By Mathias Eichler
It is time. In October you can stream TRFF'26 - from the comfort of our couch, with friends, and popcorn. Ten films, hours of inspiration.
A question initially prompted by Aaron Shimmons of Trail Talk, which in turn had been prompted by a whole bunch of online chatter around the question if there is an overarching culture in trail running. One that connects us as runners, across continents and experiences, and something that might be worth protecting.
‘What is Trail Culture’ isn’t a snarky or pretentious question, but an honest one. We keep talking about it. And we talk about this so called culture being beleaguered, or even attacked, in need of protection even.
The sport of trail running continues to grow. New people are introduced to it and are entering it from all sides and through and with various experiences. Often this question around culture is brought up in the context of something that’s in need of protecting. But if we can’t define it, how can we (not just) protect – but maybe in a bit more welcoming way – teach or introduce it to the folks entering “our” space. And by the folks entering our space I don’t just mean the new trail runners who strap themselves into a running vest for the first time at a local trail race. I include, and maybe mostly am talking about the influencers (anyone with influence, and varying degree of fame) and I mean of course the brands. They are the ones who are putting serious dollars behind their campaigns promoting “trail” as a place to be and if anyone is introduced to a version of trail that’s overly commercial, overly hyped, overly manufactured, it ends up not being the “consumers” fault if their vision of trail is more a frankenstein-ed version – something produced in a brand’s conference room; as supposed to the word of mouth inspiration that actually builds and shares real culture.
In a way I am only explaining this from my perspective and through the lens of my own experiences. Everyone has a different way of interpreting why they run on trails. Everyone has a different story, has had a different entry point into the sport, and is in a different place in their lives and careers. But for me, this is what makes trail running trail running.
I run, I train (to a varying degree), I race, I set goals. But I do all that for the purpose of adventure. Trail running is adventure sport for me. Trail running is exploring new places, getting off the beaten path, finding new routes, scenery, vistas. For me it’s not about pace, about crowns, about podiums. It’s not even about podiums (especially not for my slow ass). It’s about the proverbial freedom of the hills and about seeking that flow state. Trail running culture is adventure culture.
Yes, most versions of trail running area form of endurance sport. We run, we run long (or far), we count our miles, and we sign up for races to get ourselves 100M buckles. But it’s the places, the locations we run through, we collect in our memories and seek out for our adventures. The races might give us medals but the trails give us memories. And the longing for these trails is what motivates us to train and stick with it.
Yes, many of the newer trail podcasts are focusing on the course record, that magical number, but compared to most other sport it’s the stories that make trail running special. In fact I would go so far as to say that the stories we share about our adventures on the trails are so intrinsically linked to our experiences that these things belong together – way more than the data behind our efforts. This is what trail running connects to other mountain sport and what sets it apart to the sports we play in arenas.
Often we train in solidarity, but we come together to race. One might spend hours on trails by themselves, but we share our experiences with others in our community. Be it online, via the media platforms or in person at events or over a beverage after run groups.
A sport so simple that it doesn’t require a lot of gear or skill, trail running invites folks to experience it for themselves. Go on a run. It also helps that running by itself is not very spectacular and therefore hard to capture on screen. We’re trying to make it interesting, but still, the most interesting piece about trail running is doing it yourself, not sitting on a couch and watching others do it.
That, in a nutshell is ‘trail culture’ for me. Maybe there are more points, maybe I will revisit this in at a later time. Maybe I even missed something. But for now, for me, and without going too deep, this is it.
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