Why trail runners are choosing smaller community-led events

My first 100km event was the Surf Coast Century, on my home trails of Wadawurrung Country along Victoria’s coastline. 

For the first 20km, I was surrounded by other runners before the field spaced out, and I had the beautiful bush all to myself. Eavesdropping on the conversations of my fellow runners provided good entertainment, distracting me from the existential questions of ‘Why did I sign up for this?!’ and ‘How am I going to survive 80 more kilometres?!’

I was very green to the trail and ultra scene and was an eager student of the sport. The chatter between two male runners drifted on the sea breeze as they spoke about gaining stones and points so they could, eventually – hopefully – maybe – get a ballot for an international race with names like ‘Western States’ and ‘UTMB’, which at the time were foreign to me.

The thought of tackling a 100km run to get something elusive as a stone or points bamboozled me. I was there to prove something to myself, to push my limits and to accomplish something so few do. I couldn’t imagine the experience not focusing on the beautiful landscapes, uplifting atmosphere, sweaty hugs with the support crew and post-run pizza and beer. I was introduced to another side of ultra running, and I was intrigued. 

Fast forward four years, and the trail and ultra world has become quite the beast.  

No longer is it a sport for the rag-tag weirdos who think a fun day out is running for 5+ hours along a barely-there trail. And whilst the big fish in a relatively small pond continue to grow, there are still plenty of little fish out there, increasingly needing help to survive in a more congested body of water.  

However, choosing smaller, grassroots and community-led events has been growing momentum, from the world’s best athletes to stragglers like myself.

Many people’s paths to trail and ultra running came from small community groups that supported and encouraged green runners like myself to push themselves further, gain confidence and utilise events as opportunities to socialise and explore new trails. With more big events with big budgets on the calendar, are the grassroots events struggling to break even?

Like in everyday life, we vote with our money. Every decision we make is an investment, from where we buy our groceries, who we bank with, which café we frequent and what brand of shoes we swear by. The races we enter are no different. With only so many days in the year, so much disposable income to spend on event fees, and kilometres in the legs, choosing your races carefully is essential.

Recently, other factors are coming into the equation too. With climate change hot on the heels of the summer racing schedule, the window for exploring alpine environments is increasingly challenging to predict due to fires, floods, winds and storms. 

This has meant the summer period is increasingly filled with events, with some legacy events feeling forced to change race dates due to conflicting schedules.

Whilst many of us feel validated by the growing popularity of trail running, we can also feel excited and concerned about the future of this incredible sport. Many runners feel allegiance to specific events and return year after year, while others enjoy the experience of travelling somewhere new to support a smaller event.  

And whilst first-timers might feel more comfortable tackling the trails alongside thousands of other runners, there will always be people like me who prefer to find space from the pack and soak up the beautiful quiet of nature amongst the adrenaline of race day.

Regardless of your preference, consider where you invest your race entry fee because on the other side of that investment is a team working away for months, if not years, to bring you the most memorable, safe and fun event possible.  

And without these dedicated race directors, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to head out and explore the incredible wild places we have on offer or push ourselves out of our comfort zone in a way that is safe and accessible.