Female-Focused Trail Running Clubs: Chicks Who Trail

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: Chicks Who Trail

Location: South Africa

Description: We are a women's-only community with an obsession for all things trail. We are the women on the couch unable to imagine running 1km, but wanting to give it a try. We are the women crossing the finish line first. We are the social runners, the back-of-packers, the ones who get lost all the time and the ones who lead. We are the mothers. The daughters. The sisters. The best friends. We are the girlfriends. We are the warriors, the fighters, the fierce ones with fire in our eyes. We are the compassionate ones. We are the vulnerable ones. The scared ones. The brave ones. We are the teachers but also the students. We are the guardians of our trails and natural spaces. We are wild. We are free. We are women.  We are Chicks Who Trail. 

1. What inspired you to create a female-specific trail running group?

I wanted to create a community where I could provide a space for women to come together and learn, grow, challenge and thrive off one another. I wanted to create a community that helped women find their voices, meet their authentic selves and deepen their connection with mother nature. I wanted to use trail running as the vehicle knowing how much I’ve taken from it, and I chose to make it woman-only off the back of seeing, first-hand, the immense and unexplainable energy and togetherness that comes from lumping a group of women together in one situation, space or experience.

2. What challenges do women face in trail running, and how can the community address them?

I’d say the two biggest barriers women face in trail running are the ‘intimidation factor’ and the safety issue, well certainly in South Africa. Almost all women I meet who want to start trail running, but haven’t yet, tell me it’s because they are too shy, too nervous or too scared they’ll be too slow or left behind. Running alone as a woman isn’t neccessarily the smartest thing to do either, but it’s not always easy finding someone to run with that is your pace or fitness level. So creating CWT allows women to not only feel included, safe and comfortable to “ find their feet” in the trail running space, it also allows women to network and find ‘running buddies’. Seeing all the little groups or pockets of women form outside of CWT, but because of it, is so rewarding. 

3. What advice would you give to women hesitant to try trail running?

Stop finding excuses and just do it! The first time you join our group, or any group, is always the most terrifying, daunting or hardest.  But it’s all peachy from then on out. I see the first timers immediately, hovering at the edge of the group, arms usually folded, nervous. But honestly, and you will see, there is nothing “exclusive” about our group. Everyone who joins is so down to earth, friendly and encouraging. We offer different pace groups to suit different speeds/abilities, and have a Rookie programme for women who have never tried it and want to learn a few skills before joining the bigger group. If you’re really, really shy, rope a friend in! 

4. How does your group create a supportive and inclusive environment for women?

Our women’s-only community runs happen weekly, come rain, shine, or wind and are 100% free to join! We split into different pace groups to try and accomodate for everyone, which are led/managed by volunteers. Each group leader ensures that her group stays together by regrouping during the run (so we don’t lose anyone who isn’t familiar with the routes/trails), and makes sure the group is down off the mountain safely at the end of each run. We partner with Jack Black Beer and offer women a tasty, cold beer post run to encourage chatter, friendships and connection, again, for free. The entire ethos is about fostering a connection to nature, connection to each other, to ourselves. Above all we promote kindness and inclusivity, and have zero tolerance for anything but that. We’re also one of the few dog-friendly groups, which not only adds to our general safety, but definitely ups the happiness vibes. 

In South Africa, most of our trailheads are only accessible by car/Uber - so it’s tough to get to them if you don’t have your own transport, live further from the trails, or don’t have the fund for travel. We have a Whatsapp CHAT group where women can ask for lifts/rides from other trail runners, but it’s definitely an area that we could pour more energy into - making some of runs accessible for women who don't have their own means of transport/funds to get to the runs. 

Lastly, we are looking at expanding our offering of workshops to create a safe space for women who are Absolute Rookies - as there aren’t many of those right now that I know of, other than the beautiful Running Wild group. So 2025 we will be focussing energy on that, and making trail running even more accessible to women who want to try it. 

Follow Chicks Who Trail on Instagram.