越野跑为什么火了：放下配速表，更多跑者转向山径

When Taylor Abrams hit her mid-30s, she started getting serious about road running. She worked diligently to run a sub-three-hour marathon in 2024 but had a hard time repeating the magic in 2025. Stressing about her paces and splits, she started feeling burnt out and unmotivated. On a mission to make running fun again, Abrams took to the trails in Marin County, California, where she’d been living for two years.

Today, at 39, the mom of three leans on the sport to explore, be adventurous, and feel like a kid again as she zooms down the hills. She’s rejuvenated her relationship with running—and many others are doing the same, for similar reasons.

Running in general has boomed over the past three to five years, and trail running is no longer hiding in the shadows of glamorous road races—it has fully entered the mainstream. The sport is growing annually by 8 percent, with more people entering races like the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, which has 2.4 times more participants now than it did in 2022. The fan base is growing as well: The 2026 Cocodona 250-mile race amassed over 1.4 million total views on its livestream, compared with 841,000 in 2025. Those are extreme ultra-based examples, yes, but there’s also this: The number of athletes who uploaded trail runs on Strava increased when comparing the first half of 2025 with the first half of 2022, with female users logging twice as many trail runs in 2025 as in 2024. Over on the AllTrails app, trail running has gone up by 11 percent since August 2024. And the entire trail running market is worth over $14 billion—even everyday fitness brands like Lululemon and Alo are now dropping trail-specific shoes.

Women like Abrams are gravitating to the sport because we’re “looking for a different relationship with running,” says Alysha Flynn, a Road Runners Club of America–certified running coach specializing in performance, sustainable training, and the realities of women’s lives, and the founder of What Runs You. By nature, trail running requires you to let go of pacing and PR pressure (and comparing yourself to others) and instead just enjoy the challenge. Here’s what else is behind the boom.

Staying Present

Being in nature does wonders for your mental health, research shows, and those benefits increase tenfold with trail running. It requires you to drop your speed, concentrate on the terrain, and stay present, which can feel almost meditative. “The focus is really on the now,” says Noel B. Salazar, PhD, a professor of social and cultural anthropology and the founder of the Cultural Mobilities Research (CuMoRe) cluster at KU Leuven in Belgium. “It triggers a kind of mental re-pacing.”

This process can help take your mind off life pressures. (Finances! Scary headlines! Uncertainty about the future!) “Trail running is seen as a meaningful activity in a world where people feel increasingly overwhelmed,” Salazar adds. “People seem to be craving activities where they are in direct contact with their bodies in the environment.”

This feeling is something Megan Gorsky, 24, experienced on her first trail run in college. Subconsciously focusing on the nature and environment around her, she was shocked at how the time passed. “You’ll hit five miles before you thought you were at three—it goes by so much quicker,” she says.

On the trails, women are able to reframe running. Relationships become “built around effort, exploration, and adventure, rather than constantly chasing pace or comparing themselves,” says Flynn. We get the chance to ask ourselves questions like “How do I feel today?” “Can I stay calm as the terrain is changing?” “Can I adapt?”

The Art of Disconnection

These days, it’s almost unheard of to run without a wearable or not upload a run to Strava. “We’re getting burnt out by chasing metrics,” says Flynn. However, trail running is naturally less of a data-driven sport. Because you run at an inconsistent pace, many runners leave wearables (and music or podcasts) at home, Salazar adds.

Instead, you’re dialed in to your next step. “Notifications, music, and constant watch checking disappear,” Flynn says. “It’s almost like permission to let go and allow the terrain to dictate your effort.” As such, the stakes are lower and you don’t have to worry about shaving a minute from your mile time. You can just listen to your body, adds Stefanie Flippin, DPM, a run coach with over 15 years of coaching experience, a foot and ankle surgeon, and a professional trail and ultrarunner for Lululemon based in Pine, Colorado.

Abrams notices she’s less stressed on the trails because she’s just trying to have fun. “I put a lot of pressure on myself about running for a hobby,” she says. “It takes the pressure off, to not feel like you have to be hitting certain paces when you’re bouncing around in the woods.”

All Eyes—and Hearts—on Trails

When Dr. Flippin started trail running 15 years ago, there weren’t many opportunities to livestream races. “Now you can follow races in real time,” she says. That’s changed the game for trail running’s exposure. This year, over a million people watched Rachel Entrekin become the first woman to win the Cocodona 250-mile race. “That’s a really inspiring aspect for women, too, just to see that, ‘Oh, you know what? She’s doing this. She’s at the front of the pack here,’  ” she adds. “We can’t really see that in any other sport that’s endurance-based.”

With more exposure comes more money from major brands, especially following the 2021 decision to permit collegiate athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. So, in addition to pros, college athletes are being offered contracts for cross-country, steeplechase, mountain running, and track and field. “We’re definitely going to be seeing more and more of that with trail brands stepping in,” says Dr. Flippin. (Particularly for athletes whose main goal is to go from the NCAA into professional trail running.)

As visibility increases, many long-held beliefs are falling away. Historically, women have been told that our bodies can’t handle running, especially long distances. (Women weren’t allowed to run marathons until the 1970s.) However, research shows that female runners actually have greater durability and physiological resilience than our male counterparts, per a small recent study in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. “There’s something really empowering about being able to summit mountain peaks and take on more intimidating terrain,” says Dr. Flippin.

