Participation In Running Events Research Articles

Motivation behind running among older adult runners

BackgroundRecreational running has greatly increased over the last decade, and different research has tried to understand the motivation that leads these amateur athletes to run. However, most research has focused on adult athletes, while the motivation behind older adult athletes has been overlooked.MethodsThe aim of this research was to analyse the motivational aspects of amateur runners aged over 50 years, and to consider the influence that years of practice, type of participation and some socio-demographical variables have on these older adults’ motivation behind running. 244 older adult amateur athletes in total completed an online survey with the 56 items contained in the motivation of marathoners scales (MOMS), 108 of whom were female (44%), and 136 were male runners (56%). Athletes were asked about their years’ running experience (< 1 year, 1–5 years, 6–10 years, > 10 years), their participation in running events (recreationally, half marathon, marathon, ultramarathon) and age (ranges 50–60, more than 60 years), gender (male, female), family life (whether in a relationship or not), and whether they had children (yes, no).ResultsThe results showed statistical differences in the nine MOMS dimensions in terms of years’ running experience and participation in different running events. Moreover, older adult runners’ gender and age subsequently showed statistical differences with five and six motivational factors respectively, while athletes that did not have children were more likely to run regarding competition and showing recognition. Family life did not show any statistical association with any of the dimensions on the scale in this population, while regression analyses showed that, mainly, years’ running experience and participation were positively predicted, together with most motivational dimensions, while having children was negatively predicted in some of them.ConclusionsThis study showed that older adult runners’ reasons for participating differ from those obtained in previous studies, especially regarding training experience and participation in events. Therefore, the older adult population should be specifically addressed.

Social capital from sport event participation: scale development and validation

ABSTRACT Participatory sport events can generate substantial social benefits for the participants. A key benefit derived from participatory sport events is the development of social capital. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument that measures social capital among active sport event participants. Using three different samples of running event participants, the proposed Sport Event Participation Social Capital Scale (SEPSCS) was tested, purified, and validated. The final scale consisted of three dimensions: trust (three items), reciprocity (three items), and network (three items). Results from factor, correlation and regression analyses supported the convergent and nomological validity of SEPSCS. Overall, SEPSCS provided researchers a psychometrically sound tool to better understand the social impacts of participatory sport events.

Sporting Habits of Urban Runners: Classification According to Their Motivation.

This study analyses the sporting habits of runners participating in short-distance urban running events to identify groups with different motivations towards the practice of endurance running and participation in urban running events. A sample consisting of 937 participants in the Valencia running circuit was interviewed using a questionnaire consisting of a scale of 22 items to analyse their motives for participating in popular races. An exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out to check the validity of the instrument, and the analysis identified the following four factors into which the indicators were grouped: psychological and physical motives (3 items), social motives and interest in running events (5 items), occupation of time and social recognition (6 items) and competitive and material motives (3 items). Subsequently, a cluster analysis was performed by combining hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods, and the analysis identified the following three groups of runners with different characteristics: individual hedonists (n = 276), enthusiasts (n = 312) and socializing hedonists (n = 349). Enthusiastic runners consider most motives important when participating in running events, individual hedonists consider individual psychological and physical motives important, and socializing hedonists consider personal and social motives and interest in sport important. Variables related to age, educational level, annual income level, frequency of running, how the individuals went out to run and the level of the runners contributed to differentiating the identified groups. The results confirm the heterogeneous nature of urban runners.

Differential Effects of Internal and External Constraints on Sustainability Intentions: A Hierarchical Regression Analysis of Running Event Participants by Market Segment

There are immediate calls to action across all business sectors to address the adverse effects of climate change. The sport industry is not immune to these calls—practitioners have engaged participants to further the environmental initiatives of their events through creative messaging campaigns with mixed success. We examine the differential effects of internal and external constraints on sustainability intentions by market segment of a running event’s participants. This furthers our understanding of how to engage sport participants in sustainable behaviors at a sport event and improves the sustainable behavior outcomes of messaging campaigns. Our results support the principles of constraint theory and that internal constraints need to be addressed before external constraints are relevant. Internal constraints, such as lack of knowledge and lack of worth, predict variance in intentions to act sustainably (i.e., to dispose of waste correctly). After controlling for internal constraints, the external constraints of lack of interest by others to act sustainably, and lack of access and time, explain additional variance in sustainability intentions. We also found that each market segment varies on the impact of constraints that inhibit sustainability intentions, with the amount of variance in sustainability intention explained by such constraints varying from as low as 11.4% in one segment to as high as 33.1% in another. We then provide specific recommendations for future research and discuss how practitioners can use these results to ameliorate these constraints and increase sustainability intentions.

