>>2468320Trail running is just another part of the California Influence. The West Coast has a very disproportionate influence over the rest of the country with regards to outdoor recreation and gear. It’s why you see people in the Appalachians buying rain jackets for a hike in July. It’s why summer is considered the best season for camping. It’s why alcohol stoves are absent from all outdoor brick and mortar retailers.
In the case of trail running, it exploded in California because that state has an enormous amount of easy trails. People tried it in other places and soon realized that most of the trails on the East Coast (and Midwest, and South, and all of Appalachia) are rock and root strewn disasters that will fuck up your knees and ankles. It’s also not a desert, so everything is covered in vegetation.
Good luck running down this.
