Trail Running - Vietnam - 2026 to 2027
Where endurance
meets culture
Following Vietnam's trail running community through the highlands of Da Lạt, the streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, and the lead-up to the 2027 UTMB Highlands Trail. A journey told through movement, landscape, and story — alongside ongoing research into how nature and place shape the runner's experience.
A once-in-a-generation
moment
The Project
Vietnam is one of the most dynamic emerging trail running environments in Southeast Asia. The arrival of the UTMB World Series marks a cultural turning point — bringing global attention to a community that has been building quietly and passionately for years.
This project follows that moment from the inside, through two connected threads. Lozania Lifestyle documents the journey itself — trail culture, landscape, and community as they unfold on the ground in the lead-up to the event. Alongside it, an MSc research project in Sport and Body Psychology at the University of East London explores a related question: how landscape and nature shape the runner's sense of self, extending self-construal theory beyond the body-mind relationship to include place itself.
The two inform each other, but stand on their own — one a lived, ongoing story, the other a piece of academic inquiry.
Jan 2027
UTMB World Series Vietnam
Vietnam Highlands Trail, Da Lạt — the moment that puts Vietnamese trail culture on the global map.
Since 2022
Movement, Nature, Purpose
Exploring the intersection of movement, culture, and human potential across borders.
MSc
University of East London
Rigorous academic grounding in Sport and Body Psychology behind every story told.
About
Runner. Researcher. Storyteller
Based between Cologne and the Siebengebirge, Germany, Ingo Steffgen brings an international management background and a decade in the IT sector together with postgraduate research in sport and body psychology.
"As a long-distance and trail runner himself, endurance sport is both personal practice and academic inquiry."
As an international researcher and trail runner, Ingo occupies a unique position between Vietnamese and European endurance communities — helping communicate and contextualize Vietnamese trail running culture for international audiences at a moment when global attention is turning toward the region.
Lozania Lifestyle is his sport and lifestyle platform — built on the belief that movement, culture, and human potential are worth exploring seriously, and telling honestly.
The Research
How it works
Field Stories
Narrative posts and photography from the ground in Vietnam, following the trail communities, the landscape, and the lead-up to the Highlands Trail.
Conversations
A small set of interviews with runners and trail community voices, not limited to Vietnam, exploring what draws people to the trail and how place shapes that pull.
The Research
A literature-based academic inquiry running in parallel, exploring landscape as a relational presence in trail running experience, drawing on self-construal theory and embodied/phenomenological frameworks.
Timeline
The journey
Through 2026
Content calendar builds toward the trip: themes, place, and preparation.
Late 2026
On the ground in Vietnam: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, and Da Lạt.
Jan 2027
Vietnam Highlands Trail (UTMB World Series). The centerpiece of the project.
OnGoing
Academic literature review continues alongside, published in mid-2027.
Get in touch
Let's explore what's possible
If you're a brand, fellow researcher, or simply curious about the project — reach out. Partnerships, collaborations, and conversations are all welcome.