Why woman run? Motivations for running in a half-marathon among female local runners and sport tourists

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the motivations to participate in a half-marathon among women – local runners and sport-tourists – and also to evaluate the differences between these two groups of respondents. Most of the research concerns motivation to run among men. With the increase in the popularity of mass running events, the question what encourages women to engage in physical activity, especially outside their everyday place of residence, becomes very important now. The sample comprised 214 women that participated in the 6th Poznan Half Mara-thon in Poland. To evaluate the motivation to participate in the half-marathon event, a self-constructed questionnaire was used. Results indicated that local runners and sport-tourists have similar forms of motivation and similar meanings to the event participation with some significance differences. A socio-demographic profile of a half-marathon female participant was also examined. In general, the findings of the present study provide an understanding of motivation to participate in a half-marathon event in different women groups. Current research on the motivation of the running event participants was aimed at determining how meaningful some aspects are. These aspects were not only a willingness to stay fit, healthy, and slim, but also to build social relationships and look for the experiences and emotions that come with recreational sport. These results might be useful for sport managers and city government to analyze consumer behavior and utilize the results in the strategic planning, marketing and implementation of physical culture in connection with massive sport events organizations. References 1 Papanikos G. The economic effects of a marathon as a sport tourism event. Athens Journal of Sports. 2015; 1: 225. 2 Chappelet JL. Heritage sporting events and place marketing, In: Plevnik M, Ratar I, Pisot R. and Ovid A, editors. Sustainable development of sport tourism. Annales University Press; 2015. 3 Pinson J. Heritage sporting events: Theoretical development and configurations. Journal of Sport & Tourism. 2017; 21(2): 133-152. 4 Taks M. Governance in sport and the Olympic Movement: The future of mega-sport events. In: International Olympic Academy – 12th International Session for Educators of Higher Institutes of Physical Education. Ancient Olympia-Greece; 2017. 5 Report Physical Activity of Poles, 2017 [cited 2019 Jul 20]. Available from: https://www.msit.gov.pl/pl/sport/badania-i-analizy/aktywnosc-fizyczna-spol/575,Aktywnosc-fizyczna-spoleczenstwa.html 6 Schulze G. Die Erlebniz-Gesellschaft. Kultursoziologie der Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Campus-Verlag; 1992. 7 Zduniak A. Event as a postmodern form of participating in social life. Roczniki Nauk Społecznych. 2010; 38(2): 207-234. 8 Zuckerman M. The sensation seeking motive. Prog Exp Pers Res. 1974; 7:79–148. 9 Gracz J, Walczak M, Tomczak M. Search for sensations as a trend in contemporary sports and recreation activities. Sport and recreation versus the challenges of modern civilization. University of Szczecin; 2011. 10 Stempien J. Running, sightseeing and the middleclass – a few sociological comments and observations on running tourism. In: Kazimierczak M. (ed.). Sports inspirations in cultural tourism. Poland: University of Physical Education in Poznan; 2016. 11 Crawford R. Healthism and the medicalization of everyday life. International Journal of Health Services. 1980; 10 (3):365-388. 12 Borowiec A, Lignowska I. Is the ideology of healthism a distinctive feature of the middle class in Poland? Culture and Society – Sport in Culture. 2012; 56(3): 95-111. 13 Gibson H, Attle S, Yiannakis A. Segmenting the active sport tourism market: A life-span perspective. Journal of Vacation Marketing. 1998; 4(1): 52-64. 14 Ross D. Developing sports tourism. National Laboratory for Tourism. Illinois: University of Illinois; 2001 15 Roberts C. Sport and adventure tourism. In: Robinson P, Heitmann S, Dicke P. Editors. Research Themes for Tourism. Oxfordshire-Cambridge, UK: CABI Publisher; 2011. 16 Ogles BM, Masters KS. A Typology of marathon runners based on cluster analysis on motivations. Journal of Sport Behaviour. 2003; 26:69-85. 17 Krouse R, Ransdell L, Lucas S, Pritchard M. Motivation, goal orientation, coaching and training habits of women ultrarunners. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011; 25(10): 2835–2842. 18 Ogles BM, Masters KS. Obligatory running and gender: An analysis of participative motives and training habits. International Journal of Sport Psychology. 1995; 26: 233-248. 19 Freyer W, Gross S. Tourismus und Sport-Events. Dresden, Germany: FIT Forschungsinstitut für Tourismus; 2002.