Trail Runner’s Book Review: 500 Races, Routes and Adventures

500 Races

500 Races Routes and Adventures: A Runner’s Bucket List, by John Brewer. Published by Universe, 2021. Reviewed by trail runner Laura Clark. Laura is an avid mountain, trail and snowshoe runner who lives in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she is a children’s librarian. Even with all the heft, tactile feel and drool-worthy photography requisite of… Read more »

2021 Golden Trail World Series Kicks Off June 13 In Spain

Announcement from the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) Supported by American Trail Running Association member Salomon. Above photo credit: Athlete Rachel Drake | GoldenTrailSeries | Azores Trail Race | Martina Valmassoi. The countdown to the first race of the 2021 Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) series has started and elite trail runners are ready to… Read more »

US Trail Running Conference Webinar Shares Sustainability Initiatives For Race Directors

Announcement from American Trail Running Association partner US Trail Running Conference.  In this unique virtual education series, trail running event management experts offer ways for race directors to reduce waste and achieve a zero carbon footprint. The fifth webinar in a nine-webinar series produced by the US Trail Running Conference and presented by the leading… Read more »

Trail Runner’s Book Review: Stories from the Age of COVID

Book Review

Stories from the Age of COVID, compiled and edited by Glenn Steckler & Larry Steckler. 2021. Reviewed by trail runner Laura Clark. Laura is an avid mountain, trail and snowshoe runner who lives in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she is a children’s librarian. We all have our personal COVID accounts detailing how we strove to… Read more »

UK Trail Runner Sets Record Plogging Across Northern England

Damian Hall

Announcement from American Trail Running Association member inov-8. Photos: Leo Francis / www.inov-8.com. Ultramarathon runner Damian Hall has set a new record time for “plogging” the 185-mile Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route. Running west to east, from St Bees on the Irish Sea coastline to Robin Hood’s Bay on the shores of the North Sea,… Read more »

From the ATRA Archive: 8 Excuses Not to Trail Run & Why You Can!

Danelle Ballengee

Written over 25 years ago by Danelle Ballengee, a former ATRA board member and race director of the Moab Trail Marathon , an ATRA member event and host of the USATF Trail Marathon Championships. Those chirping birds you hear in the morning aren’t your neighbors’ car alarms. Nope. Instead they’re a reminder that spring is… Read more »

Featured Trail Town – Stillwater, Minnesota

Stillwater

Welcome to another installment of our “Trail Town” series spotlighting Stillwater, Minnesota, the historic Birthplace of Minnesota. The following Trail Town profile was written by Sydney Schoeberle from Minneapolis based Bellmont Partners on behalf of Discover Stillwater. With a population of around 19,000, the charming town is nestled right on the scenic St. Croix River… Read more »

Trail Shoe Review: Inov-8 TRAILFLY ULTRA G 300 MAX

inov-8 "innovates" again with the TRAILFLY ULTRA G 300 MAX

Last Summer when ATRA member inov-8 launched the TERRAULTRA G 270 we were big fans of the zero drop graphene-grip pioneering trail shoe. This light and grippy shoe quickly became a go-to kick for racing on the loose and slippy. As good as that zero-drop shoe is, there are many athletes looking for a bit… Read more »

ATRA Member Leslie Jordan Announces New Super Soft Tri-Blend Fabric

Leslie Jordan

Announcement from American Trail Running Association member Leslie Jordan Inc. Portland, Oregon based Leslie Jordan announces their NEW super soft tri-blend fabric to their already extensive performance and lifestyle apparel line. Leslie Jordan, Inc. specializes in creating shirts & finisher giveaway items that trail race directors can customize completely, and that trail runners will run… Read more »

The Pack Burro ASS-ociation Back In Full Swing

Pack Burro

Almost exactly one year ago I interviewed Brad Wann of the Western Pack Burro ASS-ociation (WPBA) to learn how the pack burro community was adapting to the pandemic, pivoting to virtual races and finding creative ways to keep the sport alive. Now, I’m catching up with Wann to see how this historic Colorado heritage sport… Read more »

Wildmarathon Series: An International Trail Running Experience

Wildmarathon Series

Our founder Nancy Hobbs recently caught up with Spaniard Apolo Esperanza who founded Wildmarathon Series, an international trail running circuit with events in Nepal, Mexico, Morocco, Finland and Tanzania. Esperanza is a geographer with a masters in environmental and territory management, specialized in sports geo-tourism. He lectures and writes articles on various media related to… Read more »

California’s Run Catalina Island Events Are Back!

Announcement from long-time American Trail Running Association member Spectrum Sports, organizers of the Catalina Island Marathon. We are excited to announce the return of Run Catalina this fall. We have been working very closely with the state of California and the state health officials and we’re very excited to see the new Guidelines for Community… Read more »

International Skyrunning Federation Launches New VK OPEN Championship

Skyrunning VK

Announcement from the International Skyrunning Federation (ISF). Learn more about how the American Trail Running Association helps to support Skyrunning. Above photo: iancorless.com For lovers of the Vertical Kilometer® – a new championship launches today promoted by the International Skyrunning Federation. The VK OPEN Championship features nine races in six countries concentrated in Europe, birthplace… Read more »

First-Timer at The ATRA Exclusive Salomon Ultra Glide Demo

Ultra Glide

This past Saturday I attended my first-ever “shoe demo” event organized by ATRA member Salomon to preview its new Ultra Glide trail shoe in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This event provided the rare opportunity for American Trail Running Association followers to test the upcoming Salomon Ultra Glide shoe, set to launch August 1, 2021. Attendees were… Read more »

Inside the La Sportiva Cyklon with BOA’s Dan Feeney, Ph.D.

Cyklon

Tayte Pollmann interviewed Dan Feeney, Ph.D., manager of biomechanics research engineering at the Performance Fit Lab at BOA Headquarters in Denver, about the new La Sportiva Cyklon. This new trail shoe, similar to previous BOA-powered trail running shoes, includes the patented fitting technology, the BOA® Fit System, which incorporates “a micro-adjustable dial, super-strong lightweight laces,… Read more »

Colorado’s Poudre Wilderness Volunteers Raise $37,000 for Forest Trail Restoration

Announcement from Poudre Wilderness Volunteers – caring for Northern Colorado Wilderness. The Poudre Wilderness Volunteers (PWV), a wilderness trail stewardship organization, concluded a GoFundMe campaign, “Reopen Your Favorite Trails.” The Cameron Peak fire, Colorado’s largest wildfire, destroyed and burned over 208,000 acres of the Roosevelt National Forest. There are 122 miles of trails within the… Read more »

Greece’s 421 KM Run Messinia Moved to October 2021

Run Messinia

Announcement from Run Messinia. Photo above: Vladimir Rys. The final date of the 10 marathons in total in 10 days will be held on October 2-11, 2021. Run Messinia will start on October 2 from Mani and will conclude in Pylos on October 11, 2021. The closing of this event will take place in the… Read more »

AdventureCORPS Announces Joe Nimble as the Official Shoe of Badwater

Joe Nimble

Announcement from American Trail Running Association member AdventureCORPS®. AdventureCORPS®, the organization behind the legendary Badwater® brand and world-wide series of Badwater races, is pleased to announce Joe Nimble® as the Official Shoe of Badwater® for 2021. Joe Nimble® is the German shoe pioneer that has been championing the cause of toefreedom® since 1982 and has… Read more »