Terrific trail running

It is wonderful to see the sudden explosion on the trail running scene. The one-race-a-week-for-five-weeks Montrail Capestorm Summer Trail Series (8-10km) on the Cape Peninsula has been rocking; the Montrail-Capestorm Ultra Cup has united twenty-one established off-road events; this past weekend Hell Run saw 80-runners (more than double 2007's numbers) take on the 80km, 50km and 35km routes; and a Salomon 'Uge Trail Series kicks off in April with 5-12km events throughout the year.

I've had more phone calls from people asking about trail running in the two months of this year than in the previous two years; people are keen for a bit of off-road action. I hope the numbers continue to reflect this enthusiasm.

Some links for your reference:

• www.ar.co.za - event calendar; listings for the Montrail Capestorm Summer Trail Series, the Salomon 'Uge Trail Series and many of the Montrail-Capestorm Ultra Cup events.
• www.ultracup.co.za - for listings of the twenty-one events that form part of the series.
• www.trailseries.co.za - winter and summer trail series in Joburg, Pretoria and Cape Town.

Just as you wouldn't go to war without bullets, don't go to a trail run - especially distance events - without proper footwear. Trail shoes offer your foot more underfoot protection; and the more durable and supportive upper will minimise injury and twists.

As Garth Flores remarked after this weekend's Hell Run, "Some road runners, who are topping the 1000 km Challenge, i.e. already done 6x 100-miler races since Comrades last year, wearing their normal road running shoes got plenty of blisters. You would expect their feet to be tough (and their feet are tough), but you need the right shoe for the job, so investing in a pair of decent off road shoes is well worth it!"

Road runners, if you've never tried a trail race, give it a go. It complements your road running and is far less abusive to your body.