Which shoe is most popular with trail runners? A new survey says it’s Salomon, but Hoka One One is not far behind
- The International Trail Running Association has released a survey of 9,514 runner in 104 countries, revealing the latest trends
- Trail runners typically spend between €200 and €400 per year on the sport, whether that be on shoes, watches, or other apparel
The most common brand of trail running shoe is Salomon, followed by Hoka One One, according to a recent survey by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA).
ITRA surveyed 9,514 people in 104 countries and found that 36.6 per cent of trail runners use Salomon shoes and 35.3 per cent use Hoka One One shoes. The next most common was “other” at 21.8 per cent and La Sportiva at 15.3 per cent.
Of the 30 brands answered in the survey, including “other”, Under Armour, Icebug and Skechers were the least common choice for trail runners at 0.6 per cent each.
A total of 40.8 per cent of runners go through two pairs of shoes a year.
Salomon also tops the chart for other trail running apparel by some margin, with 42.1 per cent using Salomon compared to just 21.8 per cent that use Nike and 12 per cent that use ASICS, the next most popular.
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Garmin absolutely dominates the watch market – 59.8 per cent of runners us Garmin. The next most popular is Suunto at 19.5 per cent. Among those who responded, 36.9 per cent typically spent between €200 and €400 per year on trail running.
The survey covered a huge range of other topics as well as gear.
At 63.9 per cent, most people’s first experience of running is on a road. Only 20 per cent experience trail running without first doing some other form of the discipline.
Most trail runners take up the sport in their 30s. There are a range of motivations to start, often runners have multidimensional drivers as they had more than one answer. To keep in shape physically (68.5 per cent), to discover new places (64.5 per cent) and to feel in harmony with nature (56 per cent) were the most common answers.
Runners tend to pair trail running with other sports. The most common other sports was mountain biking (23.9 per cent) and swimming at 18.8 per cent. Just 0.7 per cent of trail runners also take part in paragliding.
