American Trail Running From Across the Pond

With the American trail season kicking off this weekend with Black Canyon(s) Ultras ‘Mile and Stone’ is taking a look at what makes American trail running what it is. Here are their key points:

• 100 miles is king, but not alone
• American trail running is a subculture
• Community is king 
• Community, yes, but not at the expense of the individual
• Americans less interested in the elite scene
• The American scene strives to be egalitarian and inclusive

I would agree with the overall assessment and summary. The publication has some good quotes from a wide variety of people making their case.

Here are a couple things I’d add:

The influence of cross country as a high school and college sport is deeply felt on the sport here in the US. This influences what races elite runners favor and the media covers. It’s no surprise that the poles were made a household gear addition in Europe rather than in the US where the predominant thought still is that one can RUN an entire 100 miler.

This also leads to the only point in Mile and Stone’s article that I disagree with: “Americans less interested in the elite scene”.
American trail runners love following their top athletes. No other country has that deep of a field of elites. The top media outlets covering the trail running scene all follow the elites and their doings. There’s a huge push coming out of the US trying to professionalize the sport and give elites ‘real contracts’ allowing them to pursue the sport full-time. Are there still lots of small “grassroots” events, but that is due to the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans, the limited capacity of many event permits, the huge distances between event locations, and the lack of tourist amenities at many destinations.