Endurance Grid lists 22 trail running races in Illinois, from October 2026 to August 2027 across 19 cities.
The trail running race calendar in Illinois is busiest in December, January, and May, with races most often in Lemont, Rockford, and Chicago.
Trail running takes the sport off the pavement and onto dirt trails, singletrack, fire roads, and mountain paths. It’s quieter than a road race. Depending on the course, you might spend long stretches alone with the woods and your own breathing.
If you already run roads, trails are a natural next step, but they ask for different things: power on the climbs, control on the descents, and attention to every footfall. There’s a distance for every level, from a rolling trail 5K to 100-mile mountain ultras.
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