The Bay Area is, hands down, one of the greatest places on earth to be a runner. The scenery is unspeakably beautiful. Really: when we’re climbing through the Headlands down to Muir Beach, or emerging from the fog in Pacifica, or even just catching daybreak at the top of Twin Peaks, we are sometimes so awed by the views that we stop our chatter and all pause to take it in.
While we love running on the track, we also love finding new trails. Our usual Sunday run takes us through the rolling hills of the Presidio. Many club members are preparing now for our November club race, the North Face Endurance Challenge.
To learn more about trail running, we interviewed Taylor Eth, one GGRC’s most enthusiastic trail runners. Read on to learn how he got started and what keeps him going up all of those beautiful hills.
What do you like most about running trails?
Running trails is rejuvenating. When you’re breathing fresh air, feeling your heart beating, and hearing the patter of shoes on dirt, there’s nothing more relaxing.
People sometimes feel intimidated by trail running. How did you get started?
In some ways, trail running is the least intimidating kind of running. To me, splits and track times are more intimidating. It’s hard to compare splits in trail running because the difficulty of the trails varies so much, so people generally don’t talk about speed. I prefer to talk about gnarly terrain. Getting started is easy: find a mountain that has great trails, and run to the top.
You post runs from all over the Bay Area. How do you decide where to run?
I run places that I think will be fun. I try to keep in mind scenery, elevation change, and access to water/food. If there’s somewhere you want to run, let me know! I’m always wanting to try new trails.
What’s your favorite trail running hack?
Run with the exuberance you had as a child. It’s supposed to be fun!
Do you have a favorite running quote?
“You don’t stop running because you get old. You get old because you stop running.”- Jack “The Dipsea Demon” Kirk