Trail running has a momentum problem. Not a lack of it. Too much of it, concentrated in the wrong hands. Participation rates have surged dramatically since 2020, with global trail event registrations climbing year over year. But look at the starting lines of most trail races in 2026, and you'll still see a familiar demographic: older, wealthier, and overwhelmingly white. Kaylee Frederick is trying to change that picture, one young runner at a time.
Frederick, 28, has become one of the most visible advocates for youth inclusion in trail running as of this fall. She's not just racing. She's organizing clinics, partnering with community programs, and using her platform to name the barriers that most trail insiders prefer to talk around. Her approach is direct, her credibility is earned on the trail, and her timing couldn't be better.
The Access Problem Nobody Wants to Admit
Trail running sells itself as the democratic alternative to road racing. No entry fee required, no oval track needed. Just show up and run in nature. That story is appealing, but it's incomplete.
The real cost of entry into competitive or even recreational trail running is substantial. A pair of entry-level trail shoes runs $120 to $160. Technical vests, hydration packs, GPS watches, and layering systems can push a beginner's gear investment well past $500 before they've run a single organized race. Entry fees for mid-distance trail events typically range from $80 to $200. For longer ultras, $250 to $400 is standard. For a teenager from a working-class household, or a first-generation athlete without family connections to the sport, those numbers are a wall, not a starting line.
Then there's access to trails themselves. Urban and suburban runners frequently face a genuine geographical gap. The best trail systems in the US sit outside cities, accessible mainly by car. For young athletes without licenses or reliable transportation, the sport's defining terrain is simply out of reach.
Frederick grew up in the Pacific Northwest and was lucky. She had trails nearby and a parent who ran. She's candid about recognizing that luck for what it is. "Most kids don't have that," she's said publicly. "And the sport acts like they should just figure it out."
What Frederick Is Actually Doing
Rather than waiting for institutions to move, Frederick has built her own infrastructure. Over the past two years, she's run youth trail clinics in partnership with high school cross-country programs, offered gear lending through local running shops, and worked with land trusts to create accessible trail programming in areas that typically don't attract trail running attention.
Her approach borrows from community organizing more than from traditional sports development. She focuses on removing friction at every step. That means transportation to trailheads, loaner gear, no-cost registration, and coaches who reflect the communities she's trying to reach.
She's also been vocal about the culture of trail running. The sport has a mentality problem alongside its access problem. Online trail communities can feel exclusionary to newcomers, especially younger runners who don't match the aesthetic of the sport's dominant media image. Frederick has pushed back on that gatekeeping, arguing that trail running's long-term health depends on welcoming athletes who don't already look the part.
If you're someone who started trail running recently and found it intimidating, you're not imagining things. The culture has been slow to catch up to the sport's growth. Frederick is one of a small number of athletes actively working to close that gap.
A Wider Movement Taking Shape
Frederick isn't working in isolation. Across the trail running world, organizations and race directors are beginning to acknowledge that the sport's long-term growth depends on diversifying its participant base.
Trail running's governing bodies have introduced youth-specific race formats, reduced-fee junior registrations, and junior development pathways in recent years. Some race organizers now set aside a percentage of entry spots for athletes from underrepresented communities, mirroring lottery systems that road racing has used for years. For context on how major races are rethinking access and entry, the Paris Marathon 2027 lottery entry system offers a useful model that trail events are starting to reference.
Shoe and gear brands are also moving, slowly, toward more accessible price points. The proliferation of sub-$100 trail shoe options from both major and emerging brands has been meaningful, even if $90 is still a significant barrier for many families. The gear conversation has sharpened considerably since UTMB 2026. What the podium wore at UTMB 2026 reflects elite-level performance technology, but the downstream effect of that attention is faster product development at lower price tiers.
Social media has also shifted the conversation, if unevenly. Younger runners now have more visible role models who don't fit the traditional trail running template. That visibility matters. Research consistently shows that representation in media directly influences participation decisions among young athletes.
The Numbers Behind the Push
Trail running's growth since 2020 has been well-documented. Event registrations, shoe sales, and social media communities have all expanded sharply. But youth participation has not kept pace. Studies of trail race demographics show that the average trail runner in the US is between 35 and 44 years old. Fewer than 15 percent of registered trail race participants are under 25.
That gap represents both a problem and an opportunity. The sport is aging into its base without replacing it. If trail running doesn't convert young runners in the next five to ten years, it risks a contraction similar to what other outdoor endurance sports experienced when their early growth waves aged out.
For young runners coming from cross-country or road backgrounds, the transition to trail can also be physically demanding in ways that require smart preparation. This fall's race season has seen a notable uptick in trail event participation, but coaches are cautioning that first-time trail athletes need to build trail-specific strength before ramping up distance. A solid general fitness foundation matters here. Programs like the September Strength Reset are a practical starting point for athletes looking to build the lateral stability and posterior chain strength that trail terrain demands.
Nutrition is another area where younger athletes often underinvest. Trail running burns significantly more calories than equivalent road mileage due to elevation change and technical terrain. For athletes making the switch from road to trail this fall, adjusting your nutrition as fall training ramps up is worth prioritizing before the first big climb, not after.
What Systemic Change Actually Looks Like
Frederick's work is inspiring, but she's also clear-eyed about its limits. Individual advocates can't substitute for institutional change. The trail running community needs race organizations, land management agencies, brands, and media outlets to make structural decisions that reflect a genuine commitment to inclusion.
That means junior scholarship programs built into race budgets. It means trail development in urban and peri-urban areas, not just in scenic wilderness zones that require a car and a day off work to reach. It means gear libraries and school-based trail programs that give young athletes their first positive exposure to the sport before cost ever enters the picture.
It also means changing who gets media coverage. Trail running's media landscape, including major publications, brand sponsorships, and social content, still skews heavily toward a narrow profile of athlete. When coverage expands, so does the sense of who belongs.
Frederick has spoken about wanting to see trail running take cues from youth development models in other sports, specifically the kind of community-embedded programming that has grown youth participation in soccer and basketball in underserved areas. The infrastructure exists. The question is whether trail running's institutions will fund it.
Why This Matters Beyond Trail Running
The conversation around youth access in trail running connects to something larger. Physical activity habits formed in adolescence tend to persist. Young people who find a sport they love and can actually access are statistically more likely to maintain active lifestyles into adulthood. The public health implications of that are significant, and increasingly well-understood.
Trail running, with its combination of cardiovascular load, time in nature, and community, is precisely the kind of activity that produces long-term wellness outcomes. Getting more young people into the sport isn't just good for trail running's growth metrics. It's good for those runners' lives.
Frederick understands this, and it's part of what drives her. She's not trying to build a pipeline of future elite competitors. She's trying to give young people access to something that changed her life. The fact that she's doing it publicly, and demanding that institutions follow, is what makes her work matter beyond her own story.
Trail running is ready for a new generation. The question is whether it's willing to do the work to welcome one.