Swiftness Through Swiftyness
Trail runners seek swiftness, or in more common terms, to improve their speed. Most do so by focusing on proper training, rest, nutrition, acquiring a coach, or being inspired by role models in the sport who encourage them to push their own physical and mental boundaries (think Courtney Dauwalter or Katie Schide).
But there’s a swiftier way to get swifty. Most don’t realize that being a swifty can enhance your running ability. This term, swifty, adopted by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2023, describes pop singer icon Taylor Swift’s enthusiasts around the world, and reflects more broadly the social movement that is Taylor Swift. Trail runners, whether they realize it or not, are a part of this movement. Embracing it only makes us faster. Fast enough to make Sparks Fly. Excuse the song reference pun, I know Swift’s tunes All Too Well.
Taylor Swift speaks to the trail community
It seems nearly every community has been impacted by the Swift movement. Swift was the 2023 Time Magazine Person of the Year. She garnered significant media attention for cross pollinating NFL and musical fan bases from her romance with NFL player Travis Kelce (the NFL gained an estimated $331 million in additional revenue because of Swift’s involvement with the sport according to Apex Marketing). Compliments and endorsement of Swift have come from all walks of life including heavy metal band Disturbed, actress Emma Stone, Harvard professor Stephanie Burt (who teaches a literature class comparing classic texts to Swift song lyrics), and world leaders and MPs in Canada, Thailand, Hungary and Chile who have all personally requested Swift to bring her world tour to their nations.
Swift’s involvement in trail and ultrarunning is equally notable. In fact, Swift herself is actually an ultrarunner. During her two-year, 152 show, five continent Eras tour, Swift was documented running on the treadmill singing her entire tour set list before her shows (that’s over 3 and a half hours of running!). Zoë Rom, former editor of Trail Runner Magazine, wrote an article about her own attempt to mimic this workout, singing Swift’s setlist while running on a treadmill. Rom wrote after her experience, “I’ve done one-mile repeats. Hill workouts. Track workouts. Long runs with tempo efforts. This was the hardest workout I’ve ever done. I was wrecked.” Rom, who also placed second at the arduous 2024 Leadville Trail 100, is no stranger to hard work!
Rom on the trails.
How do trail runners relate to Swift?
Swift speaks to trail runners who seek energy before workouts and races. She speaks to those in the pain cave who are sleep deprived with oxygen-craving muscles (listening to her long list of breakup songs is entering a pain cave like no other!). She speaks to runners’ adventurous spirit and willingness to fall into the unknown. She sings with a finality and resolve that runners need to empower themselves in the home stretch of races.
Whether you’re a Swifty looking to make the most of your swiftness, or not a Swifty but have made it this far in the article to realize that you would like to better understand Swift’s music and how it can make you faster, I encourage you to dive into my Trail Swiftlists on Spotify below. These playlists explore four specific ways in which Swift’s songs empower trail runners at times when they may need it most.
This playlist is organized in four trail running categories to clearly outline the variety of ways in which trail runners can use Swift’s music to amplify their running at key moments in their racing and training. The categories, which are described in more detail below, are as follows: The Warm Up, The Pain Cave, The Adventure, and The Finish.
FUN FACT: Elite athletes Tom Evans, Lucy Batholomew, Adrian McDonald, Marianne Hogan, Ashley Brasovan, Andy Wacker, Karley Rempel and Allie McLaughlin have all cited Swift as essential to their running playlists.
Without further ado, Are you ready for it? Swift pun intended.
Trail running Swiftlists
Swiftlist 1: The Warm Up: These tracks are for those who eat hills (and Taylor tunes) for breakfast. They are high energy, ambitious, driven, and fearless songs that induce a fiery “race mode” mentality and will certainly rev up your running engine!
Hits such as …Ready for it? have anthemic qualities worthy of being played along iconic sports game “kickoff” tracks such as Thunderstuck by AC/DC or Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. Swift’s mega hit, We Are Never Getting Back Together, showcases her fierce and defiant attitudes that encourage listeners to have confidence in themselves, while also doing so in a fun, playful way. Find these “warm up” tracks and many more like it here.
Swiftlist 2: The Paincave
Those who relate to these Swift tunes might be Down Bad (another song title pun) in the pain cave. These are songs that relate to those post race tears from a race gone wrong, or unexpected result. When facing great mental or physical hurdles, runners may have a strong need for songs that respect and understand their struggles.
No artist alive today, or perhaps ever in existence, has made more songs about struggle, yet somehow manages to make these hardships relatable time and time again. Swift’s classic melancholy track fives such as All Too Well (fun fact: the fifth track on every Taylor Swift album is known to be a tearjerker) are good examples. So too are the more upbeat, retro-synth sounds of hopefulness in romances gone wrong, such as in the track, All You Had to Do Was Stay. There’s no shortage of Swift songs that have the potential to produce teardrops. Just remember that however much it hurts, Shake it Off! Find my Taylor Swift Paincave playlist here.
Swiftlist 3: The Adventure
Swift’s music isn’t afraid to explore the unknown. Whether she encourages listeners to Jump Then Fall into love, join her in imaginative Folklore tales that pull ears by an Invisible String, or accurately describes the feeling of living on the edge of independence at age 22, Swift understands how to relate to the draw of adventurous living.
Trail running’s call to the wild, to find new trails, mountains, and push runners to bravely venture to run farther distances shares common ground with Swift’s draw to the unknown. These tracks are excellent listens when reflecting on favorite trail memories (or to upload for a social media post about memorable runs!). For those who listen to music during runs, there’s a strong possibility of taking to heart the meaning of, If Today Was A Fairytale, because Swift’s music will contribute to endless dreamy, feel-good miles. Find my Taylor Swift Adventure playlist here.
Swiftlist 4: The Finish
At the end of runs and races, runners are pushing through pain, letting out their emotions and dreaming to celebrate after the many challenges involved in reaching the finish. This complicated state of opposing feelings: highs and lows, fatigue and excitement, joy and sadness, etc. is reflected in many of Swift’s masterpieces.
Enchanted, perhaps Swift’s best slow song that builds into a release of high energy rockin’ passion, takes runners on a wild ride of emotion. Runners should take note of their pace before AND after listening to that song because there’s sure to be a huge speed boost! Is it Over Now?…a phrase runners might ask themselves as they near the finish the race, is a song that captures that complex feeling of the ending of something significant in life, such as finishing goal races. Begin Again, a reflective song about finding love again (even after loss), parallels this common runner’s cycle: signing up for races immediately after finishing one. Sometimes one doesn’t understand their passion for the sport, but they do accept they’ll be drawn to it…Forever and Always.
Runners, especially ultrarunners, know what it means to tackle challenges that feel like what Swift describes so accurately in Death By a Thousand Cuts. Hill after hill, mile after mile, the body can wear down, but those with the strongest spirit will have the best chance of reaching the finish. Check out Swiftlist The Finish here!
Are you a Swifty? Stay tuned for a post on Instagram and Facebook and share your favorite Swift songs with us!
