Jonathan Wyatt needs no introduction in mountain running circles. He's the eight time winner of the world mountain running grand prix series. Below, he offers seven tips to help road runners transition to trail. Running on changing, uneven terrain develops muscles that road running doesn’t really reach. The body responds to the terrain by using stabilizing muscles, balance and core. But transitioning from road to trail requires care. These seven tips will help you make the change. 1. Start progressively Following Killian Jornet up the Matterhorn might look like fun, but you’ll enjoy it more when you move up the technical scale over time, adding more technical and longer runs as your confidence and trail fitness increase. If a normal run for you is one hour on city streets then start by running 30 minutes road and 30 minutes trail to make a gradual transition. Start on easier trails before hitting the mountains, Wyatt says. ©Jonathan Wyatt 2. Shorter stride A soft and slippery trail will give a greater workout sometimes resulting in fatigue or strain in the hamstring area. Don’t fight against a slippery uphill or downhill, instead reduce your stride length and increase your leg speed (turnover) so you’re putting less power down through your feet on each step. This reduces slipping. Running on sand is a good way to train this. 3. Scan ahead Read the trail ahead and don’t just react to what’s immediately below you. With road running you can look at your feet, but not so out on the trails. You want to scan ahead rather than looking down at where your feet are going to land. By instead reading the terrain ahead, your feet will follow where your eyes are leading. 4. Learn to play the trail Look for good lines to find the most efficient part of the trail and use banking on corners for smooth, fast entry and exit speeds – especially downhill. Learn to play on the trail where you can use terrain features to slingshot out of corners, accelerate from downhill into ascents and, most importantly, to have fun! Trail running reduces overuse injuries common with roadrunners. ©Droz Photo 5. Care for your ankles Roadrunners often twist an ankle when they take on more technical running terrain. To improve ankle proprioception – eye-foot coordination – trying using a wobble board or practice standing on one foot, making sure the knee is centered over your second toe as you look down. Tendons and foot muscles can take a pounding if you’re not used to uneven terrain and these exercises strengthen them. Close your eyes and do slow knee bends to spice it up too. 6. Find local trails for your level Finding the best trails is not always easy so if you’re new to off-road running, talk to trail runners, go online or find popular routes in your area on Suunto App's heat maps to find suitable running trails. Remember safety is first, so you’ll need more equipment, preparation and common sense when running in the great outdoors. Jono Wyatt is an eight time winner of the world mountain running grand prix series. ©zooom.at/Markus Berger 7. Remember, hills are your friends The changing terrain will help you avoid overuse injuries that can occur when running on repetitive flat surfaces. Add more hills as you grow stronger off road. Remember too, the softer ground and grass on many trails also help to reduce the impact of downhill running on joints and muscles.

In the first episode of #SuuntoAdventure Video Series you will meet Swedish trail runner, ski mountaineer and mountain lover Emelie Forsberg.  Emelie is all smiles – but don't let that fool you: she is fiercely competitive, too. Read Emelie's profile here.  Watch also the other episodes in the series: Face to Face with Greg Hill – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 2 Face to Face with Kilian Jornet – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 3 Face to Face with William Trubridge – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 4 Face to Face with Conrad Stoltz – #SuuntoAdventure Video Series, Episode 5 

Talk to Emelie Forsberg and you'd think she's just another mountain-loving adventure girl with a fondness for baking home-made cookies. But behind the fun-loving Swede is a phenonenal podium-winning athlete – one who has excelled in several trail running disciplines – as well as competition ski-mountaineering. A three-time Sky Running World Series champion (2012-2014), Emelie exceeds at marathon and ultra distance events. These are mountain trail races which feature several thousand meters of vertical ascent and range from 30 to over 50 km long over terrain that can range from loose rock to high altitude snow fields. To mountain runners these are races that are steeped in legend and lore, races like Zegama, Pikes Peak, Kima and modern classics like Transvulcania and the Diagonale des Fous. She is fiercely competitive and has an impressive medal tally – too long to list here – but it's clear that winning is not her primary goal. “I'm not going to remember a win in 40 years time — I will remember the view or the feeling,” she says. There's a photo of her taken just before she crossed the finish line of the 80 km Mt Blanc marathon, a race that would crown her 2014 Skyrunning Ultra champion. It's distinctive for one feature – an enormous smile she can't contain. She looks as if she's just run a 5 k, far less a gruelling double marathon. “From my heart I can truly say I enjoyed every second of it,” she wrote on her Facebook page shortly afterwards: “Pure skyrunning. J´adore! I love!” It's Emelie's infectious love of running that shines through above all else. “It's hard to describe it's so good,” she says. “You get a really good feeling in your legs. You feel so light – you're just flowing over the ground. You feel like really wow, I could go on forever, or wow, what a great feeling.” It was this feeling that propelled her onto the professional circuit. One of her first wins was a local uphill mountain race in Norway's Yotunheimen national park in 2010. What is extraordinary is that prior to the race, and on the same day, Emelie decided to go for a run that became a 50 km ultra with 4,000 m of vertical. “I was free that day so thought I would run around,” she says by way of explanation. “It was super beautiful.” Not all races are beautiful experiences however. During the 2014 Kima she took a wrong turn and dropped from 1st to 5th position. She still finished 2nd. And besides official races, she's also a fan of the Fastest Known Time (FKT) movement, which are self-organized and (often) solo attempts to break speed records on mountains. In 2014 she set the overall record on Sweden's highest mountain Kebnekaise, shaving 15 minutes off the previous record. Big mountains play a big part in her life. When she's not competing Emelie loves to hang-out in the mountains, camping, hiking, climbing and skiing in winter. Of course, that also means competing on skis too, in the ski mountaineering world cup. Despite being a relative newcomer to the sport, 2015 brought Emelie her first podium, a third place in the Trofeo Marmotta. “I like to be out in the mountains in the winter too,” she says, “and this is just another way. The training is the same as before just different on skis. It's fun to race, it's good training – actually the hardest training I have ever done!” Where next for the Swedish athlete? Whatever it is, it's bound to involve some big mountain adventures. “The best times are when you're in the mountains, where the clock and the world outside don't count. Mountains are simplicity, freedom and responsibility — everything that I love!”

