Hiking has been a large part of my life since before I can even remember.
I've hiked thousands of miles in 🤶 all sorts of terrain.
From the deserts of southern California, to the pine forests of Colorado, I've hiked in just about 🤶 every clime and place! Part of what I enjoy about hiking is the competitive feeling I get from it.
From time 🤶 to time, I like to race my hiking partners (or myself) to see how much faster I am at getting 🤶 to a given objective.
This element kind of makes it seem like hiking is a sport.
But is hiking a sport? Despite 🤶 the competitive nature that you may have with yourself or your hiking buddies, hiking is not truly a sport.
But why? 🤶 After much research, we've come up with a detailed answer as to why hiking isn't a sport and what you 🤶 could do instead to combine your love of competition and the outdoors!
Read on for curious facts and useful advice.
What is 🤶 hiking? Hiking is just a leisure activity.
And even though it's a leisure activity, it often could be quite tiresome.
Similarly to 🤶 sport, hiking is undoubtedly an activity involving physical exertion in mountainous areas.
Just think about the last time you walked on 🤶 a steep trail.
We think that hiking is walking (often it's a long walk) in a natural environment over a wide 🤶 variety of distances.
The intent behind it can be wide ranging too!
People hike for the pleasure of being outside.
They hike for 🤶 fitness (that physical exertion is invigorating) and promoting good cardiovascular health.
We have an extensive article on the psychological benefits of 🤶 hiking too.
They hike to access beautiful places that can't be seen from the seat of a car.
They even hike in 🤶 order to spend multiple nights in wild and remote locations! And as you might now, hiking every day isn't bad.
In 🤶 fact, it's just the opposite! Part of what draws people to hiking as well as sports is the community that 🤶 is built around each activity.
The main thing about the hiking community is that it is much more supportive than many 🤶 sports communities.
This is due to the very low competitive nature of hiking, which is another big differentiating feature between hiking 🤶 and sport! What is sport? What's the official definition of sport? The official definition of sport is that it's an 🤶 activity involving physical exertion.
But hiking is the same, right? It takes quite a physical exertion.
And they both can occur on 🤶 a hiking trail.
But while hiking can sometimes be competitive, sports are always competitive.
It is characterized by competitive events.
An individual or 🤶 a team competes against other.
And there are rules organized by a governing body.
Such a governing body could be a federation, 🤶 for example.
Whether you're engaged in racing or in a game, there are clear winners and losers at the end of 🤶 the day, participating in those competitive events.
As we talked about earlier, there is always a regulatory organization that makes the 🤶 rules and validates the outcomes of competitions.
There have to be rules and judges in order to keep the integrity of 🤶 the sport intact.
Think about different incidents in sports across time.
There have been examples where athletes use unfair advantages in order 🤶 to gain an upper hand over their opponents.
Had there not been regulator organizations to enforce rules on cheating, these athletes 🤶 would not have been caught for cheating! This is extremely important when defining what sports are, as there has to 🤶 be a large degree of integrity when dealing with competitive participants.
It makes things fair, which encourages people to continue to 🤶 participate ethically.
Last but not least, every sport involves an important amount of physical exertion and skill.
Is hiking a sport? Since 🤶 hiking is an activity involving physical exertion and often - significant physical effort (especially winter hiking and mountaineering at high 🤶 altitude), we might easily confuse it with sport.
That's why it's often considered a sport.
But a key aspect here is that 🤶 hiking lacks competition.
To qualify as a sport, an activity has to be something that you can organize competitions (competitive events) 🤶 around.
While you can definitely have informal competitions with your friends on hiking trails can have , there aren't organizations that 🤶 regulate and conduct hiking competitions.
That is why hiking is not a sport.
At least not officially.
Official organizations are important because they 🤶 establish the rules for competition and, more importantly, verify competition outcomes.
This ensures the integrity of the competitions, as official organizations 🤶 track and provide officiants to competition events! Hiking is defined by walking in natural environments and usually on dirt footpaths.
With 🤶 that being said, of course, hiking is different from walking.
While you can absolutely time yourself to track how fast you 🤶 are and compare that time against your past times or your partners, we think that because you can't verify the 🤶 times, fair competition isn't possible with hiking.
So, is hiking considered a sport - no.
There's little competition in hiking.
Crucial differences between 🤶 hiking and sport It's true that hiking is often considered a sport.
There are some key aspects that differentiate hiking from 🤶 sport and vice versa.
Both involve significant physical activity.
For example, boxing is a real sport.
Even though they both require physical training, 🤶 the biggest difference between hiking and sports is the regulatory nature of sports.
