What Is a Strava Segment And How Can Brands Use Them?

If you're a marketer or media agency professional looking for fresh, engaging ways to activate your brand in the world of fitness and wellness, there’s one feature on Strava you absolutely need to know about: Strava Segments.

Strava has long been the go-to platform for active people to track workouts, connect with others, and explore their local areas. But beyond just tracking, Strava offers unique opportunities for brands to show up where motivation meets movement — and Segments are at the heart of that.

At its core, a Strava Segment is a specific stretch of road or trail — think a hill climb, a park loop, or even a famous city sprint — that users have defined and saved on the platform.

Segments can be of any length, but we recommend they range between 400 meters and one kilometer, as these distances engage participants of all levels and allow more accurate GPS “matching”. When athletes pass through a Segment during an activity, their time is automatically recorded and ranked on a leaderboard. It is currently available for running and cycling. 

Many running and cycling routes on Strava already include pre-existing Segments, but the platform also empowers anyone to create their own using the Create Segment tool on the Strava web platform. To get a sense of just how many Segments are out there, just explore the Strava Segment map. Chances are, no matter where you zoom in, you’ll find one – or dozens – right where you are.

Segments come in different forms and “achievements” for outstanding performances for Strava subscribers. Strava rewards athletes with digital crowns for fastest all-time efforts, trophies for top 10 leaderboard placements, medals for personal bests, and the laurel crown for becoming the segment’s Local Legend by completing it the most over 90 days.

For Strava users, Segments unlock:

• A personal benchmark to beat (a PR)

• Friendly competition with others

• Community connection through shared experiences

As for brands, segments unlock location-specific, performance-driven storytelling and engagement on Strava, turning them into branded experiences.

So, how does a brand take advantage of Segments? The answer: Sponsored Segments. A Sponsored Segment is simply a branded version of a regular Segment and works in the same way as a Sponsored Challenge, but only over a specific segment. It retains all the core functionality (leaderboards, PR tracking, etc.) but adds brand visibility and deeper engagement potential.

It’s hyper-local out-of-home, combined with sponsorship, combined with direct response advertising.

Sponsored Segments are especially powerful when placed on the course of a major race or public event – think the London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, or Boston Marathon. By sponsoring a Segment that aligns with a key stretch of the official route, brands can tap directly into the excitement and energy of the event. It’s not just about race day, either – any athlete who uploads their activity to Strava can engage with the Segment, meaning your brand becomes part of thousands of individual race stories. 

In fact, Strava data shows that on average, around 60% of participants in major public races worldwide upload their efforts to Strava. That makes Sponsored Segments a smart, scalable way to reach a highly active, highly engaged audience – right at the peak of their performance.

Chipotle partnered with Strava to create a series of Sponsored Segments across key cities where active audiences were already moving. Their objective? Tap into athletes’ post-workout routines and associate Chipotle with the reward after a hard effort.

What made it successful?

·   Relevance: The segments were placed in areas with high athlete density — paths people were already using

·   Brand Fit: Chipotle’s clean, high-protein meals aligned with active lifestyles

·   Layered Activation: They didn’t stop at Segments. Chipotle paired them with a Sponsored Challenge, rewarding athletes with discounts and prizes for completing specific activities

The result? A surge in visibility, relevance, and a stronger brand love for Chipotle among their target audience across key cities in the US. In numbers, more than 190,000 athletes competed across six cities, the challenge generated significant press coverage resulting in more than 700 million earned media impressions. The activation drove top of funnel awareness, as well as real sales for Chipotle, with Lifestyle Bowl revenues increasing by 20%.

Nike tapped into the power of Strava Segments to launch their Vomero 18 shoe in the Middle East with a smart, high-engagement campaign. They sponsored a 10K Segment at Kite Beach in Dubai, challenging runners to complete it as many times as possible over 10 days. Each attempt pushed them up the leaderboard, adding a gamified twist that encouraged repeat effort. 

To bring the experience to life, Nike launched a pop-up Vomero Clubhouse at the beach, where participants could start their runs and enter to win a pair of the new shoes — blending digital engagement with a physical footprint.

Nike extended the activation with Sponsored Segments across Europe, including: 

• London: Over 56,000 runners joined a 5K Segment challenge 

• Madrid: 71,000+ attempts on a 1.1 km Segment 

• Finishers earned a digital badge for their Strava Trophy Case 

Why it stands out: 

• Hyper-relevant locations and product trial in context 

• Gamified challenge mechanics driving repeat activity 

• Scalable across multiple regions and audiences 

CLIF BAR’s activation around the Boston Marathon is a great example of how brands can use attainable, high-traffic Segments to drive both digital engagement and in-person interaction at major events. 

They sponsored the Memorial Drive River Basin Straightaway Segment – a short and accessible 0.9 km route – making it inviting for runners to attempt. The simplicity worked: over 11,000 people participated, with more than 10,700 completing the Segment. 

Finishers who showed their Strava badge were rewarded with custom CLIF BAR merchandise at a branded pop-up store during Boston Marathon week. They also gained exclusive access to CLIF BAR’s in-person event during marathon week, creating a full-circle experience that connected effort on the app with real-world value. 

Read the full case study here.

And if you want to take your campaign up a gear, pair your Sponsored Segment with a Strava Sponsored Challenge.

A Sponsored Challenge involves a brand incentivizing Strava users to complete a specific activity – like walking 50 km in a month – in return for a reward, such as a discount or prize. The activity can be done anywhere in the world or in a chosen location of your choice. It's designed to drive large-scale awareness, engagement, and conversion.

Whereas a Sponsored Segment is hyper-local. It allows brands to highlight one or more specific Segments on Strava, turning them into a branded experience. It is a great engagement play to use in a small space – for example at a major race – that enables brands to engage with athletes on the actual course used during the event.

CLIF Bar's platform-based engagement was tightly woven into its latest brand multimedia campaign: "Raise Your Bar". This included “The Raise Your Bar Challenge” on Strava, which asked participants to log 129 minutes of activity to unlock a product discount. The result? Over 184,000 athletes participated, offering a striking example of how performance-based engagement can drive scale and brand affinity.

Why it worked:

·   Authenticity: CLIF BAR’s brand is deeply rooted in energy and movement, making the activation feel natural and credible

·   Value-driven engagement: Participants were motivated not just by rewards but by a sense of community and shared purpose in two formats: Segment and Challenge

·   Content opportunity: The challenge generated a wave of user-generated content, organically spreading brand awareness

Together, the Segment and Challenge created a campaign that promoted a product and a brand, as well as movement.

Strava Segments are one of the things that makes our platform truly unique. Whether you’re looking to build awareness, drive trial, or deepen loyalty, Sponsored Segments offer a way to meet your audience in motion.

So the next time you’re planning an activation or brand campaign, ask yourself:
“What if our brand owned a moment of triumph, right when someone is running a race they’ll never forget?”

Chances are, that moment is happening on Strava. All you need to do is show up.