There are marathons and ultras. And then there’s Pat Sweeney’s personal challenge – a 5,000km run across America. The real-life Forrest Gump has been running steadily since January and is hoping to complete his epic west-to-east mission mid May in Boston. He tells us he’s having a great adventure and meeting some interesting characters along the way – including Elvis and several snakes… “I have picked up my mileage and am trying to now average around 40 miles (64 km) a day and even ran over 50 (80 km) on back to back days. The weather is getting better and my spirits are up. I ran through Arkansas then across the Mississippi river and up the Blues highway to Memphis Tennessee. I stopped at Graceland to see Elvis and am currently just south of Nashville.” Staying hydrated is vital to staying the distance. ©Pat Sweeney He adds: “Last week a sheriff in Mississippi let me stay in a tornado shelter when the weather was good. Then a couple days ago while in Tennessee there were actual tornado warnings in the area I was running. Storms come out of nowhere and I have got stuck in the hail a few times. It's now spring so it's fun to be outside and see the seasons change. Flowers are blossoming animals are getting frisky and I have seen seven snakes in the last two days.” Time to run – Sweeney enters the deep south.The Suunto supported runner is now clocking over 200 miles a week. “My body is tired and fatigued but I keep trudging along with a smile and look forward to each days adventure.I'm hoping now to finish my run in Boston by running the Boston Marathon course since I will be missing this year’s race. I should get there around May 10th if all goes well. It should be a lot of fun.”

It's the trend that has captured the imagination of runners the world over – setting FKTs, or Fastest Known Times – and ultra runner Ryan Sandes may have just created one of the most scenically spectacular routes. Continuing our series of athletes sharing their best efforts, the South African athlete goes behind the scenes on his most recent feat – an FKT across Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain. It's fair to say that Ryan Sandes is most at home on long distance trails and ultras. A year ago he and Ryno Griesel set an FKT of 41h 49m crossing the 220km Drakensberg mountains. Now, on familiar terrain but an unfamiliar distance the Suunto ambassador has just blasted a 15.1 km trail across the rocky spine of the Cape Peninsula in 2h 2m 13s. “The run starts with a massive climb up Llandudno Ravine to warm your lungs and legs up,” Ryan tells us. “This is a super technical climb to the top of Table Mountain with lots of rock stairs and scrambling. The views on top of Table Mountain are amazing and makes every drop of sweat getting up to the top worth while.” Ryan covers the 700 m ascent in 32 minutes, but the vertical isn't the only thing to worry about on the route. “Once on top of Table Mountain the route is a little flatter but it is not completely flat. It is very technical running along a single track which can be quite overgrown and seeing large snakes is a common occurrence. Once you get to the Valley of the Red Gods you have a few small ladders to negotiate before descending Platteklip Gorge. This is the hardest part of the run for me, as you have big rock stairs leading down Platteklip which kill your legs and you also have to constantly dodge tourists hiking up the mountain! Once on the contour path, the running is fairly fast to the finish but your legs will be feeling tired after the big descent off Table Mountain. The route is just under 16km, but is very slow moving and you can never get into any rhythm. But I love it as it is in my 'back garden' and I feel right at home.” All images ©Craig Kolesky/ Red Bull Content Pool

As the skimo season comes to a close, Kilian Jornet is hanging up his skis and turning his attention to the big adventures ahead for the 2015 summer season. Quite literally, one stands out above all the rest: Everest. As part of his Summits of My Life project, which has seen him set speed records on seven mountains around world, Everest will be the project’s tallest order yet.Jornet is heading to Everest for his first time during the Himalayan climbing season, this spring, to begin what he says will be a long, patient process of preparation and discovery.“I conceive of this trip to Everest as a chance to learn,” Jornet says. “To really get to know the mountain and its surroundings and to learn everything my colleagues can teach me. And which photographer took this shot? Kilian himself! “I don’t know when we will be able to attempt the challenge as that will depend very much on the weather, acclimatization and the conditions we find there. I’m taking this first trip as an opportunity to learn.”His first visit to the highest mountain in the world will be focused on becoming familiar with the area, the planned route and, crucially, the effects of altitude. Everest will be Jornet’s first 8,000m mountain. Completing a rapid ascent on his first expedition is not something he says is on the cards. “We know we have a long way ahead of us,” he says. “I think this will be a long-term project that we hope to complete in the coming years.” Depending on weather conditions, Jornet will attempt the ascent either via Norton Pass or Hornbein Couloir – both rarely climbed routes. After he’s returned from the roof of the world, Jornet's plan is to hit the trail running scene in Europe and the US. He is not joining any fixed competitive circuit, but will run the races that most inspire him.His first race of the season will be the Mount Marathon in Alaska, one of the oldest in the world. It’s a vertical race to the top of the race’s namesake, Mount Marathon (922m), on US Independence Day. Next, he’s running in the Hardrock (USA), followed by the Tromsö Skyrace (Norway), the Sierre Zinal (Switzerland), the Skaala Uphill (Norway) and then finally, back on his home turf, the Ultra Pirineu in the Pyrenees. Main image shows Kilian on Denali. ©Summits of my Life