2025 Trail Running Trends Mental Health, Nature Therapy, And the Future Of Ultra Running

In the past decade, trail running has been seen as a sport that challenges limits and pursues results; but in 2025, we see a shift: more and more runners are beginning to see trail running as a way to heal their bodies and minds, return to themselves, and connect with nature. In the context of widespread global attention to mental health, trail running is gradually becoming a "natural prescription" to improve mental resilience, fight anxiety, and rebuild self-identity.

The shift of trail running: from competition to healing, it is a trend and a demand
Once upon a time, running was an outlet for urban life. Jogging in the park in the morning or a marathon on the weekend carries the health wishes of modern people. But in 2025, more and more runners are turning to the mountains and choosing trail running, not to pursue faster results, but for inner peace and self-dialogue.
Mental health problems have become a "global epidemic." According to a report by the World Health Organization, more than 350 million people in the world suffer from anxiety or depression in 2024, a large number of whom are young urban residents. In an environment of anxiety, fast pace, and digital kidnapping, the "natural prescription" brought by trail running is being regarded as a good medicine by more and more people.
According to the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) global runner survey at the end of 2024, 58% of respondents said that the primary reason for participating in trail running was "releasing stress and managing emotions", while "improving performance" ranked fourth. This phenomenon is particularly evident in Asia and North America.
The mind-body connection has become an important consideration for trail runners in choosing events and routes in 2025.
The trends in 2025 show:
● Runners pay more attention to the time alone in the mountains and forests;
● The evaluation after the race is no longer just "finishing time", but "whether the mood has improved";
● Some events have begun to introduce concepts such as "Silent Miles", "Deep Breathing Stations", and "Meditation Warm-up" to help runners communicate with nature and themselves.

Trail running becomes a "natural supplement" for psychotherapy
The field of clinical psychology increasingly recognizes the auxiliary effect of exercise therapy, among which trail running, with its unique combination of "nature + endurance exercise", is called "the closest aerobic training to meditation".
●A study published by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2024 pointed out that weekly forest trail running can effectively reduce anxiety scores and stress hormone levels;
Psychological clinics in many countries have begun to introduce "ecotherapy + trail running" projects to encourage patients to try natural exercise during treatment.
● Physiological mechanism level
      Outdoor light increases dopamine and serotonin secretion and stabilizes emotions;
      Slow-paced endurance exercise enhances the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system and relieves anxiety;
      Altitude changes + sensory stimulation (wind, birdsong, soil smell) activate the "exploration circuit" in the brain, bringing pleasure and vitality.
● Psychological mechanism level
      "Self-efficacy": Every time a runner climbs a mountain, he rebuilds his confidence in himself;
      "Sensory mindfulness": Soil, rain, and breathing rhythm make people live in the present;
      "Sense of connection in solitude": On an unmanned mountain trail, it is easier to have a deep connection with oneself and the world.
This kind of emotional repair from nature is no longer just a theory. In many countries around the world, especially among high-risk groups experiencing post-traumatic stress response (PTSD), anxiety disorders or depression, trail running has gradually been included as an auxiliary option for non-drug therapy. Especially for those who are slow to respond to traditional psychological interventions or have difficulty taking medication for a long time, running in the mountains is providing another gentle but powerful healing path.
In the United States, veterans are becoming the direct beneficiaries of this "natural exercise therapy". The following true story is the best annotation of the powerful connection between nature, endurance and psychological reconstruction:
James McBride, 41 years old, Colorado, USA, veteran
James is a veteran of the Afghanistan War who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the war. He once refused to socialize, was depressed, and could not integrate into daily life. In 2022, he first came into contact with trail running in a "mountain rehabilitation program" organized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
At first, it was just short hikes + light running. A few months later, he joined a community trail running group in Colorado. After gradually adapting, he participated in the well-known Leadville Trail 10K Trail Run event in the local area-the first official trail running race in his life.
James wrote on the social platform: "I didn't beat anyone, but I won back my sleep, my confidence, and my sense of existence. Trail running finally quieted my mind."
Today, James serves as a "veteran running group guide" locally, helping more veterans use trail running instead of drug treatment to rebuild their emotions.

