Tips for retailers

Trail running is gaining on the road running market

As stress levels and working hours rise, so too does the urge for people to get out of doors — and into nature. The easiest way to do this is to take your shoes and go for a run. Both road and trail running are excellent ways of getting outside and exercising.

Miles O’Brien of Olympic believes road running is still more popular, partly because in urban areas club members meet to run in a group, or make use of facilities offered by a club, while they often do not have easy access to trails in a city environment.

John Andrews of New Balance agrees that road running is the most popular of the two, but adds that trail running is definitely growing in popularity — even amongst road runners.

Trail is growing in popularity, that one can see by looking at, for example, how many runners frequent the trails on Table Mountain.

O’Brien believes this is due to people looking for interesting and unusual running routes, which road running does not offer.

Bennie Botes of Salomon Sport, agrees. He believes that "general stressful living plays a big role. Over weekends people just want to get out of the city. They buy footwear according to where they will be spending most of their free time … [and] in South Africa, this will be outdoors. Hence the reason for the upward curl in sales of top quality off - road footwear."

An added benefit of trail running is that there is less wear-and-tear on legs due to a generally softer running surface than road runners find on tarmac.

Martin Dugard, writer for Runner’s World, credits the rise in trail running participation to what is called biophilia — a longing to be one with nature. "Biophilia is why sitting on a park bench for 15 minutes can produce such contentment and stress release … Bounding along a woodsy trail induces calmness while improving leg strength, coordination and body awareness."

So that must be it! Trail runners are looking for that feel good kick! during their work-out — they do not wait for the endorphins to kick in at the end.

Which is more popular?

In SA, road running remains the most popular of the two, but recently there has been an increase in trail running participation.

While it is rather difficult to find a club that specialises in trail running, there are endless clubs that offer road running.

One club that specialises in trail is CRAG (Cape Runners Against Gravity). They organise social trail running outings, where anyone who is interested can join them on their runs.

Running is one of the easiest sports to do — that is, with regards to facilities and equipment needed. All you need, for both trail and road running, is a place to run and the correct footwear.

"When running on tar the most you need to look out for are … drivers, lamp posts, [and] walkers … But avoid those and you can get into a rhythm and move along at a constant pace. Trail running involves running on different, mostly uneven terrains, walking up steep mountains, running on beaches, traversing cliffs faces, scrambling up rocks and nerve racking, knee jarring descents".

Barry Sickle, of the retailing outlet Footgear, says that in his experience trail footwear makes for a very low percentage of sales. He has found that more people rather buy road running footwear, because its functionality is not restricted to running — you can also wear the footwear, for example to the mall for a two-hour shopping spree, and appreciate the cushioning qualities. Sickle adds that even the most technical of running footwear has started to incorporate fashionable designs, which draw consumers to buy.

Gordon Howie of The Runner Group says after having dropped trail completely out of his stores two years ago, he is busy bringing them back — but only the technical footwear. His stores specialize in running, and his target market — active participants in running — are not going to buy footwear designed for fashion.

What happens at events?

While road runners have come to expect helpers along the way — crowds cheering, people with water, etc. — trail runners have no such luxuries, having to cater for themselves. They carry their survival kit — warm clothing, water, food, a first aid kit and what ever else you think you might need during the race — in a back pack on their backs. There is no-one to turn to when the need strikes, except your fellow runners.

Perhaps this is another draw card to trail: the lack of the maddening crowd.

It is difficult to compare road and trail running numbers, since the medium they run in (nature vs urban settings) dictate how many can participate at any one given opportunity. Organisers of trail running events try to minimise the impact of too many people running through nature by limiting entry numbers to the race.

For example, the 80km Peninsula Ultra Fun Run (Puffer) and (even longer!) Tuffer Puffer are limited to only 125 trail runners. This is because Table Mountain cannot cope with more runners at one time The Three Peaks Challenge had 96 participants in 2004, 105 in 2005, and 84 in 2006.

The Comrades, on the other hand, can accommodate thousands of entrants due to the fact that the race is run on vast stretches of tarmac.

Leigh van den Berg, footwear buyer for Totalsports, believes the introduction of extended finishing times and fun-runs of shorter distances have had an influence on the increasing numbers in road running participation.

