Foto: Leki/Philipp Reiter

Use these tips to find the right trail and prepare for your experience.

Good orientation is essential when running on uneven and unfamiliar terrain or in high alpine territory. Luckily, trail runners in Switzerland have it easy as they already get their toe-in during hikes. The network of Swiss hiking trails is extremely dense. More than 65,000 km of uniformly signposted and maintained hiking trails wind their way through the country and are also popular with trail runners.

Due to the rise in trail running, many destinations have recognised this potential and offer signposted trail running routes or GPX tracks for selected routes. There’s also plenty to discover online too. Platforms such as Outdooractive and Komoot offer countless route suggestions, and itineraries can even be planned using the widely popular Strava app. These planning tools display personalised routes with two key parameters visible at a glance: total distance and maximum and minimum altitude. This information lets you quickly see how long the planned route will take, while the planning tool's filter function lets you record your own performances over time to help you estimate the time it'll take.

Map out first, then run

A route can be planned out at your leisure on your PC until it meets your requirements. Afterwards, simply download it to your smartphone or GPS watch and get started.

You don't necessarily need a smartphone anymore. Modern GPS watches are usually equipped with navigation tools. Certain models by Garmin, Suunto, Koros and Polar now display entire map sections so that you just need to follow the trail. Unlike a smartphone, a watch has the benefit of always being visible, letting you orientate yourself even in the rain without having to hold anything.

These apps may be useful

• Outdooractive: used in most regions across Switzerland to indicate the time required for specific trails. After running several routes, you can fairly quickly determine how your times compare. The percentage deviation can then be used in future to calculate the time you'll take.
• Komoot: lets you filter between five different fitness levels to more accurately calculate the time you'll take. Frequent runners should start off using the middle ‘in good shape’ setting and then adjust it upwards or downwards depending on time deviation for future outings.
• Strava: only uses the activities completed on the platform to calculate running times. This guarantees accurate and personalised long-term timekeeping. Komoot and Outdooractive offer more options and convenience than Strava when it comes to planning routes, however.