Running culture is becoming more social, local and identity-led. The SportOnSocial Global Running Culture 2025 report, created by Redtorch in partnership with the Running Industry Alliance, tracks search and social signals across 10 markets to understand how runners search, discover products and take part in the sport. Download the Global Running Culture 2025 report, here.
Global Running Culture 2025 Report: Key Takeaways
Running Is Now Culture, Not Just Exercise – The report shows that people run for different reasons, including health, performance, self-expression, family time and social belonging. For brands, this means that to effectively reach runners, you need to understand what role running plays in their lives.
Search Behaviour Shows What Runners Value – When people search online for running brands and products, they are far more likely to use a brand name than a specific shoe model. 73% of brand-related running search visibility came from generic brand queries, such as “Nike” or “Nike Store”, while 27% came from searches for specific products, such as “Nike Pegasus 41”. Nike and New Balance rely largely on brand strength, while ASICS and On demonstrate how individual models can drive discovery. Nike leads global visibility, but ASICS, On and New Balance show how specific shoes, product names and performance features can also drive attention. This reinforces why audience insight matters when identifying sponsorship opportunities.
Women’s Running Needs Are Becoming More Specific – Searches for “women’s running shoes” rose 200% in the US, while searches for “HOKA running shoes women” increased 600% over five years. Female runners are looking for fit, performance and style. Therefore, brands need products and partnerships that reflect real running needs, not generic messaging.
Running Communities Are Becoming Brand Spaces – Rising searches for run clubs, app-based challenges, street races and community-led events show that running is increasingly social. Brands can build stronger relevance through local clubs, creator partnerships, race calendars and experiences that continue before and after event day and genuinely add value to the experience.
What Does This Mean for Running Sponsorship?
The report shows that running sponsorship should not be built around participation numbers alone. Brands need to understand the different motivations inside running culture, from beginners and families to women, social runners, tech-led runners and product-focused buyers. Rights holders, events and communities that can evidence these audiences (and why they run) will be better placed to build valuable partnerships.
Need Help Connecting With Running Culture?
If you’re considering using sponsorship as a partnership platform to connect with running, fitness or active lifestyle audiences, want to identify the best running events, communities, creators or sports properties to sponsor, and would value evidence-based advice from a sports sponsorship consultancy, Strive Sponsorship can help. We partnered Specsavers with parkrun and have supported online running apparel retailer Wiggle.
Contact us if you’re keen to build engaging partnerships that grow brand awareness, stay top of mind with your target audience, boost consideration and create stronger brand salience within running culture.
Frequently asked questions
Why Should Sponsor Brands Understand Running Culture?
Running culture matters because people run for different reasons, including health, identity, community, performance and social connection. Brands that understand those motivations can build more relevant partnerships, products and campaigns.
How Can Brands Reach Running Audiences?
Brands can reach running audiences through local run clubs, creators, events, apps, retailers and community-led experiences. The strongest opportunities are likely to come from activity that supports runners’ real habits and needs, rather than one-off logo visibility.
How Can Sponsors Improve the Value of Running Sponsorships?
Sponsors can improve the value of running sponsorships by choosing properties that truly understand running audiences and offering relevant value to fans/participants that improves their experience. Attention is more important than visibility, and that is earned by building credible activations and measuring more than just exposure. Clear objectives, such as awareness, engagement, participation, consideration or sales impact, should be established from the start.