5 minute read
TRAIL IS FREEDOM
Trail is freedom, trail is power. And it’s for everyone.
BY SILVIA GALLIANI
The evocative scenery of San Defendente, on Mount Greno, recently hosted Najla Aqdeir, Timothy Thompson and Francesco Puppi, for a day of running and sharing. This suggestive place, located at 675 meters high, that gives you a breathtaking 360-degree view of Lake Iseo, of the surrounding valleys and of mountains up to the Adamello, is the set of the new Nike international campaign.
Najla, Timothy and Francesco are three athletes with different features and backgrounds, but united by one great passion: trail running. In the new Nike campaign, they fully share the values and vision of trail running as a discipline open to all, a true community of outdoor lovers who gather on the trails to share an experience and transform the surrounding environment into their own playground.
Nike promotes a message of inclusion, supporting runners by giving them the best equipment to use on different types of terrain. What matters is not the time split on the watch, nor the medals won in races. On mountain trails what really matters are the emotions that a run in contact with nature can give you, better if faced with the right tools. Sharp bends, dense forests, winding pathways, steep grounds. Everyone chooses their own pace. Everyone is the same and welcome to run on the trails. As long as they respect the values of the environment that hosts them. “The loss of ecosystems and landscapes caused by human activities is extremely evident for those who run in the middle of nature” says Francesco Puppi, Nike Trail athlete. “Fortunately, relatively intact places still exist and the feelings you get when you run through them are very intense and particular. There is a sense of sharing with the people you run with, a connection with nature in the roughness of granite, in the cold of ice, in the scent of a forest. The bonds that develop in this environment are special and therefore must be protected.”
Nature is a fascinating and complex concept, “and we often forget we are part of it” adds Timothy Thompson, Brand Marketer. “Running has always been for me a way to become aware of this. I think that anyone who runs surrounded by nature can only feel close and part of it, while understanding the effect their own actions on this incredible ecosystem.”
Running surrounded by nature therefore becomes a cathartic moment of re-appropriation of yourself. Trail running is fun, enjoyable, tough, tiring, rewarding. It is freedom and democracy. Because what matters, in the end, is the experience itself, not the end line. It is the journey, not the destination.
And if the destination is a peak, it means that everyone can try to reach it, in their own ways and at their own times.
Trail running is a lifestyle that makes no distinction of social background, origin, skin color or gender. All of these aspects do not define you when you run on trails.
“It becomes inclusive the moment you include it and you simply become the trail runner you wish you could have been, which perhaps was missing, and now it's you” says Timothy, while Francesco adds “One of the signs I would like to leave in this sport is precisely this: to make it accessible to a wider audience and to promote a sustainable practice.”
We can all become trail runners, there are no entry barriers, there are no times or results to be respected, all you need is a pair of shoes and to walk out the door.
“I just started wearing a pair of shoes, running any mountain and hilly trail that I found nearby, without knowing the rules of the game” says Timothy. “In fact, I believe that, apart from kilometers, heights and times, sharing a route with other runners is what makes me feel part of everything.”
For Francesco Puppi there are several possible approaches to trail running, confirming its being a transversal and inclusive discipline. “There are those who come from winter sports, who discover the possibility of going to the mountains in every season and to move in a fast and light way on the snow as on the trails. Or there are those who discover trail running after having run for years on track and on road. Finally, there are those like me, who have discovered that different terrains are not necessarily exclusive, now my approach to running has become a lifestyle.”
An approach to running that more and more people are discovering, also because or thanks to the difficult time of restrictions we are experiencing that has "forced" us to rediscover the trails close to home, giving us the opportunity to understand how much running in the middle of nature can be cathartic and liberating from everyday stress.
“This lockdown limited my possibilities of movement but thanks to it I discovered a lot of hidden paradises in Milan” tells Najla Aqdeir, Nike Running Coach. “Parco delle Cave, Bosco in Città, Montagnetta di San Siro. Thanks to these parks I realize how much nature makes us aware as well as making us appreciate even the little things.”
One of the positive aspects of the pandemic was to make us rediscover the profound need for contact with nature. “Moving and running are primal instincts of us humans that we must learn to rediscover them. Running and trail running represent the most spontaneous response to these needs.” Francesco agrees.
“People often label the different types of activities without understanding their nature, without experiencing them” says Timothy. “That’s why in the last year, many people started running until it became a real cathartic, almost liberating action, with which to approach the environment again, away from physical, conceptual or skill prejudices.”
Because, as Najla tells us in the end “One of the reasons why I want to practice trail running is to show people that everyone can do it, even those who just want to have fun, what matters is sharing an experience.”
