If you’re looking to take your summer running routine off the beaten path — literally — trail running could be your next challenge. Trading pavement for pine needles, some area runners are finding their stride where the road ends and the trail begins. 

Trail running combines the endurance of long-distance running with the unpredictability of the outdoors.

“Trail running just brings in a whole different skillset and a different enjoyment of running. You can be out in nature and experience different things. It’s really good for your body to have different terrains," said Run Our Trails Race Director Jonathan Griffiths.

Griffiths says trail running is more for enjoyment rather than finish time. 

“When you are running on the road you are looking at the numbers a little bit more. When you are on a trail, if the course is 3 miles or 3.3, it’s not going to matter as much, where if you are looking to hit that 5k time, you are going to be a little bit more looking at that watch carefully,” he said. 

Most races are three miles, and Robyn Rosechandler says running the trail on a hot night has added benefits.

“The fact that it was a trail race, which means you're covered by all the trees and you had shade, made it a lot easier," Rosechandler said. “It puts me in nature a little bit more and it gets me in one with the beautiful space that we have in Rochester."

Between the steep climbs and water breaks, strangers can become friends.

“It’s been really neat in that way to see it not just be a group of friends, but it's people who come together and then become a group of friends here during the race," Griffiths said. 

That sentiment rings true with Rosechandler. 

“I kind of needed a community base, and this is where I found it, and it feels really homey,” she said.