Strava’s Year in Sport: Canada is top running destination

Last week, Strava, the leading social media platform for endurance athletes, released the 2022 edition of its annual Year In Sport data report and listed Canada as the top running destination for U.S. runners.

What makes Canada the go-to destination for runners? Its amazing trails and hiking destinations! Sulphur Mountain Trail in Banff, Alta., the Sea to Sky Trail in Squamish, B.C., and Montreal’s Mont Royal (complete) were three of the most popular segments for U.S. runners visiting Canada.

Other trends from 2022 show that the number of runners completing marathons doubled over 2021. This is evidence that pandemic-era runners have continued to run and are motivated to race together.

We each did 2022 our own way – but together, we painted a bigger picture. Check out the trends, stats and stories that defined the #YearInSport. https://t.co/k3OFnsh2aI pic.twitter.com/tqxE3wFT4a

— Strava (@Strava) December 7, 2022

The Year in Sport review is an annual report from Strava revealing global trends in sports and active transportation, celebrating athletes’ achievements and memorializing stories from the community.

International travel is also back to its pre-pandemic numbers, with over 101 per cent growth in activities uploaded outside athletes’ home countries over the past year. There were seven billion activities uploaded to Strava in 2022 across all 195 countries, with almost 10 billion kudos exchanged between athletes.

“Global trends in the report show tremendous energy for activities we can do together,” says Michael Horvath, CEO of Strava. “The joy and connection we get by being active together can be amplified and inspire others when we share all the aspects of our active lives with our community.”