Yes, we should find something to agree on. I think your suggestion could work, if everyone agrees, then I will make that the rule.

Yes, this is important. In my runs, I began the timer more or less as soon as I hit "New Game" However, for trails that need to be unlocked, it might have to be as soon as you enter the character select screen (Which is mostly the same)

Yes! Sorry for beating you, there was a chat about it in the Turok Speedrunning discord server (which can be found here: https://discord.gg/xRDU3bK) and I got it on here. Will be posting more runs of trails soon. I don't have any particular recommendations other than using NRage as your input plugin, disabling "Real N64 Range" and using "Deadpan" as the input style (if you're using a mouse). Can't wait to see your runs!