Trail running is thriving as a niche sport and lucrative sport tourism concept around the world. Whether it is for personal conquer, the experience of pure nature or just to stay healthy it is growing as a sport. The purpose of this exploratory study is to give an insight to the essence of trail running and what regulates the sport in Sweden. It also aims to investigate the impact of sport tourism and analyze trail race organizers perception of trail running as a potential lucrative business in Swedish mountain areas.     Data was collected and interviews were held with six different trail race organizers. This study gives an insight to the sport trail running itself, what rules regulate it, the impact of sport tourism on local tourism and investigate trail running event organizers  perception of trail running as a potentially successful niche of sport tourism in Swedish mountain areas.    This study show that trail running is an autonomous sport practiced in diverse terrain with not more than 20% hardened surface. The sport is regulated by ITRA and as a niche sport it can benefit both tourism and society. The interviews performed indicate that most of the organizers believe in trail running as a potentially successful niche of sport tourism when the right conditions are in place. Tough there are several indications why this could be difficult in certain areas in northern Sweden. This study is valuable for the development of niche sport tourism, like trail running, in Swedish mountain areas.

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Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68).