Building resilience through trail running: women's perspectives

Access to and benefits from leisure programmes are influenced by both personal and social factors. Within the context of leisure, understanding the gendered experience is important with regards to how adventure experiences are constructed, and how outcomes are measured and interpreted. The purpose of the current study was to determine if trail running develops and supports resilience in women, similar to other outdoor adventure programs. Participants indicated that they gained a sense of empowerment, bravery and tenacity through trail running, and reported a gain in transferable outcomes such as resilience, perspective and mental health supports that improved daily function. Resilience is an important factor for many client populations that seek leisure-based therapeutic interventions, such as within the field of therapeutic recreation. Insight into the nuances of how it is developed and supported in individuals is key when it comes to fostering resilience with clients.