THE FUTURE OF RUNNING
RUNNING NEVER STANDS STILL. WE ASKED THOSE IN THE KNOW TO GIVE US A GL IMPSE OF WHAT’S COMING ROUND THE CORNER
In many ways, running is a simple pursuit that’ll never change. Stick your shoes on, start moving and stop when you’re tired, bored or your Garmin hits a round number. That’s the idealistic view. In reality, running moves with the times as much as anything else. Like it or not, there are forces at work reshaping how, where – and even why – we run.
Technology is probably the biggest agent of change. Everything from headphones and footpods to smartwatches, superfoams and the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being plugged into our plods. But there are other outside influences, too, such as the need to respond to the climate crisis and improving inclusivity. To find out what all that means for our future, we asked some of running’s leading thinkers to share what they believe will affect the way we train, race and recover before the next decade is out. This isn’t a speculative stab at a sci-fi future, where presumably the only running we’ll do will be errands for our robot masters. This is a look at what’s coming – at pace – just around the corner. So buckle up, here’s where running goes next…
01 NO-FLY ZONES
THE ENVIRONMENTAL ELEPHANT in the room? Flying to races. Up to 90% of an event’s CO 2emissions comes from travel. That must be addressed, says ultrarunner and RW columnist Damian Hall, author of We Can’t Run Away From This and co-founder of The Green Runners. That means rethinking our approach to the big city marathons.
‘Global series such as the Abbott World Marathon Majors, UTMB World Series and the World Marathon Challenge will have lost moral justification to continue as they are,’ says Hall, who predicts big change ahead. ‘The London Marathon and other flagship city marathons will have to limit their international fields to bring their footprint down, while some races will have a “no fly” policy.’
02 RUN THE COUNTRY
FINDING RUNNER-FRIENDLY routes between towns and cities is much easier these days, thanks to Google Maps, Komoot and Strava. But plans to open up rural pastures are also on the rise.
Since 2020, volunteers on the Slow Ways project have been busy plotting 9,000 routes, creating a UK-wide off-road network stretching over 120,000km. An app is in the works, too, where runners can find their preferred routes, says Saira Niazi, Slow Ways’ community stories lead. Find out more at beta.slowways.org
03 A LEVEL START LINE
WORLDWIDE, MORE WOMEN run than men nowadays. Female race participation rose from 20% in 1986 to just above 50% in 2018. Yet many races don’t put men and women on equal footing. That has to change, says Sophie Power, ultrarunner and f
