As trail runners, we often rely on luck as our primary safety strategy and a lot of the time it works. It works, until it doesn't. A lifetime spent in the mountains has shown time and time again that luck is not the best tool when things go sideways. This course, and this business, were developed as an answer to the need for the trail running community to be better educated and prepared to deal with injuries and illness in the backcountry.  This course is designed specifically for trail runners. The online coursework lays the broad foundation for wilderness medicine and the field session brings the learning into focus through the lens of trail running. We will spend time learning how to deal with the most common running injuries and illnesses, and techniques to improvise treatments with what trail runners commonly carry. We will also share what items you want to consider adding to your long run first aid kit. 

The course is split into two parts, a self paced online learning done through our partners at the International Mountain Medicine Center at the University of New Mexico and a field session that is set up to mimic what is experienced on a long run. It will take ten to twelve hours to complete the online content which needs to be done prior to the field session. The field session starts at 8:00 am and wraps up around 5:00pm. Details of the field session itinerary will be sent out in an email in the week leading up to the course, but you can plan on lacing up the running shoes, putting on the running vest, and covering some miles while we work through skills and scenarios done out on the trail.  The field session, held on Monday, June 6, 2026, will be conducted in and around Silverton, Colorado and will be done as a long run. Upon completion of the course, both the online and in person components, the participants will receive a certification card valid for two years.