There is a buzz in the air.

Headlights illuminate nervous faces huddled around fires-some fiddling with race packs, some stretching their calves, others just staring into the distance. The smell of coffee mixed with wintergreen sits like a thick fog between the runners.

A race organizer standing on a small platform dotted in sponsors logos describes a route that sounds impossible to any rational human being. The sun rises over the remote race village nestled in the mountains. The gun goes off. They start their watches and trot over the line…

Many people believe trail running should be renamed ‘trailing’ for it is a completely different sport from road running. Trail running uses other muscles groups and provides a different kind of workout that challenges the athlete differently. Today Marathon Grit brings you 8 reasons why trailing is amazing and why you should try it out.

When on the trail you will see dramatic vistas, lakes, mountaintops, valleys, and rivers that you could never reach otherwise. The trail lets you explore and journey through the world as your forefathers did 12,000 years ago. This nomadic, tribal way of moving is as natural as feeding a baby or falling in love. Human beings were meant to journey this way and trail running brings you back to that basic instinct.

Trailing takes it out of you. The biggest benefit of trail running is it requires work from your entire body. Scrambles up rocky mountain terrain can get so steep that your arms, legs, and core are working hard – pushing, pulling, and gripping.

Your ankles need to be strong to balance through technical riverbeds and your quadriceps need to be powerful to guide you down mountain switchbacks. When the going gets technical a mile can take you 30 minutes to complete, throw in a mountain and you can add 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet of ascent. If this doesn’t give you a good indication of how physical trail running can get, go out into the mountains, and find out for yourself.

The trail has a way of attracting the best people you will ever find. When you are a trail runner, you have a friend wherever you may go in the world. The trail community is inclusive, down-to-earth, eco-minded, earthy souls and they welcome and celebrate the last man over the line as much as those that arrived there first.

It is not uncommon to see the Elites fist-pump runners coming over the finish hours after they have completed their races. Trail runners also help one another. When someone falls or cramps the next person stops and asks: “Are you okay buddy? How can I help you?” This is because trail runners are there for much more than a time on a scoreboard. They are there for shared humanity and the sheer magic of the trail.

In a world where many people are glued to screens and governed by technology, it is liberating to break free from the confines of modern life and reconnect with nature. When you are on the trail you feel the rough edges of the rock beneath your trainers, your hands glide over a rainbow of wildflowers while your eyes absorb the blues and greens and pinks of the world around you.

Your nose picks up primal scents and inhales clean air as the wind gently strokes your hair. It is a feast for the senses and a privilege to find yourself amongst wildlife, birds, and fish-like nature intended all along. Sometimes you find an antelope track and follow it through the woods knowing that not long before you a creature was walking that same path.

For those coming from a road running or triathlon background, the first thing you need to understand about trail running is this: when on the trail, time is a fluid concept. Trailing is hard and therefore it takes time. A pace or rhythm is tricky to stick to because the trail changes constantly and the ups and downs can be so extreme it throws off any exact pacing you might have had in mind. The other thing about trail running is that most trail runners are there for the journey and not for performance. Sure, doing well is fantastic, but the main goal of most trail runners is just to have a mind-blowing adventure.

Seeing as trail running spreads the load across the whole body as opposed to just the legs, you are less likely to get an overuse injury like Runner’s Knee. The technical nature of trail running forces you to slow down which also prevents injuries.

Lastly, because every foot strike is different on the trail, you use different ligaments, tendons, and muscles to keep you going. This means no continuous pounding in the same joints and fewer injuries.

The mental concentration required to run long-distance trails can assist you to endure and overcome challenges you might face elsewhere in your life. Trail running teaches you to problem-solve. When you have a blister the size of a piece of salami at mile 16 or you get to mile 3 and your bladder is not letting through any water and you are miles away from reaching an aid station, the trail is throwing you a puzzle.

Whether you can keep your wits about you and creatively problem solve, can make, or break our race. Finding that you can strap your foot on the side of a mountain or that you can channel your inner engineer to rewire your bladder gives you the confidence to solve challenges in your day-to-day life at home as well.

Ever heard the saying: “Sky above, earth below, peace within?” – this simple saying encapsulates so much of what trail running is about. The natural act of placing one foot in front of the other and repeating this motion over muddy ground, rocky cliff sides, and peat bog lead to incredible introspection.

Spending time with nothing but your inner voice for company allows you to contemplate and consider life from a different perspective. Time on the trail is time spent decluttering your mind. The relaxation and tranquility that most trail runners experience after a session allows them to be better parents, better employees, and feel better about themselves.

We think trail running is simply amazing. But we also want to say this: getting muddy, wet, and sometimes bloody is not every athlete’s cup of tea. Don’t beat yourself up if trail running is not your game – there is plenty of joy to be found in good old-fashioned road running.