That’s part of the reason Gorsky was hooked on trail running almost instantly. “When you start to see how your body is able to climb so much elevation and go far, it’s insane to see how you adapt,” she says. “You get to know yourself pretty well.” With the right fueling, she has learned to go higher and longer than she ever thought possible.

The solo endeavor payoff is great, sure, but the community one might be even better: “Trail running tends to be more relaxed and community-focused” than road running, says Dr. Flippin. You might get judged for walking on an uphill stretch during a road race, but not on trails: Slowing down to hike up a hill is a real strategy. “The community emphasizes sharing the experience rather than proving yourself,” Flynn adds.

Yssis Davis, 30, loves spending time outside and has been running for over a decade, but she doesn’t feel safe doing so in her current neighborhood in Los Angeles. However, when she found Hike Clerb, a local outdoor collective for women of color, on Instagram, she decided to take the plunge and finally start trail running. She was intimidated, but having that crew by her side helped her feel more confident, she says. And as more women go trail, those communities are poised to grow in the U.S.—and around the world.

How to Transition From Road to Trail

Trail running is “a totally different type of running” than road running, says Salazar. You’re working on your core stability and ankle and foot strength as you constantly land in different positions; there’s also less impact. “It’s less repetitive on the body, so there tends to be less of an injury risk,” says Dr. Flippin. Adapt your technique from pavement to path:

Start simple.

Social media is full of misconceptions about trail running, says Flynn. (Hint: It’s not always running 100 miles up a mountain in your most expensive gear!) To make it feel more accessible, run just a few miles in a grassy field or a local nature preserve. “Go out there with the expectation that you are not trying to run the trail the same way you do roads,” she adds. Her number one tip: “Leave your pace expectations at home.” Stay open-minded and become a student again.

Lock in.

You have to “be more intentional” with trail than road running, says Dr. Flippin. “You can’t just be daydreaming and looking out at the terrain or else you might risk a fall.” Keep your focus several yards ahead to anticipate upcoming rocks or trees, and look down if you need to.

Don’t fight it.

“New trail runners tend to struggle with descending on more technical trails because there’s a greater risk for falling,” says Dr. Flippin. “The natural inclination is to lean back and tense up the quads in order to ‘brake.’  ” The better option: Lean into the downhill and allow gravity to assist you.

Before you hit the trails, run a downhill stretch on the road. “Practice picking up your pace and running a little bit quicker on a non-technical downhill first so that you’re reinforcing good mechanics,” says Dr. Flippin. “Then, start building in faster efforts on more technical downhill terrain.” Over time, you’ll build confidence—and speed. (On the flip side, if you need to slow down and hike an uphill climb, that’s part of trail running, too, and doesn’t make you any less of a runner, she adds.)

Level up cross-training.

“We usually see more elevation gain and more descent with trail running,” says Dr. Flippin. (Also: fewer flat stretches.) So make sure you’re doing lower-body strength work during the week to build up quad and calf strength. Also throw some plyometrics into your routine, which will help you navigate more technical terrain.

Happy Feet

The right shoe is key. For beginners, avoid max-cushion sneakers—you’ll feel more stable on the ground, Dr. Flippin says. Also, look for shoes with pronounced lugs on the bottom to provide grip. A few of our favorites:

This hybrid road-trail shoe is versatile and will support your feet through routes that alternate between pavement and trails.

The grip is solid on wet rock and mud, all while keeping your feet dry.

These feel stable on rocks and secure on your feet even when you’re descending, per Flynn, who wore them for 48 miles on the Grand Canyon’s rocky trails, loose sand, and steep climbs.

The ultra-plush, thick cushioning will spare your feet on tough terrain while stopping them from underpronating—which is common as you cruise over sticks and tree trunks.

Size Matters
Experts recommend going down a half-size in trail shoes compared to road ones. “That tends to take away the potential element of catching your toe on rocks and roots,” says Dr. Flippin.

Community Connect

“Some people equate trail running to ultrarunning,” says Dr. Flippin. But “you can run a trail 10K, 5K, or half-marathon, and that is 100 percent still trail running.” A few groups to help you find your match…

Trail Sisters​

This hiking and trail running community built for women has groups and races, ranging from 5Ks to 200-milers, across the country.

C.U.S.S. Running​

The Chicago-based group infuses whimsy into running through coaching, trail races starting at 5 miles, and a number of free race entries for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ athletes.

The Active Joe​

This group hosts affordable, beginner-friendly races ranging from 5 to 100 miles for runners and walkers around Dallas-Fort Worth. They encourage female, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, older, and slower-paced athletes to join.

Trail Animals Running Club​

The largest trail and ultrarunning community in the Northeast, this nonprofit hosts 5Ks to 100-milers across eastern Massachusetts on a variety of terrains.

Trail Mixed Collective​

This collective is for like-minded women of color on the West Coast who want to make friends and inspire one another to try new things—whether it’s running together or volunteering outdoors.

 Addison Aloian is the associate health & fitness editor at Women’s Health, where she writes and edits across the health, weight loss, and fitness verticals. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City—she recently completed her first marathon, the 2025 New York City Marathon—and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women's Health, she’s made an appearance on the Oprah Podcast and her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L'Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more.