dry and stable weather, since a slippery track is not a ban for trail running, but it complicates the distance.
Practice and rules
The main task is to overcome the route, that is, to run it from start to finish. Time plays a secondary role and serves more as a guide for a specific athlete to improve his results. Although it is also true that, based on the results of the competitions in trail running, the best athletes are awarded on a classic podium with “three steps”.
The benefits of trail running can be considered from several angles. And all of them relate to health. But the benefits can be different…
The more difficult the terrain and length of the route, the more preparation is required to overcome it. It is easier for athletes and enthusiasts who practice regularly to maintain or restore their form than for beginners to achieve skills.
However, in sports, all success is achieved through regular training and quality examples before your eyes. That is why runners’ communities, particularly in trail running, are considered to be among the most united. It is especially important that children are also involved in the sport; they often start running with their parents at the age of 3-4. There have even been cases when a mother pushed a stroller with a two-year-old child in front of her and covered a 10 km route in this way. However, such exotic cases are more suitable for cross-country running – on a flat road.
So, first of all, it is good for your health. A person who regularly exercises in the fresh air keeps his health in good shape.
Of course, there are conditional requirements for the health of a trail running participant. It is necessary to monitor the athletes' condition in the field of cardiology, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, vision, etc. For people with a predisposition to dystrophy, trail running is rather contraindicated than useful. There are cases when long and intense training led to a drop in the level of hemoglobin and ferritin in the blood, which is extremely dangerous for health.
That is why any sport, and especially trail running, requires medical monitoring of health, and it is recommended to train under the guidance of an experienced instructor. And vice versa. Taking into account the supervision of medical specialists, trail running is great for people who are relatively healthy but overweight. Instead of spending your free time lying on the couch in front of the TV, physical activity is desirable from time to time (and the more often, the better). Running on slopes, including uphill, adds additional color and promotes natural burning of calories. A person loses excess weight in literally a few dozen workouts.
The second important aspect of benefit is introducing children to sports. This is how sports dynasties are born or continued.
The third advantage is exercising outdoors, in the fresh air. A change of scenery and views of nature indirectly contribute to both psychological relief and help the health of the vestibular system.
Trail running is also a great workout for legs (feet) accustomed to hard urban street surfaces – asphalt and concrete. In this regard, the benefits of training can be compared to regularly walking barefoot on soft ground – sand and grassy soil.
Selection of equipment
The term “trails” introduced into slang by trail running enthusiasts defines both special footwear and the competition itself.
Trail running requires special sneakers that protect the foot and cushion the ankle joint when under load (straining in motion). Such sneakers are used not only for trail running, but also for classic cross-country running, however, there are significant differences.
Cross-country running shoes (on a flat road) do not need a “prominent” tread, the main thing for them is lightness and convenience, adaptation to the foot. There are models that use the “automatic” tightening (lacing) method.
Trail running shoes have a high tread and are wide in the “instep”, protect the foot from all sides and have a difference in cushioning. Cushioning in professional sports shoes for trail running and not only is implemented to a lesser extent in the “toe” area and more in the heel area (from the middle to the “heel” of the shoe sole) – this space is filled with a special gel. It provides better cushioning than foam rubber and other materials.
Of course, there are other suitable shoe options that are chosen based on the considerations presented above.
Professional sneakers are quite resistant to the environment and precipitation, they can be washed in the automatic mode of the washing machine at a temperature of +60 ° C several times during the year. They perfectly protect the ankle joint when jumping from armor to the ground – from a height of one and a half meters or more for a person weighing 100 kg. They are also suitable for everyday use.
Experienced trail running athletes recommend sports gear. The suit should be comfortable and provide air flow.
In winter conditions, the route is chosen on any suitable terrain, but it is characterized by ice or snow cover. The difficulty of winter cross-country races is in the presence of loose or slippery crust, coverings that impede the movement of athletes.
Special cases
As a sport, trail running involves the risk of joint damage and falls of competitors while running the course. Insurance of athletes is necessary and is required by race organizers. Often, medical insurance is included in the “start (registration) participant package”, as is the cost of the medal. That is, it is included in the package optionally.
As of 2024, the organizers of trail running competitions open the possibility of remote registration for competitions and payment mechanisms in advance (2-3 months), determine the cost of participation depending on the characteristics and length of the route, time of year, competition status, expected number of participants, prize fund, organizational costs. The latter necessarily include the organization of route control points by volunteers, intermediate food points, water supply, duty of medical teams and ensuring law and order.
It is important to remember that anyone can participate in a trail running competition, unless it is a professional or international competition. To do this, the organizers must provide a small package of documents proving identity and confirming the absence of contraindications to the competition of the relevant type (a certified certificate from a medical institution).
The time is not far off when trail running as a sport discipline will be supplemented by an innovation that will be brought out into a separate field. We can expect amazing transformations of sports – for example, robot trail running. It is only a matter of time. Presumably, the first robot races in the format of trail competitions will happen already in 2030.
Trail running has become popular not so long ago, but now it has millions of fans all over the world. It can be an element of athletics all-round competitions. With a competent organizational approach, it can become an excellent family leisure and a factor that unites people.
Almost anyone can do trail running. And a person involved in sports is healthy in all respects, resistant to stress and various negative factors, and able to popularize a healthy lifestyle among others.