Sport hiking doesn't exist yet, because there isn't 🤶 an organization that dictates the rules or enforces them.
Plus, there's a certain level of skill involved in sport.
For hiking competitions 🤶 (an individual or a team competes against others) that do exist, the honor system is the main way that hikers 🤶 keep the integrity of the competition.
That isn't something that many serious competitors want to depend on, as people tend to 🤶 do things that serve their own self interests.
This is especially apparent in real sports, as there have been many cases 🤶 of people cheating in order to get the upper edge to win a competition.
With that being said, hiking often could 🤶 be a competitive sport.Unofficially.
Why some people consider hiking as a sport? Some people confuse hiking with sport because they have 🤶 small competitions between friends on the hiking trails.
And they both involve physical activity.
Sometimes those even qualify as adventure racing.
You can 🤶 make up all sorts of competitive games while hiking.
For example - getting to the end of a section the fastest, 🤶 competing for the most miles hiked over a given amount of time, spotting the most of a specific type of 🤶 animal, and so many other ways to keep your mind and body engaged while hiking.
In addition, people confuse hiking as 🤶 a sport because often hiking clubs advertise organized hiking events (and similar events).
Again, those are just events, even if sometimes 🤶 they could have a competitive character.
But again, these competitions can't be verified by anyone, which means that hiking can't be 🤶 a sport.
It doesn't meet the technical definition.
Most sports require competitiveness that's officially regulated.
Just recall the official definition of sport.
Which sport 🤶 is similar to hiking? There are many similar events that are sports.
And they all resemble hiking in some way.
Ultra-marathon races 🤶 (and similar kinds of adventure racing) are considered sports.
Mountain biking too.
In fact, I've participated in a mountain biking race recently.
That's 🤶 because often they are regulated by official organizations.
Most sports such as the above mentioned are close to hiking, because competitors 🤶 cover many miles over a long period of time, usually taking a few days to complete.
Often, the terrain is mountainous.
Ultra-marathon 🤶 runners often camp out while racing, as the distances that they run are far above what is possible for someone 🤶 to complete in one day.
This makes it really similar to hiking, especially backpacking, as runners spend multiple days on trail 🤶 during the race.
Famous hiking competitions and races An unofficial hiking competition, that is close to sport but isn't, due to 🤶 the lack of regulations, is achieving the Triple Crown of Hiking.
To achieve this accomplishment, hikers must complete all three of 🤶 the major national scenic trails in the US: the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail.
People 🤶 who complete all three hikes can unofficially claim the title of being a triple crown hiker.
There are more people that 🤶 have gone into outer space that have achieved the Triple Crown of Hiking!
Why aren't those considered sports? Because nothing regulates 🤶 them.
A prominent example of an ultra-marathon that mixes hiking with sport is the Four Deserts Series of Races.
The Four Deserts 🤶 takes competitors on a 7-day experience of racing across various deserts around the world.
Racing takes place over 7 days total, 🤶 but will take longer as that doesn't include travel times.
The Four Deserts Race Series is regulated by RacingThePlanet Limited.
In order 🤶 to take part in this monumental race, competitors must qualify by providing a doctor's physical proving that you are in 🤶 healthy enough condition to participate in this grueling race.
Outside of that, you must have the determination and grit to complete 🤶 a race through some of the most austere terrain on the planet! Trail Running Trail running is a great way 🤶 to combine hiking with sport.
Races like the Four Deserts Race Series is an extreme example of trail running racing.
There's even 🤶 some races on the Appalachian trail.
But you don't need to go out and complete that behemoth of a race to 🤶 enjoy trail running.
You can sign up for smaller races that combine the elements of hiking with sport.
The shortest races you 🤶 can sign up for are about 5 kilometers and can be done all over the world.
With that being said, hiking 🤶 the Appalachian trail, for instance, can't be considered running or trail running.
Runners love to participate in trail running because it 🤶 combines the serenity of being outside that hiking possesses with the competitive nature of sport.
So, bottom line is that trail 🤶 running and adventure racing could be considered sports.
Final Thoughts While hiking does have the potential to become a sport, it's 🤶 not fair or accurate to call it a sport right now.
Sports have regulatory organizations that define and enforce competition rules 🤶 to ensure safe and fair competition between athletes.
Trail running and ultra-marathon racing is very similar to hiking in that both 🤶 get people racing outside.
They are defined as sports, as you must register to race and adhere to rules in order 🤶 to compete.
Do you agree with our assessment? Did we miss anything when defining whether or not hiking is a sport? 🤶 Drop a comment below and let us know!