From speed to feeling: the gentle revolution of the trail running community
Trail running was once a sport driven by will, endurance and data. In the impression of many runners, the connection between each other is based on precise values such as pace, finishing time and cumulative climbing. Whether in Strava's running records, training camp rankings, or post-race finishing comparisons, "running fast" has always been the main way to measure a person's strength.
However, with the awakening of global mental health awareness and people's reflection on the "high-pressure performance culture", more and more runners are quietly changing their relationship with running. This trend is no longer limited to one or two regions, but has appeared worldwide - from the Portland Forest Trail in the United States to the trail running community in the Lake District of the United Kingdom, from the coastal mountain trails in Australia to the eco-healing groups in Northern Europe that emphasize natural connections.
A global user behavior observation report released by Strava in 2024 showed that the use rate of "emotional tags" in users' descriptions of daily running logs increased by 34%, while the frequency of use of "pace-related content" decreased year by year. "Calm", "Relaxation", "Connection" and "I need this run" have become frequently mentioned keywords. In some communities in North America and Europe, "Sunset Trail Therapy" and "Silent Running" have even become new community activity themes.
These changes do not mean that runners are "not running hard", but that they are rethinking whether "hard work" must be linked to "pain", "comparison" and "ranking". The new generation of trail runners are more concerned about whether this run has made me calmer? Has it made me forget the thing that made me anxious? Did I feel the presence of the wind when going uphill?
The atmosphere of community culture has also undergone a fundamental change. From the "speed alliance" in the past to the "feeling resonance" today. The trail running community no longer emphasizes the "strongest" person, but accommodates individuals of various states on the trail: some people are fully trained to prepare for the competition, while others just want to walk around on weekends; some people record the details of their pace, while others just want to leave the ray of light at the moment. Even in large-scale international trail running races, this concept of "from comparing results to comparing experiences" has begun to be emphasized. For example, the Broken Arrow Skyrace in the United States, the Squamish 50 in Canada, and the UTMB non-elite experience camp in France have begun to encourage participants in the "non-ranked perception group" and "non-timed exploration group" to experience the competition in the mountains with their five senses - to smell the air, listen to the stream, and watch the cloud shadows, rather than just staring at the GPS and stopwatch.
More symbolically, the "Emotional Road Book" workshop was set up for the first time at the Trail & Mind International Summit held in the Lake District of the United Kingdom in 2024, inviting runners to record their psychological feelings while running and transform them into poems, paintings or narrative texts as another "non-numerical" running diary.
Behind these phenomena is the expansion of the boundaries of trail running as a form of exercise - it is moving out of the framework of "competition and exercise" and entering a way of existence that is closer to people's hearts.
It has become a kind of "modern tribal connection": in the mountains, you walk side by side with others, and learn to be alone in a deserted place; you run, but not to win, but to have a rhythm that truly belongs to you in this fast-moving world. People are beginning to understand that those who accompany you silently in the wind are more worthy of cherishing than those who have raced against time with you at the finish line. The meaning of mountain trails is not the route to medals, but the passage to the heart.
In this round of quiet global community culture shift, trail running, as a form of exercise that transcends language, culture, and social background, is becoming part of the global psychological ecological reconstruction. And the community it has created is also using a gentle revolution from "comparing speed" to "comparing feelings" to tell the world:
"We are not trying to outrun each other, but to run back to ourselves."
The future of trail running is the reconciliation between humans and nature

From "challenging nature" to "embracing nature": the evolution of the spirit of trail running
Trail running was once regarded as a symbol of extreme challenges: climbing, crossing, conquering mountains and time. But with the intensification of climate change, urban anxiety, and mental health crises, more and more runners are beginning to think about a question:
"Why do I run? What do I want from the earth?"
In the past, humans tried to conquer nature with their footsteps, but now trail runners are returning to nature with their footsteps. They no longer regard "finishing the race" as the only goal, but regard trail running as a ritual of symbiosis with mountains and forests and reconciliation with the earth.
This spiritual evolution marks that trail running has changed from a sports behavior to an ecological philosophical behavior.
Rediscovering the scale of "human" in nature
Urban life has kept us in a system of "magnifying ourselves-shrinking the environment" for a long time. We are used to being self-centered in high-rise buildings, screens, and algorithms, and forget that we were originally just a tiny part of nature.
Trail running puts us back into the earth:
● In the rainstorm and mud, we give up control and learn to go with the flow;
● In the thin air at high altitudes, we slow down and accept the boundaries of the human body;
● In the long distance of sunrise and sunset, we no longer count time, but follow the rhythm of light, wind, and birdsong.
All this is the process of **"recalibrating the relationship between man and nature"**.
Runners are no longer invaders of nature, but part of the ecology.
Trail running is no longer just a challenge, but a humble response to the land.

Nature gives back to humans: emotional healing, sense of existence, sense of security
Why do more and more psychologists and doctors recommend "natural exercise therapy"?
Because the human body's perception system is originally set for the "natural environment". Research has found that:
●20 minutes of forest exercise can effectively reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels;
●Long-distance trail running can trigger a meditation-like brain wave state and enhance the awareness of "body in the present moment";
●People who exercise in nature have 1.6 times the rate of relief of anxiety and depression symptoms than those who exercise in the city.
For modern people, nature is not only a training ground, but also a psychological refuge, an emotional repair area and a place to find identity.
Running in the mountains does not require filters or labels. You are not someone's employee, parent, or partner, you are just a breathing, moving existence itself.
This is the deepest gift given by nature - "I accept you, no matter what your state is." Ecological Awakening of trail running events: protecting mountains and forests, and win-win with nature
More and more event organizers have begun to realize that trail running cannot be based on "overdevelopment", but should become a practical carrier of ecological protection.
For example:
●UTMB introduced a carbon neutrality mechanism to encourage runners to travel in a low-carbon manner;
●The Canadian Squamish 50 event designed the route with local indigenous people and respected the land tradition;
●The Guanshan trail race in Taiwan has a limited number of participants and no large supply stations, encouraging runners to be self-sufficient and leave no trace on the forest;
●The Otter Trail Run in South Africa stipulates that "participating in the race means claiming a tree", and runners must plant it themselves after finishing the race to respond to the feedback given by nature.
This is not only the responsibility of the event, but also a symbol - trail runners are protecting the mountains and forests with their footsteps and maintaining a trusting relationship with nature with practical actions.
Rediscovering ancient wisdom: We originally belonged to the mountains
In indigenous culture, nomadic culture, and hunting and gathering culture, "running" has never been just a means of transportation, but a way for people to communicate with the land.
●The Tarahumara people in North America use running to communicate among ethnic groups;
●The Kenyan tribes in Africa use running to train endurance and collective spirit;
●The pilgrimage hikes in Tibet, Nepal and other places are also a slow-paced off-road walking meditation.
Modern off-road running is to regain this primitive and real life connection in the era of technology.
We don’t use smart watches to monitor our heart rate, but listen to the ups and downs of the earth with our feet;
We are not for ranking, but to remember: we come from nature and will eventually return to nature.

Slow down to move forward more deeply
Haimont always believes that equipment is not only an extension of the body, but also a shelter for the soul. We are committed to creating lighter, more intimate, and more understanding off-road equipment for runners, accompanying you to regain energy in the mountains and reconnect with the world.
Let running not just escape, but return.