I replied to a someone else's post here about hiking, which I love and included some stuff on trail running, which I am slowly getting into as I get into better shape. Replying to that post got me thinking about other trail runners out there and I did a search and found out it's a really popular sport! I found lots of running clubs, magazines, etc. all about trail running! One thing I didn't realize is that competitive trail running is very prevalent in the U.S. (not sure about other countries). I also learned that it's also called "ultra running." Is anyone here also into trail running? Do you do it competitively? Do you belong to any clubs? etc? I'm just looking for any and all info. I've never done anything athletic competitively (except for horse back riding when I was growing up) and competition never really appealed to me all that much, but lately I've been thinking it may be a great way to get more involved in my exercise. So shoot me a reply whether you run trails or run roads, I look forward to hearing from ya'll!

Ultra running usually means ultramarathons, meaning distances longer than the standard marathon which is 26.2 miles. All those 50K races you're seeing? 30 miles.

My running club is mainly on road, but we do some off road/cross country races from time to time, and we also have "fell races" over here which are off road over hills. I've never quite been brave enough to attempt one of those!

Wisher,

The Xterra people just started a series of trail running races. I can't speak to that series personally, but they do a very nice job with their off-road triathlon series and its probably worth a look if you are interested. Distance are more like 5K and 10K so much much much more doable than one of the ultras. Check out this link.

http://www.xterraplanet.com/trailrun/

Anne