When William Gensburg first fell in love with trail running, he was nearly 50 years old. At the time, he played in an amateur ice hockey league in Westchester County, N.Y., but his injuries were piling up and he needed a different way to stay active. Mr. Gensburg, who had virtually no running experience, started jogging on a leafy two-mile trail near his home. He was instantly hooked.
“I became enchanted, frankly, with being in the woods doing something at your own pace,” he said. “It is a wonderful way to be in nature. It’s a very primal feeling.”
Adam Chase, the president of the American Trail Running Association and author of “The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running,” said the sport offers an opportunity to “set your mind at peace.” It gives you a sense of mental and physical escape that you don’t always get from running on pavement, he said.
If you’re just starting out, here’s what to know about finding trails and choosing the right gear.
The Benefits of Trail Running
All forms of running provide cardiovascular benefits. Research also suggests that spending time in nature can help reduce anxiety and stress.
Trail running also requires you to regularly adjust your stride to handle changing terrain. This forces you to use different muscles, which can help protect against overuse injuries and may help improve balance and stability, said Jeremy Kastner, an orthopedic physical therapist and the founder of Mountain Athletes Physical Therapy in Colorado Springs.