2026 Running Report

Running Is Growing. But It’s Becoming a Casual Habit, Not a Core Pursuit

Running remains one of the most popular and accessible ways Americans get outside — road running alone reached 52.3 million participants in 2025, second only to hiking among outdoor activities — but the growth is coming almost entirely from the casual end of the spectrum. Over the past three years, casual road running has grown about 7% annually while the core segment (those who run 50 or more times a year) has slipped roughly 1.1%; in 2025, some 29 million road runners didn’t get out often enough to count as core. Trail running is the standout exception: up 6.6% to 17.2 million participants in 2025 and one of the fastest-growing, most diverse segments in the outdoors — up 57% since 2019 — and, unlike the road, growing on both fronts, with core trail runners increasing 7.8%. The through-line across both surfaces is the same: Americans are increasingly folding running into a broader, more flexible fitness mix rather than pursuing it as a primary sport.

OIA’s 2026 Running Report is now available. The report breaks down road and trail running by frequency, demographic, region, income, and age, examines running’s heavy crossover into walking, treadmill, hiking, and gym-based fitness, and highlights where the opportunities and the headwinds lie — from the casual, lifestyle-oriented participants driving growth to the rising race-entry costs that could stall it. Check out the report for the key findings and what they mean for the industry.