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Think walking is anathema to trail running? You’re wrong. It’s all a matter of degrees. Even the world’s best trail runners walk when the terrain, slope, and distance dictate they do so. And we’re not just talking about ultramarathons. For instance, during the 12-kilometer 2010 World Mountain Running Championships, Max King, the second American on the silver-winning US team, “didn’t walk much, but there was a steep two-mile section of which I walked probably 10 percent. I never like to [walk], but sometimes it just makes sense.”

As humans, we have two primary forms of bipedal locomotion: running and walking. As a general rule, walking is more energy-efficient at slower speeds, while running is more efficient at faster speeds. This principle does not change when we start charging up a hill. The constant tug of gravity does, however, reduce the speed at which the transition from running to walking occurs—for two reasons.

First, there’s the physics of the two modes of travel while gravity is pulling us down. Running is essentially a series of bounds separated by a moment of suspension. During the suspension phase, gravity accelerates us downward, which results in a “tall” parabolic arc with an increased vertical component. We use significant energy to launch ourselves into the suspension phase against the pull of gravity. On the other hand, walking lacks a moment of suspension. Instead, we travel in a series of “flatter” circular arcs. When we run up a hill, we need to exaggerate the height of the flight phase, while there is no flight phase to exaggerate when walking uphill. Krissy Moehl, winner of the mountainous Hardrock 100 and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, succinctly crystallized this concept: “Walking takes the bouncing out of your stride.”

Second, as a hill’s gradient increases, so will the effort required to run up it. In longer races, the effort needed to run a particular incline may exceed the average effort a runner will optimally expend during the race and, therefore, burn through fuel stores too fast. In shorter races, it might simply be impossible to continue running up a steep pitch.

Before figuring out when you should walk while trail running, you must first decide that you are willing to walk. This might be more difficult for runners who have primarily run shorter distances or who have come from a road running background. Know that you’re not swallowing your pride when you walk. You’re simply taking part in an activity that includes both running and walking.

Once you have embraced (or at least accepted) the idea of walking while trail running, you need to decide when to walk. Look for two clues. To start, if your breathing is ragged, that’s an excellent sign that you should be walking. In addition, unless you’re nearing the finish, if you’re running up a hill and everyone around you is walking, take a hint from them. Tonya Olson, an ultrarunner and physical therapist, shares a lesson she learned early in her ultrarunning career: “If everyone experienced in a sport is engaging in an activity, then maybe you should, too.”

As you gain experience with walking during trail runs, you should build awareness of what perceived effort you can or want to exert throughout an entire outing. If you try to maintain an even effort on the ups, flats, and, downs, you’ll know to downshift from running to walking up a hill when your effort goes much above your target. Obviously, this target effort tends to be harder in racing than in training and harder in shorter runs than in longer ones.

Indeed, in increasingly long ultras, runners will mix walking into flat stretches and even into descents. For some, running a regimented time-based run–walk pattern makes sense from the gun. They know they can’t run the entire way and acknowledge that a Galloway marathon approach will serve them well in the long haul. For most, the final half of a 100-miler involves significant stretches of walking. This walking is often more out of necessity than design.

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