Outside Online • 17th August 2023

My First Kiss at a Campfire Actually Taught Me a Lot About Life

I had my first kiss—not a Spin-the-Bottle peck, or a Truth-or-Dare mini-smooch—in front of a campfire. Unfortunately, it was also in front of about 100 other summer campers, and a handful of camp directors who didn’t appreciate the PDA. And it was hardly a show of genuine affection. Rather, I’d been sitting on a log next to a really cute guy who liked my friend; I knew she didn’t like him, so I figured he was fair game.

I decided to flirt with him—I’ll call him “John,” because that was his name

Trail Runner Magazine • 7th August 2023

How Running To Water Can Jumpstart Your Sense of Adventure

My friend Sara and I thought we were so clever naming our Strava trail run “Poolgrimage.” I thought of the name in the first mile of our run of the Mesa Trail out of Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado, because I was carrying a bikini in my hydration pack and we were on a one-way pilgrimage to the Eldorado Springs Pool, 6.7 miles from where we started.

It’s not necessarily an epic run, but running one-way to something, anything, felt more adventurous than our regular runs—loops on Mount Sanita

Trail Runner Magazine • 29th June 2023

I’m Hypermobile, and Trail Running Helps Me

There were years—decades, really—where I thought that, surely, someday I’d be told there was a reason why my body hurt so badly. “These pains can’t be normal,” I held in the back of my mind as I trained for the Los Angeles Marathon during my senior year of college. Distance running was new to me, but the stabbing pain in my back and hip didn’t seem like something all runners feel.

At 33, after years of managing weird injuries of all sorts through running, triathlon, volleyball playing, and adve

Outside Online • 28th June 2023

Running from My Father’s War

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

I inherited my father’s almond-shaped eyes, his tawny Korean skin tone, and legs that are stronger than they look. I also mirror certain parts of his personality, like his fierce competitiveness mixed with sappy sentimentalism, a deep obsession with sports, and, unfortunately, a propensity for anxiety. Up until a few years ago, I thought the traits he passed on to me stop

22nd February 2023

Moving Through Grief, Joy, and Everything Else in the Indian Peaks

Between 320 and 280 million years ago, what’s known as the Ancestral Rocky Mountains formed as what are now the continents of Africa and North America were merging together. Over time, leftover sedimentary rock eroded and a geologic event known as the Laramide Orogeny, which took place between 70 and 45 million years ago, created what we see as the Rocky Mountain range. Today’s Rocky Mountain range spans roughly 3,000 miles in length from northern Alberta Canada to New Mexico. The range juts acr

Elevation Outdoors Magazine • 16th March 2022

New Tricks

This is what happens when one rusty—but determined—snowboarder tries to get rad with her son and husband at a Woodward Copper private lesson.

Back in the day, I happily followed ripper friends around Lake Tahoe resorts and attempted little tricks like 180s and hucking off tabletops. I even taught snowboarding at Homewood Mountain Resort part-time during one of the three winters I lived on the North Shore of the lake (cue the joke about the difference between a beginning snowboarder and a snowbo

Women's Running • 24th December 2020

Why I Need Adventure

I sort of always have. As a kid in North County San Diego, I’d explore the canyons around our house, cracking open rocks to look for fossils and building dams in gutters after a rain. As a young adult, I found adventure racing, and spent a number of years traipsing about on foot, bike, kayak, etc., often through the night and for days on end, with a map and compass to guide the way.

And now, as a working mother of two in my 40s, adventure most often takes the form of trail runs in the mountains

Backpacker • 5th April 2019

Why I Take My Colorado-Raised Kids to the Ocean

Unlike most of my outdoorsy peers, I didn’t grow up backpacking, or camping, or even hiking. Instead, my childhood involved long days on the beach in California, building sand castles with my dad, dunking under waves, and playing beach volleyball. The first passenger in my beat-up 1975 Chevy Monza when I got my driver’s license was my dog, Kimba; I’d promised I’d take him to the beach as soon as I could drive. He stuck his head far out the window, wagging his tail as he sniffed at the smell of s

Outside Online • 9th October 2024

The Best Running Shoes for Training and Racing

New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up!
Subscribe today →.
We are experiencing one of the most thrilling eras in the history of running shoes. In recent years, cutting-edge materials, innovative geometries, and creative combinations of foams, plates, fabrics, and soles have resulted in faster, lighter, and more comfortable models than ever before.
The good new...

