Free Race Entry: Girls 18-and-under
What if your next race didn’t happen on a track or busy road — but on smooth singletrack winding through forests and open mountain views?
What if you could race alongside hundreds of strong, joyful women, cheering each other on instead of sizing each other up?
What if running could take you somewhere beautiful?
For many high school runners, running lives inside lanes, workouts, splits, and comparisons. Track and cross country build incredible strength — but they can also quietly teach girls that running is about performance first.
Trail running changes that.
Announcing: Free Trail Race Registration for Girls 18-And-Under
On trails, running becomes exploration. Conversation. Challenge. Adventure. It becomes something you can carry with you long after seasons end and medals fade.
And for many girls, running trails together is the first step toward discovering that running can belong to them for life — not just for a season.
Girls Are Leaving Sport — But It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way
Across the United States, girls are leaving organized sports at alarming rates. Twice the rate of their male peers by age fourteen, according to a 2016 study. And over half leave sports completely by age seventeen.
Most girls don’t quit because they stop loving movement. They quit because sport slowly stops feeling like a place where they belong.
Running can become about:
comparisons to teammates
rankings and times
expectations about performance or appearance
Somewhere along the way, joy gets replaced by pressure.
But running doesn’t have to end there.
Trails Change the Rules
Trail running keeps everything people love about racing — challenge, effort, accomplishment — while changing the parts that push many girls away.
On trails:
Everyone slows down on hills
Awe and wonder replace numbers and rankings
Teammates naturally regroup
Conversation happens mid-run
Effort matters more than pace
The trail doesn’t ask how fast your mile time is.
It asks how curious you are.
How resilient you feel.
How willing you are to keep going.
Lauren Fleshman puts it simply:
“Make your race a playground, not a proving ground.”
Trail running reminds athletes that competition and joy don’t have to compete with each other. They can exist together.
And when girls experience running this way, many rediscover something powerful: They want to keep running — not just this season, but for life.
Running as a Pack
One of the most powerful shifts happens when girls run trails together. We’ve seen this in the 14 years of hosting the Wild Woman Trail Runs Relay event. These women cheer, they high-five, they cry. They attack the challenge together, bringing more joy than they could have ever brought alone.
Instead of racing side-by-side while silently comparing splits, trail running encourages runners to work together as a team — encouraging, waiting, laughing, and finishing together.
When girls repeatedly experience encouragement instead of comparison, they begin to believe:
I belong here.
My body is capable.
Running is something I get to do — not something I have to prove.
And when young athletes see women organizing races, leading communities, and creating supportive environments, it expands what leadership and belonging look like in sport.
Trail running becomes more than training.
It becomes community.
Bring Your Pack
If you’re curious about trail running — or just want to experience racing in a new way — this is your invitation.
Each year, Wild Woman Trail Runs offers a limited number of free race registrations for girls 18-and-under to participate in one of our women’s trail running events.
You don’t need trail experience.
You don’t need to be the fastest runner on your team.
You just need a few friends willing to try something new.
Bring your teammates, your coaches, your training partners, your moms.
Because sometimes the best way to fall in love with running again is simply to take it off the track and onto the trail.
👉 Apply for free U18 registration here: