From “Runner’s Life”: Why Trail Running Isn’t As Welcoming As You Believe It Is

Early this year, Western States Endurance Race (WSER) sponsor GU Energy Labs posted on Instagram that they were giving away two entries to “runners from historically excluded and underrepresented communities” for the 2024 WSER. Unsurprisingly, there was backlash.

This is just one in a long list of examples of how the trail running scene isn’t welcoming to all.

The reality is that trail running has an exclusivity problem, which really isn’t news at all. The Running Industry Diversity Coalition (RIDC) made that clear in a recent study, which Emilia Benton wrote about last year in a piece for trailrunner.

Read the whole story here.