More and more corridors turn racing calendars into travel routes with exotic places.
Marathons are no longer limited to crossing the 42 -kilometer (26.2 miles) brand near the house. In recent years, A new tendency It was among the community of runners: “Marathon Making trips”. An international movement, which has previously a niche hobby.
Strava race monitoring application for the year in the sports trend report 9% increase in marathon participation And last year ultramaratons. On his behalf, Running USA Running Runners survey revealed that runners give priority to the location as the main factor when choosing a race.
Converting racing calendars into travel routes
This trend is usually called Marathon tourismIt allows more and more runners to convert racing calendars into travel routes with exotic places. “We need a goal; we need to feel alive, so we run,” Roel Spierings, the Dutch, Ultramarathony psychologist and runner coach.
“Combination with trips More popular because we can meetIt is fun and gives us a feeling of pursuing a target, or he says. The modern corridor wants the experiences looking for memories, personal transformations and stories that go beyond the medal, after finishing the races.
Like Increase the flexibility of working life And the lifestyle related to the health gain ground running in the destinations that appear in the request list suddenly become a niche for those looking for goals and emotions in their free time.
Marathon tourism is an economic impulse for destinations
Sector experts and survey data Marathon tourism left. In 2024, the New York Marathon pointed to a new milestone with more than 55,000 participants exceeding the records of Paris and Berlin marathons in the same year.
In 2025, the United States is planned to participate in the same number of races or more races. Cities in Europe, Asia and Africa Destination Based ExperiencesStarting new events designed to shoot Runners And your travel friends.
And the target marathons are no longer limited to Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago’s ‘big six’. new York And Tokyo, which contributes hundreds of millions of euros in local expenditures every year. Even the smallest events in the world have made a great increase in tourism, such as Métoc Marathon, which crosses Bordeaux vineyards on racing days and provides wine by the runners.
Also, the participants They rarely travel alone. Surveys show that most runners come to groups of two or three people. Some reserve trips in small groups full of friendships through companies specialized in sports trips. Instead of going for just a few nights, 59% of the runners stay for three to five nights or extending to other nearby tourist places.
For example, in previous years, Runners completing the marathon De London then attempts to spend a few nights in the middle of nature to the Skye Island in the Scotland. These long -term rooms emphasize the role of marathon as more than an event of a day when hotels, restaurants and local attraction centers benefit.
Why are people traveling to run the marathon?
Spierings discovered this Excessive physical difficulties It has tremendous psychological benefits, especially when they combine with a sense of visiting new places. Running is a powerful self -tool on its own. If an unknown environment such as mountainous land or heat is added Your desertTransformation is usually even greater.
One of Spierings’s most memorable experiences was Ultramarathon for Rangers, A Stagees race Five days 250 km With Kenya’s five national parks. “This is a self -insufficient race that you run next to the wild life of the word.”
Another extraordinary test is 250 km Eiger, which takes an impressive route protected by the runners UNESCO. Switzerland. Beyond personal satisfaction, Spierings believes that trips increase psychological rewards: “You should combine pain with the environment. It allows you to want to play adventure.”
How to balance between holidays and competition
Travel to join a marathon Add layers of logistics and potential hazards, like Hand jet lay and climate changes. Spierings recommends adapting to programs and weather conditions a few days before the race. The day before, you should take time to prepare the equipment. Sleep before the race and eat and avoid harsh changes in the diet close to the race day.
Best advice? “Drink someone beer And don’t change all your routine. The business was already done, the last day changes will not help. You need to be difficult and you need people who will share around you. ”
