Is Trail Running Really a $20 Billion Industry?
A Look from the Gear Aisle.
A recent article stirred up the trail running world by claiming that our beloved sport has grown into a $20 billion industry. Shoes, gear, races, gels, content creators — all contributing to what now apparently rivals the GDP of a small country.
Working for a performance brand deeply embedded in the sport, I read that headline with a mix of curiosity, cautious optimism… and the kind of squint you make when your GPS watch tells you you’ve only run 3.1 km but your legs say 30.
So, are the numbers real? And more importantly, what do they mean for the rest of us?
The $20 Billion Breakdown (Spoiler: Shoes Rule the Kingdom)
Let’s give credit where it’s due: the estimates are not just made up. According to various market reports:
Trail running shoes alone are worth somewhere between $7.3 billion and $8 billion globally in 2023. Some reports even push that to $12B+ by 2032.
(Allied Market Research,
Spherical Insights)In the U.S., running and walking wear reached over $20 billion in 2023. And that’s without counting GPS watches, hydration vests, or the $70 “nutrition starter packs” we all pretend to use.
(Grand View Research)Add media, races, nutrition, content, events — and yes, we’re probably dancing around that $20B global figure with trail shoes leading the conga line.
What It Feels Like Inside the Industry
Here’s the funny thing. From the inside, it doesn’t feel like we’re all floating on billion-dollar clouds. Most of us working with athletes, events, or product teams are still doing the occasional hotel-room gear drop at 11pm the night before a race.
Yes, trail running is growing. Yes, it has momentum. But…
Margins are tight.
Innovation is expensive.
Marketing is increasingly noisy.
Companies sponsor athletes who win iconic races and still take night shifts somewhere else. Companies design incredible shoes that disappear from shelves in five minutes — but only if you can get shelf space to begin with.
This is not me complaining. It’s just the honest reality of a “booming” industry that still relies heavily on grit, love for the sport, and a whole lot of spreadsheets.
The Business We’re Really In
Sometimes I think what we’re selling isn’t shoes, or gels, or tech shirts. It’s something less tangible: the feeling of being out there. Of choosing mud over meetings. Of finding identity in altitude. That’s what built this space. Not TikToks or tiered start waves or energy gels with more ingredients than your grandma’s stew. So if we’re a $20 billion industry now, maybe the better question is: what kind of $20 billion industry do we want to be?
Brand Perspective: A Word from the Mud
As someone who’s part of a global performance brand, we see both the upside and the trap.
The upside?
Better shoes. Bigger stages. Real investment in athletes. Community on a larger scale.
The trap?
Commodifying something that, at its core, resists commodification. Because let’s face it, no one started trail running for the market trends.
My take? Keep building. Keep growing. But don’t forget to pack the values that made this whole thing worth it. Otherwise, we’re just running laps around a number.
Final Thought
Maybe trail running is worth $20 billion. But that’s just the surface. The real worth — the one we feel in our lungs and quads and conversations at aid stations — that’s something no market report can fully capture.
Let’s make sure we grow the right way. Because at the end of the day, this sport wasn’t built on quarterly projections — it was built on people who just really, really love to run through the mountains.
📊 References:
Allied Market Research – Trail Running Shoes Market Size 2022–2032
https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/trail-running-shoes-market-A10228Grand View Research – U.S. Walking & Running Wear Market Report 2023
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-walking-running-wear-market-reportSpherical Insights – Global Trail Running Shoes Forecast to 2033
https://www.sphericalinsights.com/reports/trail-running-shoes-marketSports Destination Management – U.S. Trail Running Participation Up 12% in 2023
https://www.sportsdestinations.com/sports/running-events/trail-running-pace-continued-growth-34148