The gaggle of children standing around in a wood up in the Dublin mountains don’t need to be asked twice to make a run for it. The swish of brown leaves underfoot alternates with squelchy sounds in boggy patches as they hare off through the trees.
They swoop down into a dip and up a muddy slope the other side, where they stop to listen to the next instructions from the adult leader, as a few parents puff in their wake.
These youngsters, aged six to 12, are in Cruagh Woods to learn some basic skills of trail running at a beginners' workshop, organised by a company called Trail Kids on most Saturdays during the summer. They are taught to recognise what's "slippy, grippy or trippy", to help them safely navigate the terrain; how to control their speed, maintain balance and the best ways to clear obstacles, such as vaulting a fallen tree.
Trail Kids co-founders Kevin O'Brien and Mark Eiffe believe it is the first venture of its kind in both Ireland and Britain. Set up just over a year ago, it is a refreshing alternative to the constraints of traditional sports, with an emphasis on freedom of movement and fostering a love of the natural outdoors.
The idea developed out of O’Brien’s work with young, elite tennis players, when he was head strength and conditioning coach with Tennis Ireland. He brought them up to the mountains to increase their fitness, strengthen their legs and develop mental toughness.
“When we were doing it, I found out the kids really, really enjoyed it. As opposed to it being a tough training session, it ended up being an enjoyable, tough training session,” says O’Brien. He and Eiffe, both experienced trail runners, realised there might be a market in it.
It’s a sign of the times that parents feel they need to pay other adults to encourage their children to run in the woods. But the reality is that without the close supervision and expertise that the Trail Kids leaders offer, many would be nervous of letting their children run free and leap about with wild abandon.
Initially ‘dubious’
Kieran Dunn, whose son Julian (six) is part of the group, is not the only parent to admit he was a bit “dubious” initially. But Julian thought the first session was great fun and he has been back several times. His parents realise that a lot of the attraction for him is doing it with other children.
For Leontia Brophy, who is here with her three sons, Ollie (12), Arthur (10) and seven-year-old Ted, it is a reminder of how much life has changed within one generation. She grew up in Knocklyon and, when still in primary school, she used to cycle up to roam the woods here with her friends and have picnics. But there is “no way” she would let her sons do that.
However, the boys started doing Trail Kids last summer and they “just love it”, she says. They come up for one-hour trail runs that are organised two evenings a week during the summer and on Sunday mornings in the winter.
“It’s them doing what we did as kids and they don’t get a chance,” says Leontia, a recreational runner herself, who likes to follow the children and use the opportunity to build her own fitness. “It’s hard keeping up with them.”
The “off piste” nature of the trails that O’Brien and Eiffe use particularly appeals to her. The more experienced children, during an evening session, will cover up to three or four kilometres, with stops for physical and mental skill game challenges along the way.
Her son Ollie, who also plays tennis and GAA football/hurling, says he enjoys “just getting out with friends and running freely. You have to keep focused on where you’re running so you don’t jump into any holes,” he explains.
“You can’t just let your kids roam around now – it has got to be organised,” says Hilary O’Donnell from Swords, Co Dublin, whose son Ben (10) loves the rough and tumble and the guaranteed mud that comes with trail running. He enjoys too the “hanging and the pulling” when they work on balance at the beginning of workshops, walking on taut webbing strung between tree trunks and traversing improvised “monkey bars”.
Darcey Dunne (nine) from Kilmainham is one of the newbies, her mother Róisín having stumbled across it on Facebook only the night before.
“The moment I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for her – she’s a bit of a wild child,” says Róisín, who is a single mother and recovering from breast cancer. She wouldn’t have the energy, she says, to take her daughter out for two hours herself.
Adventure
There are few activities on offer that are a bit adventurous for children, she says, “so for me it couldn’t be better”, she adds, walking from the car park to meet her daughter at the end of the session.
So what’s Darcey’s verdict? “It was really fun,” she says, sucking an orange quarter. The best bits? “Running through the stream and sliding down the hill,” she replies, with a happy, mud-spattered face and delightfully mucky trainers and tracksuit bottoms to prove it.
For more information about Trail Kids, which also operates in Castledermot, Co Kildare and Avoca, Co Wicklow, see trailkids.ie or tel 087 758 3965. The two-hour beginners' workshop costs €20, the one-hour evening runs from €5 to €10 and they do birthday parties as well.
