How to become a trail race director, according to someone who created 12 races without a plan

(Main photo by Kevin Roberts. Race directing photo by Michael Jordan. Detail photo and profile photo by Sam Wright. Race photo at bottom by Howie Stern.)

By Henry Howard

Shalini Bhajjan is a pioneer, entrepreneur and an adventurer.

Her path to becoming a race director started without a plan. But over the course of more than 12 years, she has created a dozen trail and ultra races in and around St. Louis, giving the community something it lacked previously. Among the races her Terrain Trail Runners team puts on are the Ozark Foothills Endurance Runs, the Rockin' Rockwoods 53K and others on Missouri trails.

Bhajjan has pushed forward with a blend of “curiosity, stubbornness and a growing love for the sport.” Up next for her is creating a kids trail race as a way to foster the next generation of trail and ultra runners in Missouri.

For her contributions to trail and ultra races, she is my featured race director for June, the 30^th in this series. In January 2024, I kicked off this monthly feature to pay tribute to the trail and ultra race directors who make the sport great.

To see previous RDs featured, they are all available here. If you have any nominations, feel free to email me here or fill out this form.

I had previously interviewed Bhajjan for this profile story, and I was stoked to learn about how she followed her passion to become a trail race director.

Shalini Bhajjan, Terrain Trail Runners race director

Question: Why did you get into race directing? 

Answer: When I started running ultras, I spent a lot of time exploring St. Louis-area trails. The more I ran, the more I realized two things:

1) Our trail systems are wildly underappreciated.

2) I was apparently the only one out there asking, “Why aren’t there more trail ultras on these trails?”

That innocent question snowballed. One thing led to another, and suddenly I’d been race directing for 12+ years and hosting a dozen annual events across St. Louis parks, including places where no race had ever been held before. In some of those parks, I’m still the only person with permits, which either makes me a pioneer or someone who didn’t read the fine print closely enough.

Somewhere along the way, I fell completely in love with the sport. And once that happened, the only logical next step was to drag other people into that love by designing unique events and course layouts that show off the trails I care about.

So that’s why I do it. Because the trails deserve attention. Because the community deserves great races. And because apparently no one stopped me early enough.

Question: How did you get your start as an RD? Tell us how to become a trail race director.

Answer: I got my start as an RD the same way a lot of questionable adventures begin: by being a self-starter with absolutely no grand plan in sight. I stumbled into it, made mistakes, picked myself up, redirected, made more mistakes and learned something new every time. Basically, if there was a wrong turn to take — metaphorical or on the course — I took it at least once.

Somehow, through all that chaos, I became the only person who can truly explain this madness and why it started. There was no master blueprint, no five-year vision board, no “future race director” career day moment. Just curiosity, stubbornness and a growing love for the sport that kept pulling me forward.

Question: What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned about yourself since you became an race director? 

Answer: I’ve learned that relentless forward progress isn’t just a trail-running mantra, it’s basically my entire personality at this point. Becoming an RD taught me that no one is coming to save you, no one is handing you a roadmap, and the only way through the chaos is to keep moving, even when everything feels uphill.

I learned how invaluable real support is. The kind that comes from a tight circle of people who don’t judge you for the mistakes you make, because they’ve seen you get back up every single time. Those are the people who matter. Everyone else is just background noise.

And speaking of noise, I’ve learned to tune it out. To put my head down, stay fearless, and keep doing the work that gives my life meaning — running and race directing. Critics are always plentiful. Advice is always free. But like they say: try running a day in my shoes before you tell me how to tie them.

That’s the biggest thing I’ve learned about myself: I’m built for this. The chaos, the pressure, the passion, the purpose. All of it.

Question: What’s your best piece of advice for someone who wants to be a race director? 

Answer: The best advice I can give someone who wants to become an RD is simple: know your why and hold onto it with both hands. Fearlessly protect what you believe in. This sport has plenty of copy-and-paste ideas floating around, but the magic happens when you bring something uniquely yours to the table — the ideas others believe are too hesitant, too cautious, or too unimaginative to try.

Don’t waste time trying to replicate someone else’s blueprint. Be original. Be bold. Be the person who brings the weird, the wonderful, and the unexpected to the forefront. Like the saying goes: Be yourself; everyone else is taken. I live by that.