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon — started in 1970 and originally intended as a training event for the Comrades Marathon — has seen a decline in entries over the last three years.

In 2004 (when Chapman’s Peak re-opened) there were 18 066 participants, 2005 had a steep decline with 15 479 participants, and 2006 saw a rise again to 17 544 participants. Of the 17 544 participants in 2006, almost 10 000 participated in the half marathon (7 770 ultra marathon and 9 837 half marathon entrants), which means there were more participants in the half than in the ultra marathon. However, to be fair and put this into perspective, the ultra and half marathon entries were very close in the previous two years — 2004: 9 767 ultra and 8 363 half; 2005: 7 751 ultra and 7 868 half.

The Comrades Marathon on the other hand had participation figures of 11 364 in 2004, 13 898 in 2005, and 12 066 in 2006.

It is interesting to note that there are more participants in the Two Oceans than in the Comrades.

One thing one might deduce from this is that there is a decline in interest among road runners in ultra marathons — the longer, tougher road races, but those that also hold the bigger glory for finishers — with runners opting for the shorter half marathons and other shorter runs.

Road running races targeted primarily on women, for example the Spar 10km Women’s Challenge Series, have helped to grow the sport in niche markets.

"Because the [Spar 10km Women’s] Challenge Series is specifically for women, it has encouraged women from all corners of society to take part, without fear of being swamped by men in highly competitive races," says Ian Laxton, consultant to the Spar 10km Women’s Challenge Series³.

In addition to the 10km run, there is also a 5km fun run as part of the series. Shorter fun-runs make it possible for families with younger children to enter. Both road and trail running races have the shorter track option.

Both trail and road runners have their fare share of competitions to enter. The Western Cape alone boasts with the Two Oceans Marathon, the Cape Town Gun Run, Community Chest Twighlight Run, the 56km Easter Challenge, and the "Voet" of Africa race, to name the first road running events that come to mind.

For the trail runner there are the Three Peaks Challenge, the Peninsula Ultra Fun Run (aka Puffer), and the Knysna Forest Marathon.

Across the country there are 967 road and trail races of varying lengths and difficulty, ranging from ultra marathons to 5km fun runs.

Internationally

According to the US Active Outdoor Recreation Economy Report, compiled by the Outdoor Industry Foundation in 2006, there are around 56-m American trail runners — there were 40-m in 2005 with 41% of respondents indicating they participate 11 or more times p/year. Currently trail runners make up 18% of American outdoor participants, and is the third highest group after bicycling (19%) and wildlife viewing (21%). For the full report visit www.outdoorindustryfoundation.org/ resources.research.recreation.html.

Performance Sports Retailer reports there has been a remarkable increase in American women participation in road running events — especially the 5km runs. They speculate that because the 5km is less daunting, beginners are more likely to enter.

Footwear

While road runners need a feather-light shoe that provides cushioning and motion control, trail runners need the stability and grip of a hiking shoe with the lightness of a running shoe.

Trail shoes have stiffer soles that are more rigid and offers more protection than ordinary running shoes. The footwear aim to keep feet dry in wet conditions and comfortable on slick terrain, while designed to grip on smooth surfaces and stabilize the feet.

Trail shoes are especially designed to provide stability, so that you do not sprain your ankle — the chief cause of injury in trail running.

The industry standard for the lifespan of a running shoe is between 560 and 790kms, with many factors contributing to the lifespan (runner’s weight, style, how often they run, surfaces run on, etc.).

Trail shoes have to be sturdier than running shoes, because of the greater wear and tear involved in trail running.

The SA footwear market

While the road running market is pretty much covered by existing brands, Howie says there is still plenty of room for brands that are new to SA — provided they already have an international name on which to build a marketing campaign and help themget into stores.

Howie adds that nothing stays the same — the leading brand today might not be the same as the one tomorrow — and that the market is becoming more open to entry by smaller brands due to former top dogs losing interest in running and allowing that part of their range to decline. This gives the newcomers a chance to stake their claimin the market.

Nor does running or races stay the same: in the US, a new concept of musical marathons have been introduced where runners can set their pace with the help of rock ‘n’ roll bands. New Balance is the official footwear sponsor of this Elite Racing’s series that will be held in 2009.

The five races are the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon in Nashville, the P. F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon in Phoenix, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathons in Virginia Beach and San Jose.