WOMEN & NB TRAIL IN LA

Written by Cindy & Sofia

Photos by Kenzie & Cindy

Last year Kenzie asked us (Cindy and Sofia) if we wanted to lead a trail run . We said yes without hesitation, because we trust Kenzie with our lives, and also because she promised that she would literally follow us anywhere on trail. The Women & Nonbinary (WMN&NB) Runs were inspired by the Women’s Trail series that our fam (shoutout Hannah) did in Oakland. Kenzie had the idea to bring the series to LA, and we were excited since we all had some friends that were new to trails but keen to try them out.

The WMN&NB runs take place the first Friday or Sunday of the month at a local LA trail. The idea is to create a space for people with different levels of familiarity with trail running and to showcase the trails we have in our backyard. LA has a wealth of trails, and we’re so lucky to be able to access them. This became even more salient during the wildfires in January, where air quality and damage to so many of our beloved trails.

Oftentimes trails/trail running can have a high barrier to entry- through gear, knowing the routes, safety especially when running alone, etc. The WMN&NB  runs allow for people to join and immediately have a route and some friends to run with. We get really excited when people like the routes and views and save them to  run later on or introduce their friends to them too.

So far we have done eight runs with anywhere from 7 attendees (the one time we ran to the Hollywood Sign on the foggiest morning) to 25 attendees (Sofia’s favorite trail in Altadena <3). We’ve designed the runs to start shorter and with each month we are working our way up with route length, technicality and elevation gain. We run at different paces, but we always regroup so you never have to run alone. After the run we chat, eat cuties or donuts or whatever we come up with, and we’ve started to do a little trailhead cafe popup where we serve matcha and pourover and cold brew, still sweaty and covered in dirt, right in the trailhead parking lot. It’s been really fun to take the time to make something with intention for the group. Like here, hello, we cooked this up for you, we hope you like it—this trail and this route on this day, and also this matcha. 

One of the allures of running is you don’t really need much stuff to do it, unlike other forms of exercise. You just need the road in front of you and a decent pair of shoes. Being on trail is an even more stripped down version of that. There’s no cars and no traffic laws to abide by. There’s just the path ahead cutting through this mountain that you’re on. Being on trail is like a hard reset for your brain. Something about being outside in nature is just good for us as humans. Your brain relaxes and it just feels right. 

We hope that people who want to build confidence on the trail come, bring a friend, join solo. Even though a lot of the point of these runs is to introduce runners to running more trails we are always delighted to hear when it’s someone’s first time doing a trail run. That never gets old.

To find our WMN&NB runs in LA and Oakland, check our calendar.

Find Women's trail shoes here.