Trail runners prefer to race the marathon distance or longer, new study finds

July 8, 2022

If you first experienced trail running in your mid-30s, you’re in good company. A new study on the training habits of trail runners reports that almost a quarter of athletes began exploring trails between the ages of 31 and 35. The research was conducted by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), an international non-profit. Results came from surveys distributed worldwide and cover everything from whether athletes started with road running or jumped directly onto the trails, to how often and where they race. We parsed a few of the most interesting takeaways.

Roughly 60 percent of athletes had experienced some kind of injury, the most common being ankle sprains and muscle issues. Athletes tend to take training breaks, and often incorporated cross-training into their exercise routine, possibly to help prevent future setbacks. Canadian Running