Trail Running Technical KO (TRTKO) is a universal trail and ultra running discipline that challenges athletes to constantly improve, be it during a single TRTKO run or between multiple ones. TRTKO can be organized as a formal event or an informal group run. TRTKO can be a single-day trail run or a multi-day ultra run. This website outlines TRTKO criteria and records all approved TRTKO trails as well as completed TRTKO runs regardless of where one is located.
TRTKO brings together runners of different endurance and speed abilities. Due to a 5km multiple-lap format with only one aid station and eliminating always negative splits (EANS) on a rolling single-track trail with non-negligent elevation change, TRTKO is the first trail and ultra run that is all:
- friendly to compete in, yet a challenge to complete (without a TKO, due to EANS),
- easy to organize (with minimum trail marking needs, and clear maximum time duration set in advance),
- fun for fans (who enjoy the regular presence of lapping and gasping runners on multiple occasions).
TRTKO's mission is to share the joy of trail and ultra running with public irrespective of their experience or location. TRTKO believes that one can find suitably hilly trails in any location, even within relatively flat urban environments such as Toronto, ON, Canada where TRTKO originated in 2019. With a little bit of endurance and determination, anyone can finish one or more TRTKO laps and improve over time, with decreasing time.
Whether you are a runner, or a local event organizer, or a fan of the sport, you should join the TRTKO mission. With multiple trails and completed runs tracked globally in any weather, TRTKO may one day become the first discipline to fulfill both the summer and winter Olympic Games criteria. Rain or shine, ice or mud, we always climb up!