How often do you stop to think about why your local trails exist? Why isn’t there a shopping center or a housing development, instead of a winding network of singletrack?

As trail runners, we use public lands on a daily basis. Whether state parks, national parks, Federal Bureau of Land Management or National Forest land, these areas are our backyard playgrounds, our lunchtime loops and our weekend getaways.

For a long time, we’ve enjoyed the privilege of taking public lands for granted. Recently, however, they’ve come under threat.

In honor of Earth Day, Trail Runner has partnered with runner-founded environmental advocacy non-profit Run Wild, to host a nationwide “Run-In” event on Saturday, April 22.

Run In

The premise is simple: over the weekend, go for a run on your favorite local trails, and take a few minutes to learn about the history of those trails. What kind of designation protects them from development? When and how were those protections put into place?

Share a photo of your run, along with a description that tells us about the trail’s story. Post to Instagram, with the hashtag #runwild, and tag @runwild and @trailrunnermag.

We’ll choose the most compelling submissions and post them on the Trail Runner and Run Wild websites, as well as all of our social channels.

The top five submissions will win a LifeStraw Steel water filter (pictured below):

By posting, you can educate yourself and help educate others about the gifts we have hiding in our own backyards- and what we as trail runners can do to protect them.

The Dirty Details

1. On Saturday, April 22, go for a run on your favorite local trails

2. Post a picture and tag @runwild and @trailrunnermag

3. Share some information about these trails: What makes them special to you? What’s their story (when were they protected, and how)? How can you help preserve them?

4. The following week, we’ll feature the best submissions on our website and social media channels, as will Run Wild.

A little bit about our partner, Run Wild:

Run Wild’s mission is to inspire, engage, and activate the national trail running community to protect our public lands.

As trail runners, we rely on our nation’s public lands to do what we love. These wild places give us joy and inspiration, challenge us and provide a satisfying sense of freedom. It only seems right to protect these lands for generations to come, so that all may have access to the wonders of the outdoors in perpetuity.

Learn more about our initiative at www.runwild.live.

Now get out there and #runwild!