Interview with TrailLevel: a performance scoring system for trail running
Trail running is much more than distance and finish time. Elevation gain, technical terrain, and mountain conditions make comparing performance between races a real challenge. This is exactly why TrailLevel was created — an innovative trail running platform and performance evaluation system designed to measure runners’ level in a fairer and more accurate way, both in races and during training.
To better understand this project, we spoke with Juan Fuego, one of the founders of TrailLevel, who explains how this trail running scoring system works, how it differs from well-known rankings such as ITRA or the UTMB Index, and how it can help both runners and race organizers plan their seasons and events more effectively.
An essential interview for anyone who wants to better understand their mountain performance and improve in trail running.
Q1. Can you explain to our readers what TrailLevel is and what motivated you to create this trail running platform?
TrailLevel is a trail running performance evaluation system. What motivated us to create it was mainly our desire to measure trail runners’ performance as fairly as possible, both in races and in training.
We all know that similar scoring systems already exist, but we felt something was missing — that it was possible to go further and provide runners with more detailed information and useful tools to better understand their real level in the mountains.
Q2. TrailLevel goes beyond distance and time by considering terrain, elevation, and technical difficulty. How is this scoring system calculated?
That’s exactly the complexity of trail running — it goes far beyond just distance and elevation gain, which makes performance comparison between races very difficult.
That’s why we created a calculator that takes into account distance, time, and elevation gain, while also allowing the user to select a technical difficulty coefficient. With these elements, we convert the effort into an equivalent flat distance and then transform it into points based on the time achieved.
This gives us a much clearer and fairer way to compare trail running performance regardless of the terrain or race profile.
Q3. There are already rankings such as ITRA or UTMB Index. What makes TrailLevel different or complementary?
Everyone knows systems like ITRA or the UTMB Index. Like them, we assign points to each runner’s performance in a race and create rankings based on those results.
However, as mentioned earlier, we wanted to go further. TrailLevel also scores training sessions, not only races. In addition, our calculator allows runners to enter distance, elevation, time, and technical difficulty to estimate their performance score for any effort.
It also works in reverse: based on a runner’s level (points), distance, and elevation, you can estimate a realistic finishing time for a race. This makes it a powerful planning tool for both athletes and coaches.
Q4. From a runner’s perspective, how can TrailLevel help with training and race selection?
This is a very broad area that we are only beginning to explore, and it has many possible applications.
By scoring training sessions, a coach can more easily understand an athlete’s level and plan race-specific preparation. TrailLevel can also help estimate race finishing times, which is useful for building weekly training volume in hours and planning nutrition strategies.
From there, we continue developing new features to make TrailLevel an increasingly useful training and performance analysis tool for trail runners.
Q5. How can TrailLevel help race organizers or trail running circuits?
TrailLevel can support race organizers in several ways:
First, it allows the estimation of finishing times for both top athletes and back-of-the-pack runners. This helps organizers adjust cut-off times and improve safety for runners and volunteers in the mountains.
Second, when races receive collaboration requests from athletes, TrailLevel provides a way to objectively evaluate runner level based on performance points.
Third, organizers can go beyond Strava segments and create partial or full race routes that runners can train on year-round while receiving performance scores for those efforts.
We are still in development, with more features coming soon, but we strongly believe TrailLevel can support nearly every aspect of trail running events.
Q6. Could TrailLevel be used to create regional or national trail running rankings?
Absolutely. We can create customized rankings based on the client’s needs.
This could include rankings for specific race circuits to evaluate athlete performance, or rankings across a region or country. It could even help selectors compare athletes’ performance without requiring everyone to race the same event.
Q7. What are the next steps for TrailLevel and your goals for 2026?
Our next major step is launching our mobile app, where users will be able to view global rankings, race scores, use the performance calculator, and see all their training sessions scored.
In terms of development, we are a very active team constantly thinking about how to improve the platform and offer new tools to trail runners. Our main goal is to reach as many people as possible and establish TrailLevel as a serious, innovative performance scoring system in trail running.
Conclusion
TrailLevel is positioning itself as an innovative solution to better understand trail running performance, both in races and in training, by providing a clearer picture of real mountain effort. With new features on the way and a mobile app in development, the platform aims to become a key reference for runners and race organizers in the coming years.