Why the Trails Have Freed Me
Adam Campbell, one of Canada’s best trail runners, and adventure photographer Bruno Long explore an emerging running movement that brings an increasing number of people into some of the most breathtaking places on Earth.
Adam Campbell is one of Canada’s most accomplished
trail runners. Here, he describes why he feels that running in the mountains is special, and why learning to let go and just run the trails has made him a better runner and a better person. Photographer Bruno Long,
who often accompanies Campbell and others during
their running adventures, documents Andrew McNab and Miranda Murphy as they
explore Revestoke, B.C.
There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest; Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don’t know how to rest. –Robert William Service
Running in the mountains is liberating. The variety of terrain, routes, technicality, ecosystems and climates mean that there are less constraints than on a traditional run in your neighbourhood or on city streets. Some days can be about competition, other days can be just touring around with friends. Each day out in the mountains can bring rewards of its own and can provide a new experience and challenge.
For many people spending time in the mountains is about exploration and personal growth. For experienced trail runners, this can also incorporate tackling new routes, or completing existing ones faster, or in a new style. With lighter, more functional equipment, along with improved fitness and technical abilities, today’s new crop of mountain runners have been able to look at mountain terrain in a whole new light, pushing mountain objectives farther and faster than previous generations could have imagined. Athletes like Colin Haley, Ueli Steck and Kilian Jornet have taken the “alpine style” of light and fast mountaineering and have reimagined what is possible in a variety of disciplines and across mountain ranges throughout the world. These athletes combine sports like ski mountaineering, climbing, alpinism and mountain running to cover incredible distances over technical terrain, moving efficiently and gracefully in natural environments.
As my friend, Squamish, B.C.-based ski mountaineer and runner, Eric Carter stated, “I’ve always been an endurance athlete and into the outdoors. When I realized that I could take those endurance skills and combine them with mountain skills to go really cool places faster there was no turning back.” We don’t all have to be pushing the extreme end of the sports to get satisfaction and challenges from these environments, though. There are a nearly limitless number of objectives to be had based on personal ambition, terrain options, risk tolerance, aptitude and skill levels.
Like with all worthwhile endeavours, there is a certain amount of risk and uncertainty associated with pushing ourselves in these elements. Nick Elson, currently one of Canada’s top mountain athletes and one of the new breed of crossover ability told me recently, “While I think that risk and uncertainty are a big part of why we go to the mountains in the first place, I don’t think it’s sustainable to be pushing the envelope all the time. I try to be selective about the risks I take – to be sure that they are justified by the rewards.”
One of the great lessons that mountain sports have taught me is the value of patience and failure. It is not uncommon to have to wait weeks, months or years for a challenging mountain objective to become possible. Unlike like track or road races, that try to limit variables, mountain sports require that you embrace and accept them. The weather, personal circumstances and other natural obstacles cannot be controlled; they can only be managed and factored in as one element in the journey. I try to take these lessons and this learned patience with me into my more mundane daily life. Adam Campbell is a lawyer and pro runner living in Calgary.