No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 8 days ago

No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 15 days ago

The 2026 Vegan Cheese Awards Are Now LIVE - You can vote on over 30 cheese categories from over 180 cheeses around the world

Thought i'd share here as you can see the main ingredients of each vegan cheese in their categories.

vegancheese.co
u/effortDee — 1 month ago
▲ 1.1k r/Britain+1 crossposts

From the Friends of the Cleddau Project - An abbatoir near to me has its waste water overflow going in to this stream

Lead cause of river pollution is from animal-ag, but it doesn't stop there....

https://riveractionuk.com/news/river-action-freedom-of-information-requests-reveal-widespread-non-compliance-with-environmental-laws-across-the-dairy-industry-leading-to-one-of-the-largest-causes-of-uk-river-pollution/

In Wales 80% of the 83 dairy farms inspected by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) between 2020 and 2022 were non-compliant with anti-pollution regulations.

These findings are corroborated by several other data sources, including a recent statement by the Chair of the Environment Agency in February 2024, which showed that the dairy farms accounted for over 75% of all serious pollution incidents caused by agriculture, with agriculture being the largest single source of river pollution.

An update from NRW who messaged Friends of the Cleddau:

"We can confirm that we received reports in relation to this incident yesterday. An environment officer attended the site promptly, by which time the stream was running clear. No odour or fish kill was detected."

As I said, because the stream/river is already dead as this has been happening for years, maybe decades, there will never be a sign of fish death.

u/effortDee — 1 month ago

No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 1 month ago

What We Can Learn From Trail Running Media and the UTMB Live Stream

I mentioned I have been spending a week+ writing an article about the live media coverage of UTMB in a few posts and was asked to share it when i'd finished, well here it is.

My thoughts on this years UTMB live media coverage and the state of trail running media landscape at the moment.

I basically go through what we saw, in-depth and then a summary of what i'd like to see change in live media.

Cover the rest of us, don't just cover the podium (or first and second position in case of UTMB), 99% of the field never gets their story told, yet we're the ones paying for the race.

Cover the natural world, imo, its the trail/ultra/mountain running blindspot, nature.

Cover the race as it unfolds, it felt very sterile this year, not just who is in first or second place, which was the majority of what we got shown, show us people moving through the pack. Case in point, Yngvild went from 24+ minutes back at 54km and ended up finishing in first, we saw nothing of it live, not a single second, only two slow-mo replays were shown after the fact and for no more than 1 minute, that was 2+ hours of live media and race that wasn't aired.

If anybody has any contacts with UTMB, I would be more than happy to help work on the "cover the rest of us" stories, this is my bread and butter and have worked in this area for over a decade.

forthetrail.com
u/effortDee — 1 month ago

No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 2 months ago
▲ 27 r/ultrarunning+1 crossposts

Two and a half minutes from the LDWA 100 miler, which has been going since 1973

u/KaasDeLuxe — 2 months ago
▲ 937 r/UKRunners+2 crossposts

I am Jasmin Paris, long distance mountain runner, vet, mum and co-founder of The Green Runners. Ask me anything!

I grew up in the Peak District, UK, and spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, especially hiking with my family. I started fell-running as a young adult, and gradually moved to longer, more technical races. In 2019, I won the 268-mile Montane Spine race outright, breaking the overall course by over 12 hours. In 2024, on my third attempt, I became the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, reaching the gate with just 99 seconds to spare of the 60 hour time limit.

Aside from running, I am a mum to three children (8 years, 6 years, and 11 months) and a specialist veterinarian, working at the University of Edinburgh Small Animal Hospital. In 2022 I co-founded the Green Runners, a community-led group founded to inspire and inform runners to make more sustainable choices for the planet.

So Reddit, ask me anything about running, racing, balancing work and motherhood with training, activism, or anything else you are interested in!

https://preview.redd.it/scdzekcrc0kh1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5ee515c670bc548cf094fd8bf12433b2f0382d3

reddit.com
u/Jasmin_Paris — 2 months ago

No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 2 months ago

Don't Be A Lurker - Introduce Yourself Here

Would you rather not be a lurker?

Then introduce yourself here! Lurker Sunday is an invitation to get more involved with the r/trailrunning community.

Answer the questions below:

  • Where in the world are you?
  • Are you training for anything in particular?
  • What kind of training plan are you following?
  • Are you a member of a running club?
  • How many days per week do you hit the trails vs. the road?
  • Also tell us something about yourself.
  • Link your Strava/Smashrun account!

Remember - the whole point of this thread is for us to get to know you! Don't skimp on the detail!

Thanks for participating! Any questions, please message your helpful mods https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 2 months ago

No Dumb Question Day: Trail Running Edition

How do I find local trails? Is trail running safe? Do I need special shoes or gear? What do I do if I encounter some wildlife? What if I get lost? WHAT IF I HAVE TO POOP IN THE WOODS?

There are no dumb questions in this thread! If you are new to trail running or if you are a veteran who just wants to hear how other trail runners do things, ask away. If you have some ideas that can help your fellow trail runners and future trail runners, pitch in some answers.

No Dumb Question Day will be a regular, biweekly feature on the trailrunning sub.

**Thanks for participating!** Any questions, [please message your helpful mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Ftrailrunning).

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 2 months ago

I spent the last 2 years working on a reusable single serve energy gel, chew and powder packet

Been in the mountains running my whole life and the last decade seen the sport and hobby of trail running move towards hyper commercialism and single-use plastic waste in the form of energy gels, chews and powder packets.

These packets can be consumed as many as two to three times per hour, so a 4 hour marathon would create 12 packets of waste, destined for landfill.

I've done many 12 and 24+ hour races and the thousands of participants are using tens of thousands of these packets, just at one event.

And it doesn't stop there, they are made up of multiple layers of different plastics/foils stuck together.

I thought this was absolutely mad.

So I got to work a couple of years ago on the solution and created DirtBags after making hundreds of prototypes at home out of different bioplastic materials.

I've added some pics of DirtBags being used more than 20+ times, the same one, used day after day and i've personally used some prototypes as long as 11 months and then put them in my compost at the end of their life. Just that one DirtBag has stopped 20+ single-use and single serving energy gels/chews/powder packets going in to landfill.

Moving from a linear waste model to a circular life cycle.

This enabled me to move to bulk bought and home-made fuelling, i'm still getting the same fuels I was having before but at a fraction of the price, sometimes as much as 90% cheaper and i'm no longer creating multiple packets of waste when i'm running.

So now more people can have great adventures, fuel accordingly without it having to cost the earth, literally.

u/effortDee — 3 months ago
▲ 73 r/Ultramarathon+1 crossposts

ANNOUNCEMENT - Upcoming AMA with Jasmin Paris on August 18th!

Hey everyone,

We are super thrilled to announce that the moderation team has organised an upcoming Ask Me Anything (AMA) with Jasmin Paris!

This thread is just an announcement so you can start thinking about your questions. We will post and pin the official AMA thread a few days before August 18th so you can get your questions in and then Jasmin will be joining us live to answer your questions on the 18th of August.

This thread is not where you will be asking your questions, it's just an announcement.

Have any questions about the event for the moderators? Feel free to drop a comment below or message the mod team.

reddit.com
u/effortDee — 3 months ago