Table Of ContentThird Edition
Ultimate Guide
The
Trail Running
to
Everything You Need to Know About
Equipment • Finding Trails • Nutrition • Hill Strategy •
Racing • Avoiding Injury • Training • Weather • Safety
Adam W. Chase and Nancy Hobbs
FFAALLCCOONNGGUUIIDDEESS®®
An imprint of Globe Pequot, the trade division of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Lanham, MD 20706
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Falcon and FalconGuides are registered trademarks and Make Adventure Your Story is a trademark of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Copyright © 2010, 2023 by Adam W. Chase and Nancy Hobbs
Previously published in 2001 by Lyons Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechan-
ical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the
publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chase, Adam W., author. | Hobbs, Nancy, 1960- author.
Title: Ultimate guide to trail running : everything you need to know about equipment, finding trails,
nutrition, hill strategy, racing, avoiding injury, training, weather, and safety / Adam W. Chase and
Nancy Hobbs.
Description: Third edition. | Essex, Connecticut : Falcon Guides, [2023] | Includes bibliographical refer-
ences and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022039835 (print) | LCCN 2022039836 (ebook) | ISBN 9781493066759 (paperback)
| ISBN 9781493066766 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Mountain running. | Trails—Recreational use.
Classification: LCC GV1061 .C46 2023 (print) | LCC GV1061 (ebook) | DDC 613.7/172—dc23/
eng/20220922
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022039835
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022039836
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO
Z39.48-1992.
The authors and The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., assume no liability for accidents
happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.
CONTENTS
Foreword by Zoë Rom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Preface by Lisa Jhung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter 1: Trail Running: Past, Present, and Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 3: Trail Running Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 4: Trail Training at Every Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 5: Strength Training for the Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 6: Stretching for the Trail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 7: Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 8: Nutrition On and Off the Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Chapter 9: Injuries and Injury Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Chapter 10: Hazards of the Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 11: Running Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Chapter 12: Caring for the Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Chapter 13: Racing and Directing a Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
FOREWORD
My first encounter with Nancy Hobbs was quick.
Visiting Austin for The Running Event and feeling a bit out of sorts in the
muggy concrete jungle, I went in search of even the smallest patch of city single-
track to dust up my shoes before being confined to the convention center all day,
indoors and outnumbered by road runners.
Determined to make the most of the meager stretch of “trail” (a bit of gravel
and dirt paralleling the bike path), I set about getting in a little run when a blur of
sandy-blonde ponytail streaked past me at an almost unfathomable speed.
Who was that? What was that?
I managed to track down that speedy ponytail later on the convention center
floor and introduce myself. Nancy immediately embraced me in a hug that felt
like a warm reception from the trail community itself.
“Great run this morning. Were you doing a workout?” I asked.
“No,” she shrugged. “Just a shakeout.”
Folks, she’s just that fast.
Nancy then proceeded to introduce me to what felt like everyone in the run-
ning industry with an enthusiasm that could only be described as equivalent to
a post-race enchilada bar rush. She knows everyone, and everything there is to
know about trail running. You may not have the good fortune of getting a hug
and a handshake from Nancy or Adam, and a personal introduction to the trail
community, but this book is a close second.
Both Nancy Hobbs and Adam Chase are Hall of Fame–level runners with
huge hearts for the sport. Few folks are as qualified as Adam and Nancy to bring
this book into the world. Both have notched victories at the pinnacle of com-
petitive trail running, and both have used their knowledge and platforms to bring
other folks into the fold and introduce them to the life-changing magic that is
trail running.
Even more than their competitive prowess, few have used their trail running
super abilities to build community the way Adam and Nancy have. Whether it’s
their world-changing work with the American Trail Running Association (ATRA),
or their encouraging smiles as they buzz past you on the trails, Adam and Nancy
are next-level elites in the art of cultivating community. This book is a distillation
of what they do best: demystifying the sometimes-bizarre world of trail running
so we ALL feel empowered to lace up our shoes and hit the singletrack.
iv
Foreword
Whether you’re interested in rocking your first trail 10K or tenth hundred-
miler, this book is a practical guide to the sport we call home. Comprehensive, but
not overly complicated, this is your deep reserve of trail running knowledge. It’s
a Swiss Army knife of stories and practical tools to give you the confidence you
need to explore our world a little bit braver.
I’m grateful to be in the community that these two helped build, and espe-
cially grateful to have this handy guide to the best sport on earth.
Zoë Rom
Editor-in-Chief
Trail Runner magazine
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our thanks to Noah and David Chase, Dr. James B. Hobbs, and Peggy
Whitney Hobbs. We additionally thank those who contributed to the
making of this text and to those who helped and inspired us in the writing
of this book.
vi
PREFACE
Lisa Jhung
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Trails are portals to adventure. Step one foot
onto a dirt, gravel, rocky, rooty, rutty, dusty—natural—path of any sort and who
knows what glories await. Whether they be epic journeys or simple jaunts, trail
runs undoubtedly lead you somewhere in body and mind. They have the power
to transform, from a bad mood to a better one, from being tired from nothing
good to being tired from something great: using your body in the outdoors and
the rejuvenation that comes with that.
