Am I Too Old for Trail Running? Why It’s Never Too Late for Adventure

Have you ever thought about booking a trail running adventure? It usually starts with a simple idea: stepping away from your everyday routine, exploring new landscapes on foot and discovering just how much you can do. But if you’re over 50, you might also find yourself wondering whether you’re fit enough, fast enough or simply too old to join a group. Cristina Moret Bach, co-founder of Noma Trails has spent fifteen years listening to women ask those very questions. Their stories offer a refreshing answer.

After 15 years in the business, I still read every email that lands in the inbox of our little running holidays company in Girona before anyone else. And season after season, one question keeps coming back, asked by women (and men) I’ve never met. It usually appears near the end of a long message, almost as an apology: “Am I too old for this?“

I want to answer that question here, through the stories of the women who have asked it, overcome their doubts and discovered that age was never the barrier they imagined.

What is Trail Running and Why You Don’t Need to be Superfit To Start

But first, let’s take a closer look at what trail running actually involves.

It’s more than putting one foot in front of the other. Unlike road running, which usually takes place on flat, predictable surfaces, trail running takes you across natural terrain, from woodland paths and rocky tracks to mountain climbs and uneven descents. It challenges your balance, strength and endurance in different ways, so some preparation is essential, particularly if you’re new to it.

But here’s the good news: you don’t need to be super fit to enjoy a trail running adventure. You don’t have to run every step, keep up with the fastest person in the group or chase a personal best. Walking uphill, slowing down on tricky sections and taking breaks to catch your breath are all part of the experience. What matters is building up your fitness gradually, getting comfortable on different surfaces and learning to pace yourself.

You may start with shorter, easier routes and gradually take on longer or more challenging ones as your confidence grows. Remember, the goal isn’t to beat the clock, compete with younger runners or fight the ageing process. It’s to enjoy being active, discover new places and prove to yourself that getting older doesn’t mean giving up on adventure.

Why You Are Never Too Old for Trail Running

If you’re tempted by trail running but still have doubts, let me reassure you: age is a poor predictor of fitness. Some of our strongest runners are older women. They know themselves better, pace themselves wisely and, I believe, often find a deeper meaning in the experience.

That’s why, when we welcome women over 50 on our adventures, speed isn’t what matters most. What matters is being able to keep moving comfortably on day four, not just day one. If your knees prefer it, walk the descents. We adapt our runs to the people taking part, and walking has always been part of the deal. The aim isn’t to feel younger before an adventure, but to build the strength and stamina to enjoy the whole journey.

And perhaps that’s why the stories I’ve collected over the years rarely begin with speed or performance. More often, they start with a birthday, a question, a moment of hesitation or the quiet desire to try something new. The women who write to me aren’t necessarily looking to run faster; they’re wondering whether they can still do something they have never tried before.

Their stories are a reminder that age doesn’t have to decide the answer.

I have known this since 2013, when I wrote to a prospective client, half as a boast: “This year we had an 80-year-old woman from the States hiking the 7 days!” She did the whole route. At the time I did not think it was a story. Now I know it was.

Anne Lyons, from Ireland, wrote to me last September: “I am looking for an adventure for my milestone birthday. I will be 60 and do lots of trail running.” No apology, just a fact, and then she booked. In March, two months before that birthday, she crossed Morocco on foot with two friends, from the High Atlas to the Sahara.

Nancy Antos, from Boulder, wrote to me in 2016: “I’m 66 years old and have run many half marathons but never did much trail running. I’m especially nervous about running 13 or more miles every day for 5 days… I just don’t want to be a burden on anyone in the group.” One week later, after trying a few trails at home: “Running at our own pace sounds like heaven… I’m in if you guys want me!” She came, and nobody had to carry her.

And Noël Relyea first came to us in 2013 with her husband, when she was 67, and again two years later to run from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean. Last December she told me she had set herself a goal for her 80th birthday: one trail marathon and one road marathon. She completed both.

Some make a system of it. Tina van Zyl, from Australia, wrote to me in 2018 to explain how her six friends choose their yearly adventure: “If it is a big year for one of the group, i.e. a 50th birthday, that person gets first choice.” The next year it was Nicky’s fiftieth, and she chose our coast. Tina was 56 then (“no youngster,” she wrote, “but very resilient and strong”) and had taken up trail running “quite late in life, as a new challenge for my 50s.” She has run multi-day stage races in Nepal, Iceland, Patagonia and Ecuador.

And sometimes, these adventures have less to do with fitness and more to do with friendship. There is one thing almost nobody writes about. Most of our guests arrive alone, and many of them are women over 50. At our farewell dinner in Morocco one of them, 50, said it better than I can: “You go to your parents’ house, you can be yourself… The first two days, I have to behave. But after some time everyone becomes like family.”

Yes, trail running adventures can be also a wonderful way to make new friends in midlife, when meeting like-minded people outside our usual circles often becomes harder. Sharing a trail, tackling a challenge and laughing over tired legs creates a natural connection that doesn’t need forced small talk.

