It is a debate as old as time. Road running Vs Trail running. I want to start off by saying that I have a lot of love for running on the road. I have been a road runner for almost all of my adult life. I have done countless organised runs from the local park run all the way up to a road marathon in a major city.

Even now as I train for my next trail ultra a lot of my training has been on the road. Trail running is better though and these two examples perfectly sum it up for me as to why.

This year I ran in the famous City2surf. A 14km road race from Sydney's CBD to finish on Bondi Beach. It is a big race. The biggest fun run in the world in fact with 80,000 competitors toeing the start line.

It's a fun day out and I hadn't run it in a few years so signed up with my sister and set out on the iconic course. I finished uneventfully and stood behind the safety barricades watching 1000s of runners come by as I waited to see my sis come in to the finish.

As I watched on I saw a concerning sight. It was a hot day and I am guessing this competitor was not an experienced runner. I make the assumption based on the fact he was running in full length jeans and not in the way of someone trying to be funny or ironic. As he came down the finish straight something was seriously wrong.

He was delirious, Looked completely unaware of his surroundings and stumbled ahead unable to walk in a straight line. The finish line was in sight and runners were flying past him in a final push to the finish line. Not one runner stopped.

Now how he didn't collide into a runner at full speed and cause serious injury I dont know. He was also lucky not to face dive into the concrete itself. As 100s of runners flew by him with their sole focus on the finish line it was only when the finish line announcer caught site of him that medical staff where alerted.

A few years earlier I was in my first ever trail race. It was 22km in Australia's Blue Mountains. I was new to the sport, grossly over confident and terribly under prepared for the 1000m+ of vertical gain on the course.

As any mildly experienced trail runner would have predicted the race went exactly as you'd expect. My right calf tore at around the 17km - I was at the bottom of the valley and the closest aid was 5kms away - at the finish line.

I hobbled the next 5kms and was passed by close to 100 runners. Every single one of them stopped and asked if I needed help, If there was anything they could do, They offered me gels, water, whatever I needed to get me to the finish line. It was a vast contrast to what I saw on the finishing chute that day.

I have described it to many friends like this. I firmly believe that road running always seems to feel like a battle between the other runners on the course. Me vs you if you will. Trail running, to me at least, has always felt like its us against the course.

When Mathieu Blanchard caught Killian at UTMB 2022 as Killian was fading and considering dropping out he didn't seize the advantage and take the lead. He encouraged him to come with him and press on, only to have Killian find his legs and claim the Victory, Mathieu coming in second. I must say I didn't see any of his competitors encouraging Kipchoge as he faded in the 2020 London marathon to try keep pace with them.

I get it. It's probably not fair to compare the two and don't get me wrong I will run road races for many years to come. But if my anecdotal, extremely bias evidence can be used to settle the debate I think any trail runner will agree - trail running is better than its road counterpart any day of the week!

Check out more from Moretrail

So You Want to Run Your First Trail Race.... Series (pt 1 - Shoes)

In this series we offer advice on all the things required to run your first trail race. In part 1 we focus on trail shoes and our advice on getting your first pair.

Hot Takes from AMA with Rod Farvard's Coach! (M2 Western States)

Matt Ison has been Rod's coach since 2016. After his break out performance at States, Matt did an AMA on Reddit going in depth on a range of topics around Rod's coaching and training. Here are some hot takes and best bits from the thread.

Tips for Returning to Running After a Long Break.

Some times life gets in the way of a consistent running schedule. Here are our top tips to returning to running when its been a while since your last running block.