DEFINITION:
Trail Factor is the combined factor of resistance that altitude gain and the technical nature of the trail running course place on an athlete in terms of pace when compared to their performance on a flat conventional road running event of a similar distance.
CALCULATION:
The Trail Factor is calculated by comparing the performance of athletes on a particular Trail Run Course relative to their performance on a conventional road running event on a flat course of a similar distance.
- This calculation can be achieved by using the data of a number of regular trail running athletes where the data of their relative road running performance is known .
- If the data on the relative performance of a number of athletes is not reliable, then the performance of a few elite “benchmark athletes” for whom the relative performances in conventional road running events for certain distances is known, is used to calculate an approximate Trail Factor.
The Otter CLASSIC has a Trail Factor of 2 and the OTTER RETTO has a Trail Factor of 1.9.
APPLICATION:
The Trail Factor can be used to calculate the expected participation time of an athlete in a Trail Running Event of known distance if that athlete is familiar with his/her expected participation time for a course of a similar distance in a conventional road running event.
This can be useful as a guide to training where contemporary training methods specify that participants in trail running events should prepare for the duration and not the distance of the event.
Trail Factor can also be used as an objective way to compare the difficulty of different trail courses in terms of the actual level of resistance that those trails place on the participants for events of varying distances. Note that it does not indicate the difference in the overall level of exertion that events of different distances place on an athlete in terms of energy expenditure.
