Why are young people not attracted to running?

Antonio Melero, marketing manager of the On Running brand, in an information published on CMDsport at the end of last September, warned of the little attraction that the race arouses among young people and proposed to analyze new forms of communication to address this market niche.

Regarding this thesis, three retailers from different parts of Spain give their opinion on why young people do not run and on the success of the application of campaigns to attract them to the practice of running.

sports for middle age

The owner of Running ZGZ in Zaragoza, David Constante, believes that “the race is reached at a certain age”. The retailer explains that the average age of his customers is around 30, both men and women. “Under 20 we have some clients who go to athletics schools, but they’re not popular runners.”

Constante notes that it is a good initiative to try to attract the youngest to the race, but he predicts little success. As he explains, “teenagers and young people in their twenties enjoy playing any sport with their friends more than running alone”.

The practical retailer says that going for a run begins to be appreciated when free time begins to decrease, for work and / or family reasons, and it is also difficult to meet friends. As he adds, in this vital period, individual sports such as cycling, swimming or running are used to play sports. Among the different options, running is gaining momentum because it is very easy to practice and cost-effective, concludes Constante.

More knowledge and purchasing power

BND Sport has 14 establishments under the Be Urban Running, Urban Sport, Urban Running Street and Urban Outlet brands distributed in different parts of the Valencian Community. According to Esther Bernad, the company’s head of expansion and retail, the majority of her clientele are over 30, and she believes this is partly due to increased purchasing power and knowledge gained with the age.

“A boy of 20 or younger, surely, his parents still buy his shoes and tend to get carried away by brands,” says Bernard.

On the other hand, a running fan for more than 30 years has greater economic independence, is trained in sports, appreciates the product and knows how to choose according to their needs, explains the retailer.

Bernard also believes that “at every age there are different preferences and it is difficult for a very young person to have the perseverance necessary to run”. The directive adds, however, that “of course there are teenagers who run, but it does not seem to be the priority of the majority, since they are usually more attracted to group sports”.

In any case, the directive believes that campaigns targeting young people could be effective in encouraging them to run because “the more we see something, the more we normalize that behavior.” In any case, Bernard concludes that “everything that communicates a healthy life is good, both for adolescents and for adults”.

You need more push

The manager of the Running Fiz store in Vitoria, Marc Hurtado, places the average age of his customers “over 40”. According to him, the youngest do not approach the race because “there is no impetus from the media such as television, nor from the structures that municipal councils or other institutions make available for the practice of other sports”.

Hurtado states that “if a sport is not promoted from an early age, it is not practiced”. The retailer says that in countries like the Netherlands and Norway, both team and individual sports are promoted for school-age children and the number of young people running is greater than in countries like Spain, where sports prevail. team.

As he points out, the situation has worsened since a few years ago, at least in the Basque Country, there were school cross country championships and other youth competitions with more participation than today.

On the other hand, Hurtado indicates that “the brands are not even dedicated to the youngest, since practically all the product, both textile and footwear, is intended for an adult customer”.

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