Glide Runner: Laugavegur Trail Running Outfit Designed to Finish the Race Fast and Safely

• Main Author: Thorgrimsson, Kristofer
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oregon 2024
• Subjects: trail running; Laugavegur Ultra Marathon; running economy; sport tourism; trail running equipment; Iceland
• Online Access: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/29549

81 pages ‟A Decade of Fitness”, is the title of an article posted on The New York Times website in December 2019. It outlines the major increase that has occurred in the physical activity of the public for the past decade and even longer. Every year, an abundance of studies are published listing the benefits of physical activity for health and longevity. People have caught on and have started to spend more time walking, jogging, weight training, swimming, biking, hiking et cetera in the hope of increasing their health and being able to spend more time with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren in their old age (Reynolds, 2019). This trend can be seen in the expansion of trail running. And with more people frequently training and competing in trail running, the need for specialized trail running garments and equipment has increased. Every trail is unique and comes with its own set of challenges while all trail running products on the market are generic. The purpose of this paper is to research how that might be changed with the design of a specific trail running outfit for the Laugavegur Ultra Marathon, one of the most popular trail running competition in Iceland (IBR, n.d.). The scope of this project has been summarized into one problem statement. How could a competition outfit help elite male trail runners finish the Laugavegur Ultra Marathon in a shorter time by improving running economy, carry necessary equipment and keep them safe in case of sudden change in weather?