Outside Online • 15th August 2023

Why Our Running-Shoe Tester Swears by Protein Powders

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m kind of lazy. I may head out for plenty of big mountain runs, hard swims, and tough workouts of all sorts, but when I’m done, I’m not even making a simple sandwich to refuel. But if I don’t refuel, and rehydrate, I feel like crap.

Case in point: A friend and I recently met up for a jaunt in the Indian Peaks Wilderness where

Outside Online • 7th August 2023

A Love Letter to the Wavestorm, the Best Beginner Surfboard Around

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

On mornings before high school in San Diego, my friend Tanya and I would occasionally paddle out into the ocean, her on a fiberglass shortboard, and me on my dad’s 10-foot, soft Doyle foam longboard that weighed about 30 pounds when wet. I didn’t feel cool maneuvering that giant red tank around, and I spent most of my time getting pushed around in the whitewater. But I su

Outside Online • 27th July 2023

What I Wear for Short, Sweltering Summer Races

Summer racing can be motivating, festive, and fun. But it’s also hot, and often humid, compounding the heat generated by the effort of running fast. Dressing for the occasion, with apparel and accessories that both keep you cool and create zero distractions, can improve both your performance and your enjoyment.

Over the first two months of summer I’ve been testing hot-weather running apparel at races ranging from a 1-mile evening race series and the 50,000-runner Bolder Boulder 10K in my hometo

Outside Online • 21st July 2023

Do Women Need Gender-Specific Running Shoes?

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

I’ve been wearing running shoes for 30-plus years, and still, when I lace up a new pair that fits me just right, it makes me want to take them for a spin right then and there—but finding perfectly fitting running shoes can be a challenge, even for someone like me who has access to innumerable pairs as a running shoe reviewer.

Because I test shoes, people always ask me, “

Outside Online • 19th July 2023

Eight Fast and Agile Carbon-Plated Trail Running Shoes

Here’s why I love carbon-plated running shoes: They allow me to run farther and faster with less effort. They also allow my strained metatarsal ligament—and other overused muscles, ligaments, and tendons in my feet—to not work as hard as they do in shoes without a plate. I reach for them when I feel like my feet need a break but I want to keep running.

Here’s why I don’t always love carbon-plated trail running shoes: They can feel tippy on technical terrain, the plate acting like a lever when s

Outside Online • 30th June 2023

What A Veteran Female Gear Tester Wears to Stay Cool on Summer Runs

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

In the heat of summer, having apparel that keeps me comfortable helps motivate me to get out the door. I can’t always head to the high country above my home in Boulder, Colorado to run in the cool mountain air and jump in alpine lakes. And since I’m somewhat lazy and work from home, I rarely rise to run before the day gets hot. As a result, most of my running is in-town,

Outside Online • 24th May 2023

The Best Road Running Shoes of 2023

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

There is no such thing as the single best running shoe for everyone. Every runner’s body, gait, speed, experience, and ride preferences are different, so every runner will interact differently with each running shoe. The shoe that your best friend or your sister-in-law loves may be uncomfortable for you and make running feel slow, sluggish, or even painful. Finding the pe

Outside Online • 24th May 2023

The Best Trail Running Shoes of 2023

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

There is no such thing as the single best running shoe for everyone. Every runner’s body, gait, speed, experience, and ride preferences are different, so every runner will interact differently with each running shoe. The shoe that your best friend or your sister-in-law loves may be uncomfortable for you and make running feel slow, sluggish, or even painful. Finding the pe

Outside Online • 10th February 2023

What We Really Want for Valentine’s Day

As a lifelong runner and adventurer, I’m going to speak for outdoorsy people in general and state this: A thoughtful, handwritten note on the back of an REI receipt means more than an $8 Hallmark card. Or, as an alternative to a prix-fix dinner out, how about a sunset winter hike with a can of wine or beer to crack open and share at the top of the climb? (The hike alone would make me fall in love all over again, but the celebratory can certainly wouldn’t hurt.)

