In 2022, professional athletes Kilian Jornet, Franscecso Puppi and Pascal Egli, formed the Pro Trail Runners Association, which works behind the scenes for the betterment of the sport of trail running. But it’s also an organization that is not often fully understood. The PTRA’s mission is as follows, “To help athletes to share their opinions and be part of shaping the future of our sport and the environment where we practice, as well as the athletes physical and mental health and the fairness and sustainability of the competitions.”
Albert Jorquera, PTRA General Secretary, explains that one of main goals in 2025 is to address the lack of awareness about the organization and the resources it provides to the trail running community, “In the first years of the organization, we’ve spent the majority of our time and energy setting up and doing the administrative work required to be legal. We haven’t focused as much on the communication piece. Many athletes still don’t fully understand what we are doing, how it works or maybe even that the organization exists. Now that PTRA is more settled, we will be focusing on explaining all that we do for the sport and connecting with the international community of athletes.”
PTRA 101
The PTRA consists of an administrative board of ten members who volunteer their time to the cause, as well as General Secretary, Albert Jorquera. The organization is founded under Swiss Law, with a seat in Lausanne, Switzerland (read the official PTRA statues here. The organization currently focuses its attention on four major areas in the sport: Athlete Rights, Competition, Environment and Anti-Doping. Co-founder, Francesco Puppi, says about PTRA’s role for empowering athletes and creating a better future for the sport, “As athletes, we felt the need to be involved in the decisions that shape the present and future of our sport. Too often we’ve felt neglected or left behind. PTRA is now a recognized and respected entity and as athletes it’s also a way to give back and help protect the sport we love so much.”
There are currently over 267 members from around the world. Members must meet the following criteria:
Be over the age of 16
and
Be ranked in the top 30 of ITRA rank (general index) and/or UTMB rank and/or WMRA and/or GTWS rank and/or Skyrunning rank of the current year or of the past 3 years,
and/or
Have a professional (monetary) contract for the practice of trail running competitions for the current year.
Pay an annual membership fee of 50 euros/dollars. This money will be reinvested in the costs of operating the PTRA.
PTRA members receive benefits including voting in the PTRA General assembly to elect new board members, voting for major decisions and projects, attending online workshops/webinars, and much more.
Jorquera speaks to the types of runners who join PTRA, “We certainly attract the middle class pro, so to speak. These are talented athletes who perhaps don’t know how to manage their career or need assistance networking in an international community of professional athletes. But on the other end of the spectrum, we certainly also have high profile athletes that perhaps don’t need the support but want to engage further in the community and help other athletes make the most of their careers.”
The United States has the most PTRA members of any country at 69 (followed by France and Spain at 23 and 22). “The American runner is concerned about the community and values of the sport, which is great to see,” says Jorquera.
Unified voice
The PTRA works with major entities in the trail running world to voice the concerns of the professional athlete community. The UTMB race series, Golden Trail World Series, World Athletics, International Trail Running Association, World Mountain Running Association and national federations are all groups PTRA is in regular communication with. PTRA advisory groups have pushed these organizations to diversify race start lines, improve environmental policies at races, increase the participation of women in the sport, and highlight trail running as a major international sport that deserves media recognition. The future of trail running in the Olympics has also been a major source of discussion amongst PTRA advisory groups and national federations (read our article Why Isn’t Trail Running in the Olympics? if you want to learn more about trail running’s potential to be a future Olympic Sport).
In 2024, PTRA was an integral part of the discussions which changed the UTMB race series anti-doping policies. Learn more here.
Curious to learn more about why clean sport initiatives are growing in trail running? Read our article, Call For Clean Sport: A Conversation in Trail Running here.
Lead by Example
“You know what, @nike? I think this time you simply got it wrong. You got an outdated definition of what it means to be a winner, of what it means to be tough, of what true strength is. It’s not gritting your teeth, suppressing your emotions, using an aggressive, maniacal, obsessive approach, having the illusion that you can control everything. It’s about navigating discomfort, making good decisions, embracing the process, developing awareness, respecting yourself and your competitors…” —Francesco Puppi, January 9, 2025, on his decision to split with his Nike sponsorship.
The above excerpt showcases PTRA co-founder, Francesco Puppi, leading by example. At its core, PTRA is founded on principles such as athlete empowerment and personal freedom. Puppi has been outspoken about his brand relations and how to find authenticity while preserving the core values of the sport. Navigating the complicated world of contracts and sponsorship opportunities is something Puppi, as well as PTRA, aims to assist athletes with.
“I have no words for the mountains, glaciers and glacial lakes on this route…Majestic, breathtaking (literally!), calming beautiful. The fragility of this environment with shrinking glaciers, proglacial lakes and glacier-fed streams became obvious. After witnessing those places, nobody needs to explain to me anymore why our Bhutanese friends are so invested in protecting these places, and the climate that influences them.” —Pascal Egli November 15, 2024, during The Snowman Race (read our recap of The Snowman Race here).
Similarly to Puppi, co-founder Pascal Egli, also leads by example. He’s an Associate Professor in Geography at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology located in Trondheim, Norway, and holds a PhD degree in glaciology from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. When he’s not racing in the mountains on foot or skis, he travels the world on research trips to study glaciers and the environment from academic as well as trail running perspectives. “Since trail running is a sport usually carried out in wild natural environments, the sustainability concept and nature preservation are even more important for its athletes than in certain other sports,” says Egli.
Jorquera explains why PTRA prioritizes leading by example, “It’s great to have people like Francesco, Pascal and Kilian at the core of the organization that lead by example. Our sport is growing quickly in some ways, but not in others. Events may have larger sponsorships, but prize money might not be increasing. Races may be getting more competitive, but more athletes are doping. This is why we need athletes to constantly reestablish what we want to carry forward and what changes we need to enact. There’s no sense in waiting until the sport grows larger to talk about the big subjects like athlete contracts, environmental concerns, anti-doping, etc. The time is now.”
The Future of PTRA
In 2025, PTRA aims to continue addressing the largest issues facing athletes in the sport, while also increasing awareness about these missions to the general public. “Many of these issues, such as the environment, and physical and mental well-being, human equality and diversity don’t only apply to professional athletes,” explains Jorquera, “We want to bring athletes together to create a stronger voice that can make a better sport for everyone.”
PTRA is also placing more emphasis on education. On January 16, 2025, PTRA began PTRA Talks, a series of online webinars for members that will continue into 2025. Topics have included “Athletes & Brands Relationship. Running Contracts,” “Resumption of Running for Postpartum Athletes,” and “Physiological and psychological demands of training for elite trail runners.”
While the PTRA is still in its developing years, it’s reached the point as an organization where the collective voices of its athletes are heard around the world by the most influential groups in the sport. The aim to bring athletes together for the preservation of values and betterment of the sport (without a monetary or business agenda), is one that will be needed as trail running continues to grow and shape its identity.
Co-founder Kilian Jornet shares his thoughts on PTRA’s expanding role in the trail running world, “Trail running has grown rapidly in the past twenty years, from a very niche sport to a mass sport with a big industry behind. In that evolution, athletes have been the main actors but their voices have often been neglected, it was important that with all the changes and the ever strongest stakeholders in the sport, the athletes could have a united voice and a platform to work together to ensure that the sport evolves accordingly to its values, maintaining a fair sport, respecting the natural environment where we practice and to grow in inclusivity, diversity and ensuring the athletes rights.”
Follow PTRA at the link here.