And never forget where you came from. Your roots — your why — are the foundation you’ll build everything on. Anyone can mimic an idea and dress it up to look “new,” but authenticity is something you can’t fake. It’s what keeps you grounded when things get chaotic and what keeps your events meaningful instead of mechanical.

So my advice? Know your why. Stay true to it. And build from there.

Question: What’s your favorite race to direct? 

Answer: Ozark Foothills Endurance Runs is, without exaggeration, a logistical nightmare. It’s the kind of event that mocks your planning, and dares you to stay calm. But the controlled chaos, wild course layout and the fact that I somehow operate best under pressure are exactly what makes organizing this race special.

In 12 years of directing this event, I have never wrapped up an Ozark Foothills weekend and said, “Well, that went seamless.” Not once. This race has a personality of its own, and it keeps me on my toes every single year.

But here’s the thing: nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy. The work, the effort, the sleepless nights, the months of planning — that’s the price of creating something meaningful. And Ozark Foothills is absolutely worth it. It’s my labor of love, my annual test of grit, and the event that reminds me why I do what I do.

It’s messy, it’s demanding, it’s unpredictable — and it’s mine.

Question: What’s your favorite race to run?

Answer: If I had to pick one race to run — just one — I’d go back to Fat Dog 120 any day. That course, that challenge, that whole experience is the kind of race that sticks with you long after your legs have forgiven you.

It’s brutal in all the right ways and beautiful in all the ways that matter. If someone said “pack your gear, we’re heading back,” I wouldn’t even hesitate.

Question: Tell me about a funny experience as an RD and what you learned from it. 

Answer: One of the funniest things I’ve dealt with recently was a runner who showed up to pace, except they didn’t actually have a runner to pace. They had signed up online as a pacer, saw that it was free, and assumed it meant they could just show up and hop into the race like it was a group run with timing chips.

Trying to explain the concept of “you need an actual runner to pace” turned into a 10-minute back-and-forth that felt like an   routine. They kept insisting, “But I signed up to pace!” and I kept repeating, “Yes, but you need a runner.” Round and round we went until I finally surrendered and said, as politely as possible, that without a runner to pace, they could not pace.

It was equal parts frustrating and enlightening. And like all good RD mishaps, it turned into a process improvement. We now have a new question on the pacer registration form: “Who are you pacing?” Hopefully that keeps future confusion at bay or at least gives me fewer comedy sketches to perform at 2 a.m. on race weekend.

What I learned? Never underestimate the creativity of runners, especially when something is free.

Question: If a runner can only do one of your races ever, it would be ..: 

Answer: If a runner could only do one of my races, I’d have to choose Rockin’ Rockwoods 53K. It’s one of the very first races I ever directed and one of the first courses I ever laid out myself, so it carries a lot of history and heart for me. But sentiment aside, it’s just a fantastic test piece. It’s challenging, gritty, and gives runners a true taste of what the relentless Missouri hills are all about.

You get everything — technical terrain, flowy sections, constant ups and downs that never really let you settle, and that classic September combo of heat and humidity that grinds you down in the most character-building way.

Rockin’ Rockwoods is the full Missouri trail experience in one race. It’s raw, it’s honest, and it’s the kind of course that stays with you long after you’ve crossed the finish.

If someone only had one shot to understand what my events — and our trails — are all about, this would be the one.

Question: What exciting project do you have in the works?

Answer: Right now, the most exciting project in the works is a kids-only trail race — a 1.5-mile and 5K event at a brand-new park system where we’ve never hosted a trail race before. The idea actually came from Chris Nosal, one of our Terrain Trail Runners crew. I’m fully on board because it builds something we desperately need: a sense of adventure for the next generation of trail weirdos.

We’ve got kids’ triathlons, kids’ road races, kids’ fun runs. But a kids-only trail race? That’s something we’ve never had in our community. So bringing this to life has been genuinely exciting. It’s new, it’s different, and it gives young runners a chance to experience the magic (and the mud) of the trails in a way that’s all their own.

We’re aiming to launch it in November 2026, and honestly, I can’t wait. If we want the sport to grow, we have to plant the seeds early. This race feels like the perfect way to do that.

Question: Where can runners find out more about your races? 

Answer: www.terraintrailrunners.com