Here are 11 adventure-enabling gi

Outside Online • 26th January 2023

The Best New Winterized Running Shoes

Winterized running shoes have come a long way from the heavy, clunky, almost boot-like waterproof kicks offered a decade ago. Today’s fleet range from light and speedy semi-supershoes for uptempo road running to shoe-and-gaiter combos for tackling snow-covered mountain trails. Some are even equipped with spikes to make quick work of otherwise impossibly slick icy surfaces.

All winterized shoes help keep feet warm as they block wind, and they tend to have thicker, less-breathable uppers—a benefi

Outside Online • 20th January 2023

Here’s the Running Gear That Keeps Me Comfortable in Colorado All Winter

Personally, I need a high dose of nature in every season, maybe even more during the short days of winter. I don’t despise the treadmill—it’s a great workout tool. I despise the notion that you can’t run outside on trails in cold, windy, snowy, downright nasty weather. So I head out, regardless of the forecast.

Enjoying my Boulder, Colorado, trails in the cold months often means exploring winter wonderlands: snow-capped pine trees and open fields painted white where my dog and I can bound about

Outside Online • 10th June 2022

Road Running Shoes for Every Workout

With a traditional medial post—a dense section of foam in the midsole—you’d expect the 860v12 to perform like a garden-variety stability shoe. But a layer of New Balance’s energetic foam compound sits directly underfoot, providing pep. A roomy toe box and narrow heel cup hit the sweet spot for some testers, while others craved a snugger fit. (Men’s 11.4 oz, women’s 8.9 oz; 10 mm drop)

Don’t be fooled by the slapped-together, prototype-ish appearance. This sustainable version of Nike’s fastest m

Outside Online • 27th May 2022

Editor’s Choice: Hoka Tecton X Trail Running Shoes

Since carbon-plated shoes were introduced, countless world, national, and personal records have fallen. But most pairs are helpful for only a certain group of runners: the rigid carbon-fiber plate combined with a soft foam favors those with efficient strides over those with less-than-perfect form. The new Hoka Tecton X ($200), one of the few carbon-plated trail kicks on the market, defies that pattern. This is a high-tech shoe for all abilities. “It’s one of the few carbon-plated shoes that I—a

Outside Online • 1st February 2022

The Making of a $375 Running Shoe

Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+ .

We’ve seen $250, carbon-plated shoes for a few seasons now. But $375 for a pair of trail runners? One company out of Portland is betting that people will pony up.

“We thought, ‘Let’s build what we want to build and the price will be the price,’” says Kevin Fallon, one of the two founders of Speedland. Th

Outside Online • 7th November 2021

Runner-Up Review: The Running Shoes That Almost Made Our 2022 Winter Buyer’s Guide

To select the best road- and trail-running shoes for our annual Winter Buyer’s Guide, we spend months putting miles on new and updated models from all the major brands. The competition for those limited print slots is fierce—only the very best new kicks make the cut. But every year there are a few shoes that miss out on the limelight because of very small details or because they’re a minor update to an older shoe. Here are the runners up from this year’s test.

We looked forward to every run in

Outside Online • 26th October 2021

This Winter’s Best New Running Shoes for Road and Trail

September through March can bring the full spectrum of weather: crisp air and perfectly dry singletrack one day, snowy slop the next. Our picks for fall’s best road and trail shoes run the gamut from lead-pack speedsters that’ll make you want to head out and rip in all conditions to off-road warriors that won’t take no for an answer. We also selected a range of greats for cruisey miles to round out our list. This year, our choice for Gear of the Year does what we wish all gear would do: enable u

Runner's World • 17th August 2021

The 10 Best Kids’ Running Shoes

Kids of all ages run even when they’re not trying to run—they jump, climb, play, and run some more. And all that running leads to serious wear and tear on their footwear. Whether for recess, their first 5K, or their spot on the track and field or cross-country team, kids need durable, high-quality running shoes that can handle the mileage.

