Dan Keeley, Adventure-Runner, mental health activist and Founder of Sevenoaks Trail-Runners, started the group in 2018; he had a hunch that there would be hundreds of other trail-runners across the Sevenoaks District who shared the same passion for trail-running as he does and he was right.
Dan has a background in sport and after a solo running adventure from the Colosseum in Rome back to the London Eye in 2017, he has been obsessed with trail running ever since. He loves to see the local community enjoy the sport, by making the most of the woodlands, gravel paths, open fields and the endless views Sevenoaks has to offer.
Even with 170+ members, the Sevenoaks Trail-Runners group is still a very relaxed space; there are no membership fees or commitments and anyone is welcome to join the brilliant, ‘Tribe’ as Dan, ‘Tribe Leader’ calls the group. Group runs are organised where possible and members use the group to share local routes, kit recommendations, trail-running races and events (which there are hundreds of all over the UK) and post to see if anyone wants to join them on their individual runs.
The community and social aspect of the group is undoubtedly special, reflected even more so by what Michele Tansley and co have created with the Sevenoaks Running Forum and their 1.2k members, plus the other dozen or so fantastic running tribes in the local area such as MOJO fitness, Oaks Blokes and more. Any new runner, whatever their fitness level or ability, will be made to feel incredibly welcome if they’re keen to join the entire connected tribe of runners which make up the Sevenoaks running community, trail or otherwise. They are forever looking for more way to make the group more social, (Dan told us, ‘Trails and Ales has a great sound to it”), so with the easing of restrictions they’re looking to host a few social events with a little running on the side.
CommunityAd asked Dan how he would describe the sport in his own words, to understand from his perspective why the sport is so much fun, and he said: “Trail-running is running off-road on unpaved surfaces. Remember running through the woods as a kid? It’s that. But it’s also so much more than that: it’s escapism, reconnecting with nature, reconnecting to our purest form of physical movement and arguably the most accessible form of physical activity which the vast majority of us can start enjoying with minimal costs and without any specialist kit or training when starting out.
“I love trail-running for all these reasons but above all else it’s the sense of flow, purity and challenging myself in nature which I know is shared by every other trail-runner out there.”
Mentally and physically the benefits are endless; it gives your mind the chance to be completely present and in the moment, forgetting all of one’s troubles. You can simply enjoy nature and a superb exercise for your body and mind. Dan would encourage anyone to grab their trainers and go and find your nearest trail for a little jog, be that solo or with friends & family. Your future self will thank you for it.
If trail running sounds like the perfect sport for you then join the ever-growing community of runners in Sevenoaks on their Facebook page. They also have the Sevenoaks Trail-Runners group on Strava where they can track and celebrate everyone’s activities and favourite routes, so make sure to join them if you’re on Strava also. More generally, for anyone looking to start trail-running, just punch ‘trail-running’ into YouTube for inspiration then grab your trainers, find a local trail and have fun. You will be hooked before you know it!