Running as a Form of Therapy Socio-Psychological Functions of Mass Running Events for Men and Women

The main goal of this study was to recognize the motives of participation in mass running events (Poznan Half Marathon case study). The second aim was to examine the motivations to participate in a half-marathon among two groups of respondents: men and women, and to evaluate the differences between them. The empirical research among runners (n = 560) conducted during the one of the most important running events in Poland recognized the motives for participation in the sports event in accordance with the four basic types of orientation: social orientation, experience orientation, factual orientation, and result orientation (Freyer & Gross, 2002). The significant difference between surveyed men and women appeared in the motives of desire to get away from everyday life and its prevailing fashion, which turned out to be more important for women than for men. The desire to win was not important for the respondents. All respondents reported that what was very important for them was the need to experience strong emotions related to participation, the desire to feel unity and integration with other people, and the desire to test themselves. In general, the results show that people participate in running events not only for physical activity, but also for mental well-being and socio-psychological effects. They experience strong emotions, adrenaline, pleasure, relaxation, and an escape from the duties and hardships of everyday life and have an opportunity to build social relationships thanks to mass sports events organized in urban agglomerations. The article constitutes a conceptualization of the running event in the dimension of social and psychological interactions, which reveal and demonstrate its creative layers and contemporary meaning which has already gone deeply beyond functions of running for health and improving the physical condition.

The "ripple effect": Health and community perceptions of the Indigenous Marathon Program on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Australia.

Physical inactivity is a key health risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians. We examined perceptions of the Indigenous Marathon Program (IMP) in a remote Torres Strait island community. Semi-structured interviews with community and program stakeholders (n=18; 14 Indigenous) examined barriers and enablers to running and the influence of the IMP on the community. A questionnaire asked 104 running event participants (n=42 Indigenous) about their physical activity behaviours, running motivation and perceptions of program impact. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis, and quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Interviews revealed six main themes: community readiness, changing social norms to adopt healthy lifestyles, importance of social support, program appeal to hard-to-reach population groups, program sustainability and initiation of broader healthy lifestyle ripple effects beyond running. Barriers to running in the community were personal (cultural attitudes; shyness) and environmental (infrastructure; weather; dogs). Enablers reflected potential strategies to overcome described barriers. Indigenous questionnaire respondents were more likely to report being inspired to run by IMP runners than non-Indigenous respondents. Positive "ripple" effects of the IMP on running and broader health were described to have occurred through local role modelling of healthy lifestyles by IMP runners that reduced levels of "shame" and embarrassment, a common barrier to physical activity among Indigenous Australians. A high initial level of community readiness for behaviour change was also reported. SO WHAT?: Strategies to overcome this "shame" factor and community readiness measurement should be incorporated into the design of future Indigenous physical activity programs.

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

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 &amp; 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.

Distance Running Events and Life Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study

The current study examines whether a distance running event has the capacity to promote participants’ life satisfaction. The construct of psychological involvement was used to investigate the impact of attitude change through event preparation and subsequent activity. Data were collected four times through online surveys from running event participants (N = 211) over a five-month period. Latent growth modeling analyses revealed that participants’ life satisfaction peaked immediately after the event before receding, indicating that event participation exerted a positive impact on participants’ evaluations toward their lives. A positive significant association was also found between change in pleasure in running and change in life satisfaction. Findings from this study provide empirical support that a distance running event can serve as an environmental determinant that enhances participants’ life satisfaction by providing positive experiences through event participation and forming psychological involvement in physical activity.

The Role of Physically Active Leisure for Enhancing Quality of Life

Drawing upon bottom-up theory of life satisfaction, this study develops and tests a model that links physically active leisure to people's quality of life. Results from a sample of 827 running event participants revealed that satisfaction with event participation and psychological involvement in running were significant predictors of participants’ life domain satisfaction and overall life satisfaction, both of which are common subjective indicators of quality of life. Conversely, behavioral involvement in running was a non-significant predictor of life domain satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. These findings suggest that physically active leisure may enhance participants’ quality of life by providing positive experiences through event participation and contributing to psychological involvement in physical activity.

Self-reported health, physical activity and socio-economic status of middle-aged and elderly participants to a popular road running race in Switzerland: better off than the general population?

In affluent countries habitual physical activity (PA) levels are low while participation of middle-aged people in road running events is increasing. We compared PA determinants of runners aged 50+ to those of a general population sample of similar age in Switzerland. Cross-sectional study comparing 580 road running event participants to 1,067 general population subjects. Binary logistic regression was used to predict group membership and multinomial logistic regression to describe relationships between regular PA levels, health and socio-economic status, adjusted for age, marital status and sex. There was better health status, higher socio-economic position, less obesity and less depression in the runners than in the general population. People in self-reported "poor / very poor" and "good" health categories were less likely than the "excellent/very good" category to engage in vigorous regular PA compared to moderate regular PA. Our findings confirm the association of PA with better health and higher socio-economic status in people aged 50+ but do not allow conclusions on causality. Further research and managerial effort should be expanded to develop programmes for the inactive population. New and existing prevention programmes should be undertaken to increase the awareness of target audiences. Popular road running events should be seen as having important public health potential and should be fostered.