Check out five of our top picks below, then keep scrolling for longer reviews of these shoes and others, as well as our tips to keep in mind when shopping fo

Runner's World • 30th June 2021

The 6 Best Over-the-Counter Insoles for Runners

Over-the-counter insoles can improve the fit and function of a running shoe, and some promise to do everything from reducing foot fatigue and plantar fascia strain to increasing running efficiency. But how’s a runner to wade through the sea of options, and why should you?


While all running shoes come with some sort of insole, they can be flimsy and break down easily, according to Mark Plaatjes, owner of In Motion Running store, physical therapist, and world champion marathoner. “An over-the-c

Insider • 3rd June 2021

I've been swimming for over 30 years. Here's the best swim gear and accessories for faster and more comfortable laps

• Well-designed goggles, swimsuits, swim caps, and accessories can make you faster and happier in the water.
• I'm a gear editor and have been swimming laps for almost 30 years, so I know good swim gear.

In the world of modern high-intensity training and boutique fitness classes, swimming is a refreshingly simple workout. All it requires is a basic swimsuit, access to a pool (which most towns have at a low community-center rate), and the basic stroke skills many of us learned as children.

For

Outside Online • 10th May 2021

Trail Running Shoes for Going Far and Fast

The Flight Vectiv brings high-tech speed to the dirt. Like record-setting carbon-equipped road shoes (think: Nike Vaporfly), it has a full-length carbon-fiber plate that enhances forward propulsion and makes for a more efficient stride. Uniquely, the plate sits directly under the foot, between the footbed and midsole (instead of deep within the cushioning) and also extends up around the heel. This improves lateral stability off-road (though it’s a bit tippy on very rocky trails) and generates an

Insider • 12th April 2021

The best mounts, stands, baskets, and crates to organize your outdoor gear

The Store Your Board Freestanding Ski Storage Rack looks like metal, but it's actually made out of durable polycarbonate plastic, which keeps it lightweight and super easy to move. Assembly was remarkably easy; it took me less than five minutes to snap both footer supports into place and voila, I had a ski rack like you'd find at resort lodging. I placed our rack in the garage, where it's incredibly easy to slot skis in to dry after a long day on the mountain. I got the "standard version" which

Backpacker • 19th August 2019

How to Pick the Perfect Hike for Kids of All Ages: Elementary School-Aged Kids

Our guide provides tips on how to pick age-appropriate challenges for your little hikers. Check out the full series here.

I have an 8-year-old who’s going into third grade and an 11-year-old who’s going into sixth grade, both boys. They are very active—and somehow more active when they’re together—but that doesn’t always mean they’re always willing to hike five or six miles, which I’m sure they’re capable of.

When choosing hikes to do with them, I look for natural elements that will keep them

Outside Online • 20th June 2019

A Test of Tecnica's Custom Trail-Running Shoes

Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+ .

I’m sitting on a padded bench at a hotel in the town of Agerola, 2,000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. My feet and lower legs are in an air-compressing, boot-like contraption that’s making me feel as if I’m about to step out from Apollo 11 and onto the surface of the moon.

The s

Outside Online • 1st August 2023

What Happens to the Grand Canyon if the Colorado River Dries Up?

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

I’m one of those people who will tell you that a river trip in the Grand Canyon changed her life. Last May, after joining a friend’s 50th birthday celebration on a guided rafting trip on the upper portion of the canyon, I paddled, mesmerized by the spectacular shades of red and orange rock walls towering above me, their layers telling stories of geology, history, and the

Outside Online • 16th July 2023

The Mastermind Behind Your Favorite Shoes Is About to Disrupt the Shoe Industry. Again.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

The Willy Wonka of the running world is walking down the sidewalk of a sprawling office park, taking a new shoe for a ride. “First there are little movements that help us notice the feeling,” he says in a thick French accent. Jean-Luc Diard, 65, is the mastermind and cofounder of the wildly successful running brand Hoka and—as he does almost every day—he’s testing another

Outside Online • 6th June 2023

No Wrong Way to Run

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Runner's World • 3rd January 2019

Dave Mackey Lost His Leg to Save His Life

While he was scrambling down from a local peak on May 23, 2015, a loose rock sent him crashing 50 feet down a wall of scree before landing on his left leg and smashing the tibia into eight pieces. That was just the first strike against it.

