THE half a dozen or so trail runners push themselves up the single track trail, darting under a canopy of oak and eucalyptus trees, around burly sage bushes and over slippery stream rocks in Santa Ynez Canyon above Pacific Palisades.
It's halfway into an 8.5-mile run and the sound of heavy breathing and pounding feet grows louder as the runners climb the final incline. The trail veers around a bend and onto a fire road near the ridgeline, giving way to a panoramic view of the blue Pacific, with Catalina Island floating on a bank of fog in the distance.
For an instant, the runners slow their pace to take in the vista -- the big payoff for their aching muscles and burning lungs. "You can hardly believe we are still in Los Angeles," says Annalisa Peterson, a Pepperdine University law student, gazing at the sun-sparkled water.
Runners like Peterson know that, despite boomeranging tree branches, perilous tree roots and slippery stream crossings, trail running is a chance to commune with nature in a way rarely found on cold concrete or blacktop. Running on uneven dirt trails also improves strength and balance in a way that city running doesn't.
These all-natural perks are helping fuel trail running's surging popularity, with the number of trail runners increasing by 26% between 1998 and 2004, according to a 2005 survey by the Outdoor Industry Foundation, the nonprofit offshoot of an industry trade association. With 39.5 million trail runners nationwide, the sport's enthusiasts outnumber skateboarders, boaters, aerobics exercisers and hikers. The sport's coming of age has been heralded by the introduction of an assortment of trail running magazines, trail running shoes and corporate-sponsored backcountry races.
And trail runners are devoted to their sport. The average runner hits the trails nearly 30 times a year, one of the highest participation rates of any outdoor sport, according to the foundation survey.
California's mild weather, miles of shoreline and mountain ranges make the Golden State a hub of trail running. During the recent Santa Ynez Canyon run, members of Pacific Palisades' Trail Runners Club cross paths with half a dozen other regular runners on the mountain trails. They wave, greet each other and exchange gossip like old high school buddies.
Gaining ground
