Trail Athlete Fund
Trail Athlete Fund
Supported trail and ultra race entries for runners of color, with clear guidance from application through registration.
- Support
- Supported race entry
- Audience
- Runners of color
- Application
- 5 required written responses; 1 conditional response
- Limit
- One every six months
Choose a supported race and distance that fit your training, travel, timing, and next step.
If accepted, Tierra Libre Run works through the partner registration path so the entry is confirmed and usable.
This is not a reimbursement pool. Choose a currently supported race and distance. Staff read every application; decisions and requests arrive by email, and your dashboard keeps the current status.
What the fund does
A funded entry should make the race easier to enter and easier to understand.
Trail running can feel like a sport you were supposed to inherit. If nobody handed you the context, the entry fee is only one barrier.
We start with the entry because it is specific. Then we build around race choice, registration, waiver, course context, deadlines, and race day logistics.
How it works
From race choice to race day.
The fund turns support into a named race entry, then makes that entry easier to navigate.
01 / Choose
Pick a supported race.
Start with the race list. Choose a distance, date, and travel plan that make sense now.
02 / Apply
Tell us what the race would make possible.
Your draft saves to your account while you complete 5 required written responses; 1 conditional response. The prompts cover the race, your context, and the support you need.
03 / Register
Accepted athletes complete the packet.
If selected, you complete the packet and waiver. Tierra Libre Run then confirms the entry through the race partner’s registration path.
04 / Prepare
Race context comes with the bib.
We help with course expectations, race day logistics, and details that are easy to miss.
Race guidance
A bib gets a runner on the list. Context helps them understand the race they are entering.
Access is built or lost in the details between application, partner registration, and race day.
Eligibility
Who should apply.
You do not need a long trail resume. You do need a supported race that makes sense and a real commitment to use the entry.
Who
Runners of color age 18 and older.
This fund exists for runners ready to race when cost and context are the barrier.
Race fit
A supported race you can actually prepare for.
Strong applications name a race and distance that fit current training, travel, and life.
Use
A real plan to start.
The award is for athletes who can communicate, complete the packet, prepare, and use the entry.
Race partners
Where the fund goes to work.
Race directors make the fund real by opening supported entries.
Supporters
The people paying for real starts.
Brand and donor support pays for entries, operations, and accountability.
Beyond the first start
The entry is the door. The pathway keeps going.
The pathway moves from participation toward knowledge, coaching, race leadership, and public accountability.
Coaches
Trail Coaching Fund
Certification and cohort support for coaches who can make trail knowledge easier to reach.
Race builders
Race Director Fellowship
A fellowship in development for learning the operational side of trail and ultra events.
Sport work
Trail Futures Summit
A gathering in development for the people doing concrete access work across the sport.
Apply
Choose the race. Apply for the entry.
The application starts with a supported race and moves toward a paid entry with usable race context.