The second was that the 300-pound rock that had snapped his tibia like kindling also tore his skin open as it landed. A friend at the scene described it as “bones sticking out everywhere.” Muscle and bone were open to the elements, leading to a ceaseless stri

Mental Floss • 13th August 2014

On the Scene at the Absolutely Insane Barkley Marathons

This story originally appeared in print in the August issue of

Inspired by a flubbed prison escape, the Barkley Marathon is a ludicrously challenging 100-mile race only a handful of runners have completed. Finishing it twice? That's next to impossible.

It's reverently quiet when Jared Campbell comes running down the trail and into camp. He’s looked better. For one thing, his facial muscles appear to be asleep, even as he somehow keeps moving. He’s wilted from hours of exposure to the cold and

Trail Runner Magazine • 28th July 2023

How to Keep Crushing Trail Runs for Decades

Twenty years ago, someone in the audience at a talk about trail running asked Buzz Burrell, past record holder of the FKT on Colorado Trail and John Muir Trail and co-founder of FastestKnownTime.com: “What’s the key to longevity?” Then 51 years old, Burrell answered: “Like what you do.”

Now 71 and still charging trails—he was the overall winner of the Runner’s Division of the 7.4-mile Dipsea race in June of 2023, and plans to race the 23K Tromsø Skyrace in Norway, the Matterhorn Ultrax Exterme

Outside Online • 1st February 2023

Cat Runner, Winner of ‘The Climb,’ Is Reaching New Heights

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app .

Twenty-four-year-old Cat Runner of Louisville, Kentucky, waved warmly to a full house—and a standing ovation—at Colorado’s Boulder Theater on the night of Thursday, January 26 following the airing of the finale of HBO’s rock climbing reality show The Climb. The eight-episode series featured ten climbers vying for a $100,000 grand prize plus a one-year sponsorship from PrA

WebMD • 6th July 2022

Scientists Find Brain Mechanism Behind Age-Related Memory Loss

July 1, 2022 – Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have identified a mechanism in the brain behind age-related memory loss, expanding our knowledge of the inner workings of the aging brain and possibly opening the door to new Alzheimer’s treatments.

The researchers looked at the hippocampus, a part of the brain thought to store long-term memories.

Neurons there are responsible for a pair of memory functions – called pattern separation and pattern completion – that work together in young, he

11th April 2022

Trail Sisters Founder Gina Lucrezi

To celebrate and honor Women’s History Month, Public Lands is showcasing women who are making history now. We spoke with Gina Lucrezi, a trail runner and ultrarunner, and founder of Trail Sisters. She launched Trail Sisters in 2016 as a modest blog and it has grown to a booming community of 150 regional chapters, a website that offers free resources like online education, a race (with a generous cutoff to minimize the intimidation factor of not finishing), and so much more. Since the launch of T

Runner's World • 14th May 2021

Heading to the Beach This Summer? Take Your Runs to the Sand for Extra Benefits

When Kyra Oliver heads out for her morning run, she usually opts for a paved route. But once or twice a week, the San Diegan heads toward the beach instead, where she watches the sun rise and listens to the waves crash as the miles tick by. Running on the sand helps Oliver clear her mind, but it also supplements her training for marathons and 50-mile trail races.

“It works different muscles and requires a different focus for me,” Oliver tells Runner’s World. “If I’m on the packed sand by the wa

Runner's World • 1st October 2020

Read These Safety Tips Before You Get Started on Trail Running

Trail-running inspires fun workouts for newbies, road racers, and the injury-prone.

