Endurance running is in. Fitness enthusiasts and elite runners alike spend their weekends pounding the pavements and bounding through the countryside. They are training for and competing in ultra marathons, triathlons and obstacle races.
Runners often claim that they run to escape from the demands of everyday life, to experience freedom, and say that they find running a good way to meditate. But in my recently published PhD thesis, I investigate what really motivates people to torture themselves by running hundreds of painful kilometres in their spare time, no matter the weather. And it paints a rather different picture.
My research shows that running has become a way to gain social status by creating an image or personal brand. Even though most runners claim only to compete with themselves, they often use their personal brands to compete with others. This doesn’t just apply to running, but also to the competition for jobs, education and even dates in our competitive and individualised neoliberal society. Social media and apps such as Strava, which connects millions of runners, are increasingly being used for this purpose.
Personal brands are built in other areas of life too. Take cooking, for example. We might once have enjoyed cooking and eating a simple meal with friends. Now, on-trend ingredients, complicated dishes and sophisticated kitchen equipment are used to demonstrate one’s connoisseurship – often on social media.
Similarly, running and exercise used to be simple – something we devoted a few short moments a week to. But much like cooking, running is supported by a big industry. You don’t really need any special equipment to run – you could in theory run barefoot. Despite that, an entire industry has grown around the sport – selling shoes, special training clothes, running experiences, dietary advice and even training holidays.