Perhaps that’s the real magic of trail running holidays for women over 50: you arrive as strangers, share the trails, a few laughs and a few tired evenings, and leave feeling like you’ve known each other for years. Because it’s never just about the kilometres you cover, but the people you meet along the way, the friendships you build and the memories that make you want to come back for another adventure.

Trail Running Over 50: The Prejudices We Hear

Age can be a funny thing. I’ve realised that sometimes, the biggest obstacles to trying something new aren’t our legs, our stamina or our fitness, but the stories we tell ourselves about getting older. Over the years, I’ve heard the same doubts from women who dream of a trail running adventure but worry they won’t be fast enough, fit enough or young enough to keep up.

These are the prejudices that keep coming up in my inbox — and what the women who’ve run with us have taught me about them.

“You Will Slow the Group Down”: Running at Your Own Pace

It’s one of the most common worries I hear from people considering a trail-running adventure. And I understand it, because I’ve made mistakes based on that same fear myself. But over the years, I’ve realised something important: being slower than someone else doesn’t mean you don’t belong. An adventure isn’t a race against the people around you, and nobody should feel they have to be the fastest runner in the group to deserve a place.

In 2017, our Costa Rica crossing filled up with fast runners, and I told a woman that a marathon time of 3 hours and 40 minutes was the standard. But three days later, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving people behind (something I simply don’t do). So we opened a second departure for six women who had been told they were too slow.

When we offered one of them a place, she replied: “My biggest fear is letting the team down by not being fast or fit enough.” I still remember the subject line of my reply: “You are not too old!!, you are not too slow.”

All six women crossed the jungle. Afterwards, I wrote to them what Pablo, the other founder, had told me: that they were “anything less slow“. One of them thanked us for organising “the slow chicas group” and said she felt privileged to have been allowed to take part.

That word, “allowed“, stayed with me. Why should anyone feel they need permission to join an adventure? Or prove they’re fast enough to deserve a place? The point isn’t to keep up with everyone else. It’s to challenge yourself, enjoy the experience and discover what you’re capable of, at your own pace.

“Trail Running Is for the Young”: Outdoor Adventures at Any Age

Of course, young runners are welcome. Hillary returned to Girona in 2022 as a professional runner, and our local club even organised a relay to keep up with her. But speed and age don’t tell the whole story. The two women who shared a room on Hillary’s first trip have stayed with us longer than almost anyone else who travelled in that van.

And then there’s Robie. Our toughest trip is a nine-hour crossing through the Costa Rican jungle, which she tackled at 51 “with no problem“, as Pablo still likes to say. Now, at 61, she’s booked another adventure with us. Her story is a reminder that outdoor adventures aren’t reserved for the young or the exceptionally fit. With the right preparation and a willingness to give it a go, there’s still so much to experience as you get older.

“It Isn’t Safe for a Woman on Her Own”: Running Holidays for Solo Women

Many women worry about travelling alone, especially when the adventure involves running through unfamiliar places. But the women who have crossed the High Atlas with us tell a different story. As they run through mountain villages, welcomed by families we have known for years, many say they feel safer than they do running alone at home in the dark.

Being part of a group, having local knowledge and being welcomed by people who know us makes a difference. And for women who might otherwise wait for someone to join them, it can open the door to an adventure they never thought they’d take on their own.

“Your Best Running Is Behind You”: Staying Active as You Get Older

J’ne is racing in a world championship at 65. Anne reached the Sahara just two months before turning 60. Noël ran two marathons at 80. I don’t think their best running days are behind them at all.

J’ne, in particular, puts it with an honesty I love. She once clocked an impressive 2 hours and 40 minutes in a marathon and is now in Colorado’s running hall of fame. In 2018, she donated a kidney and was back training just six weeks later.

“It takes me 50% longer to get to the top than in younger years,” she wrote to us this July, “but uphill trail races are still lots of fun for me.”

After breaking an arm on Kilimanjaro and a femur in a cycling accident, she now mostly hikes the downhill sections with poles. She also coaches runners, many of them women over 50 who are navigating their own changing abilities and ambitions.

To me, this isn’t a body giving up. It’s a runner adapting to change, finding new ways to keep going and holding on to what matters most: the joy of running and the challenge of seeing what she can still do.

The Benefits of Trail Running Over 50: What the Trail Taught Us

I keep saying the same thing I have said for fifteen years: we offer running as a means of transportation, not an end in itself. We don’t race against the clock, and we don’t compete with each other. Effort during the day, softness in the evenings. What matters is the journey, the shared effort, and the people at the table at the end of it. Pablo says that watching women twenty and thirty years older than him cross the Atlas changed what he thinks the future is: not a decline you must manage — a place full of possibilities.

So the next time that quiet question arrives in my inbox, I will answer with what Nancy wrote me in 2016: first her fear, “I just don’t want to be a burden” — and then, one week later, “I’m in.”

You are not too old. Maybe you are only not signed up yet.

Fancy an adventure like this but not quite sure what trail running involves? Here are some trail runners exploring Morocco’s spectacular landscapes on Atlas to Sahara with Pablo, one of Noma Trails founder — one trail, one adventure, and plenty of memories along the way.

 

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