Get an amazing education at Western Colorado University AND be a part of the adidas Terrex Western Mountain Sports Trail Running Team!!
Western is home to America’s most prolific collegiate Trail Running Team.
Members of the Trail Running Team find organized training, coaching, travel, competition and unparalleled singletrack within the Mountain Sports program at Western Colorado University.
The 750+ miles of singletrack trails that surround Western’s campus within the spectacular Gunnison Valley in the heart of the Rocky Mountains provide the perfect training ground for the approximately 35 members of Western’s Trail Running Team. There’s a trail system literally across the street from campus; it leads to iconic Signal Peak at 9,000 feet. There are 45 miles of singletrack at Hartman Rocks Recreation Area—and another 45 miles of dirt road—just four miles south of campus. Not to mention the myriad trails with breathtaking scenery between Gunnison and Crested Butte, just 28 miles to the north.
“We haven’t found another college or university that is doing this kind of unique trail running program,” said Greg Chase, Western’s Director of Mountain Sports. “We have regular practices. We have a year-round coach. The program cover race entries. We travel en masse by van to races throughout the American West: Moab, Leadville, Phoenix … you name it.”
The team trains year-round. Competitions range from the homespun, such as Crested Butte’s Camp 4 Coffee Cart to Cart Trail Run, to the intense, such as Flagstaff Sky Peaks Mountain Runs or the Moab Marathon.
If you’re a student who enjoys travel, mountain landscapes, camaraderie, dirt and (of course) running, Western’s Trail Running Team is for you.
Western’s Trail Running program welcomes all abilities and recognizes that hard work and dedication, both in the classroom and out on the trails, will allow you to grow and to achieve as a person, as a student and as an athlete. As part of Western Mountain Sports, you will meet lifelong friends and have experiences that you’ll never forget.