Men's Health • 17th July 2020

Black Men Need Running Groups Now More Than Ever

My dad was always a runner, but he almost never had anyone else to run with. So when I was about ten years old, I started to go running with him—I was his running buddy. Over the years, I kept running mostly as a way to stay healthy. One day, I started doing some research, and I learned about the problem of heart disease in the Black community. Heart disease is the number-one cause of death among Black men, and 60 percent of Black men have some form of cardiovascular disease.

I can speak from e

Men's Health • 15th July 2020

Run Faster With Fun Tips From a Trail Running Superstar

A year after graduating from the Air Force Academy, where he was a standout track and cross-country runner, Jim Walmsley picked up a hiking book. It was 2013, and he was living in Great Falls, Montana, within striking distance of Glacier National Park and Helena National Forest. “I’d figure out routes that ended at a lake, a mountaintop, or a waterfall and would run the routes like a scavenger hunt,” he says. “I didn’t know trail running was a sport at that time, but I liked the sense of adventu

Runner's World • 16th May 2020

If You Didn’t Already Know, These Are 25 of the Best Running Trails in the U.S.

Whether you’re aiming to cover some serious distance or just looking to get a few quick miles with spectacular views, trail running is always an adventure—and chances are, there’s a great running path near you that’s just waiting to be explored.

To inspire you to get out there—especially with races canceled during the coronavirus pandemic—we compiled the following list featuring some of the best trails across the country. These running routes come in a wide range of lengths and difficulty, so t

Runner's World • 18th April 2020

How to (Truly) Learn to Love Running

Most people start running programs guided by time or by mileage, which are both well and good. But if you’re new to running, know that there are other ways in that might suit your personality—or even just your mood—in a way that’ll get you really, truly hooked on running once and for all.

Adapted from Running That Doesn’t Suck: How to Love Running (Even If You Think You Hate It), these plans are tailored to beginning runners but can work for runners burnt out on their current routines.

For the

Runner's World • 9th September 2019

How to Find Your Ideal Running Partner—And Troubleshoot When You Have Problems

The following was adapted with permission from Running That Doesn’t Suck by Lisa Jhung (Running Press)

Finding the ideal running partner has some similarities to finding a life partner. Maybe you get a good partner vibe from someone in your running club; another participant at a race; or someone you see often or have seen on a running route you like.

Or maybe you don’t find your partner while you’re actually running, but you discover that someone in your exercise class, office, school, or dorm

Runner's World • 20th August 2019

Why It’s So Hard to Run a Sub-4 Mile at Altitude

For elite track athletes to run a mile in less than four minutes, conditions need to be just right. And on Thursday evening, August 15, at the University of Colorado’s Potts Field in Boulder, Colorado, they pretty much were.

The sun dipped behind the mountains, and the wind had died down to nothing. Bright lights illuminated a decent-sized crowd who had their eyes on the elite men and women who had shown up to run the Boulder Road Runner’s All Comer’s meet, which was ending with what organizer

Backpacker • 19th August 2019

How to Pick the Perfect Hike for Kids of All Ages: Elementary School-Aged Kids

Our guide provides tips on how to pick age-appropriate challenges for your little hikers. Check out the full series here.

I have an 8-year-old who’s going into third grade and an 11-year-old who’s going into sixth grade, both boys. They are very active—and somehow more active when they’re together—but that doesn’t always mean they’re always willing to hike five or six miles, which I’m sure they’re capable of.

When choosing hikes to do with them, I look for natural elements that will keep them

Runner's World • 13th May 2019

How These Colorado Students Learn to Run With a Buffalo

Running with a 1,300-pound bison is not your average college extracurricular. Yet, each spring in late April as the semester draws to an end, students line up with hopes of being part of one of the University of Colorado-Boulder’s proudest traditions.

This year, 35 current and incoming students came out hoping to be handpicked to earn the coveted title of being one of the school’s “Ralphie Handlers.” Ralphie is the name of the bison, or buffalo as is the school mascot, that has led the home tea