Sustainability Assessment of Trail Running Events in Romania: Insights From Race Regulations and Location Data

Outdoor sports are increasing in popularity and expanding into areas of outstanding biodiversity and rural character in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. In this study, we address the consideration given to sustainability in the guidelines and regulations developed by trail running event organizers to better understand their awareness and care for biodiversity and local communities. First, we assessed the regulations prescribed by Romanian race organizers against the recommendations developed by 2 key international trail running associations and against a comprehensive set of indicators designed for the certification of trail running events. Second, we employed text mining to analyze event descriptions and regulations. Third, we delved into track data for each event, scrutinizing the geographical proximity to protected areas. We found sustainability was poorly addressed by event organizers. We propose a set of principles for implementing more sustainable races in regions with exceptional biodiversity, wilderness areas, and rural character.