The first thing I did upon deciding to take up trail running was google trail running clubs. I have been a solo-runner most of my life. But given my tragically lacking sense of direction (I did not get the GPS gene) I thought it wise to find people who know the trails and just do my best to keep up with them.
Los Angeles is not exactly Boulder (in oh-so-many ways), so I wasn't sure that my search would yield anything. But lordy, did I ever hit the jackpot.
Meet my new Community, the
Santa Monica Trail Runners Club. It is a very large group, with a varying subset showing up week to week for the run. This is a collection of passionate people of all ages, speeds, and trail experience levels. Some are ultra-marathoners, some triathletes, some recreational distance runners. Decorated war vets to recent college grads. Dentists to actors. But what we share is a love of running, awe-inspiring nature, and post-run pot-lucks. I am so grateful for these folks, their wisdom and their friendship. My Sunday (early!-) morning run with them in the Santa Monica mountains has become the absolute highlight of my week.
While I could rave indefinitely about this particular club, the point of this post was to emphasize, especially if you are new to trail running, the importance of finding your own trail community. Don't be shy or intimidated. It will provide you:
- safety!!!!!!
- a whole bunch of new friends
- trail knowledge
- trail gear insight
- training tips
- nutrition tips
- race info
- encouragement
- carpooling
- etc, etc, etc.
- just trust me on this one.
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