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Promoting female participation in sports is crucial, especially in trail running—a sport traditionally seen as male-dominated, with women currently representing just 29% of the ITRA community. To address this, we’re launching a series spotlighting female-focused trail running clubs from around the globe. These clubs share their inspiring stories about how they were founded, the motivations behind them, and the challenges they’ve faced and overcome.
Name: Girls Trail Camp
Location: Portugal
Description: Girls Trail Camp aims to create a supportive and empowering trail running community for women. Through trail camps and other activities, the initiative fosters a space for women to share knowledge, gain new skills, and experience personal and collective growth.
Running with friends has always been a way to stay motivated and happy. Since running, we've realized that women have a unique language about specific topics that other genders can understand, but don't feel the same way.
The complicity and bonds that were created led to the fact that, on a training morning, two friends wanted to extend this well-being to other women. And so, the idea for Girlstrailcamp came up during a sunrise run in the Sintra mountains, with a bottle of coffee in hand and two great loves: Nature and Trails! "Shall we?" That was enough to get the ball rolling and organize a Trail Camp just for girls. That's how it all started! At the first women-only TrailCamp, which we organized three years ago, we truly felt a real need for this type of event. We felt it was possible to make it more inclusive of women.
Since then, our community has continued to grow, not only on social media, but also in our WhatsApp group. We created community ambassadors in various parts of the country to bring this spirit to more girls and further afield.
We realize that although society has come a long way, women still play several different roles in society. Since running is also a self-care strategy, being able to juggle all roles and prioritize taking care of yourself still appears to be a real challenge.
Furthermore, since a woman exercises at different times every day, she tends to go alone. Women still show some fear about this, especially on trails. Since we opened the community on social networks and created the WhatsApp group, women have begun to create a network of knowledge and interactions that allows them to more easily go running together, exchanging tips and strategies.
If you're nervous about starting out, I'd say take it slow and enjoy every moment. The important thing is to gain a physical exercise routine and feel good about it. You don't need to run long distances or at high speeds.
The most important thing about trail running is the experience of being in nature, something truly unique and refreshing. Start with easier trails, and over time, you will build your confidence.
A great way to start is to find a group or training partner – running with other women can be super motivating and help you overcome any initial fears. Don't worry about pacing or comparing yourself to others; the secret is to have fun and enjoy the trip. The trails are waiting for you, and the most valuable thing is what you will learn about yourself along the way.
We organize various activities, including:
Follow Girls Trail Camp on Instagram, or on their website.
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