Physically, tangibly, trails bring us to creeks, overlooks, wildlife sightings, and
meadows. They connect us with the trees, the flowers, the grass, and the sky. They
smell good, unless you’re running through a cow pasture or along a trail littered
with dog poop. And even then, nature! They take us to high mountain lakes and
along coastal bluffs. They meander through forests and circle parks. In cities, they
offer respite—and yes, adventure!—from car horns and concrete.
More intangibly, trails connect us to ourselves. Running a trail allows us the
mental space to be with our footfall, our breath. To feel the earth beneath our
feet as we turn inward, sorting through daily thoughts and coming to new con-
clusions we maybe didn’t know we were seeking. Movement in nature, running,
breathing, has a way of massaging our brains and our senses of self. We come out,
on the other side, better.
I’ve long felt this strongly about the power of trails, and of trail running. I
started running, really running, at age seventeen. I ran on the beach in San Diego,
sometimes racing the sun to a pile of seaweed—I needed to get there before the
sun dipped entirely beneath the horizon. Sometimes I won, sometimes I didn’t. I
ran coastal bluffs and eucalyptus-lined groves in California towns. I ducked into
the ribbons of dirt that line Golden Gate Park to escape San Francisco’s city noises.
I ran trails all over Marin County, the North Shore of Lake Tahoe past granite boul-
ders and the yellow flowers of mule ears, and eventually, in Boulder, Colorado,
on red dirt and past deep green pine trees—well aware I’ve lived in fantastic trail
meccas.
Anywhere I am, I crave dirt. I need it. I long to feel it under my feet as I run.
Through the pandemic I cherished the time and space on trails even more than
usual, if that’s possible. There, I could breathe. Through any injury that keeps me
from running—a lockdown of a different sort—I know I’ll be okay if I can just
vviiii
Preface
walk on a trail, and then run a few steps, before returning to a healthier version of
myself where I can really run.
And when I can really, really run, I head for the hills. With my dog or with
friends, heading into the mountains and taking that first step on a trail that will
bring me to a high mountain lake or the Continental Divide feels like Christmas
morning. I’m giddy. I know I’ll be transported in body and mind because I know
that every trail is a portal. And I need the adventure.
In my decades of running trails of all kinds, I’ve aimed to share the joys of
them through my own beginner-friendly books. Trailhead: The Dirt on All Things
Trail Running and Running That Doesn’t Suck: How to Love Running (Even If You
Think You Hate It) are both portals of their own, speaking to those who might be
intimidated by the thought of getting out there. I’ve tried to share what I know—
that running on trails offers so, so much.
This book, The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running, is just that—the ULTIMATE
guide. Nancy Hobbs and Adam Chase unleash their collective decades of exten-
sive trail running experience across the globe and across roles in the trail running
community that we can all benefit from. The guide will elevate your trail running
wherever you may be in your own personal journey. It will allow you to step onto
that next trail and be transported: to adventure, to exploration and connection in
both the physical and metaphysical sense. See you out there.
viii
INTRODUCTION
This is a how-to book on trail running, written for runners of all backgrounds,
ages, and abilities. With this third edition we hope to reinspire readers of our first
two editions and welcome new readers to the trail running family. As the execu-
tive director and the president of the American Trail Running Association (ATRA),
we have been asked by our members and others about how to begin trail run-
ning, what trails are best, what to wear and eat when trail running, how to train
and race as a trail runner, how to organize a trail race, and a variety of other issues.
The pleasure we receive in answering these questions and sharing our passion for
the sport of trail running is what inspired us to write this book and its subsequent
editions as the sport evolves.
Through The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running, we hope to open the sport up to
more people by equipping them with a wealth of information on all aspects of the
sport. We hope this book becomes a valuable resource for all trail runners, from
the novice to the experienced, regardless of where they run. For those who have
never run on anything other than a paved surface or a track, and for hikers who
have been on many a trail but never run on one, this book should provide enough
information to get started running trails with a sense of competency and joy.
This book should appeal to those with interests that include running trails to
cross country, fast hiking, recovering from overuse injuries or burnout from other
sports, including road running, training for adventure races or high school cross
country, competing in ultradistance trail races, or running entire trails such as the
Appalachian, Muir Woods, or Continental Divide.
In writing this book, we have drawn on our combined experiences and solic-
ited the advice and expertise of many contributors. It has been a rewarding expe-
rience to interview some of the top trail runners and experts in fields such as
nutrition, sports physiology, environmental sciences, and even animal health. We
have learned a lot while writing this book and hope to pass that knowledge on
to you.
We begin The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running with a brief history and back-
ground of the sport. Next, we include instruction on trail-specific training, includ-
ing basic trail technique, the effects of altitude, and how to strength train and
stretch for trail running. We incorporate advice on how best to confront different
types of trail conditions, such as mud, ice, water crossings, and steep hills. This
section also offers invaluable insights from experts or elite competitors who excel
in running on various types of trails.
iixx
