RunSignUp recently sent out their annual Race Trends Report, which breaks down the participation numbers and industry trends for the endurance industry.
In the 2021 report, they explore:
- The rate and trajectory of COVID-19 recovery
- The shifting prevalence of in-person and virtual events
- Patterns in participant registration
- The success of various promotional strategies
- Trends in peer-to-peer fundraising events
- The impact of technology on event day
The report details a lot of interesting information on the state of the running industry, and, which may not come as a surprise, is still lagging from the decline brought on by the shuttering of so many races in 2020. Of those statistics, the report notes that on average, participation in events fell 23% in 2021 compared to 2019. More plainly, approximately 1 in 4 people who had participated in an event in 2019 opted to not do so in 2021. Possibly even more staggering is that just 12% of participants who took part in an event in 2020 returned to that event in 2021. The suggestion here is that with the fluctuation from in-person to virtual to in-person again may have impacted the attraction to potential repeat participants.
Interestingly, there was a solid 80/20 finding for participants to events. The report notes that although in-person events only made up approximately 20% of opportunities to race (with the other 80% being virtual offerings), they saw nearly 80% of the participants who took part in an event. This would seem to suggest that there is a real desire for those in the running and endurance community to get back to in-person experiences.
A key takeaway from the report is that nearly 11% of events that took place in 2019 skipped both 2020 and 2021, possibly opening new opportunities for ambitious race directors to try new ideas and capture participants from events that are no longer taking place.
The full report is 100 slides of interesting data, conclusions, and takeaways that boils down some fairly granular findings. Click here to download the full PDF deck and check out the full report for yourself.
About RunSignup
RunSignup (https://runsignup.com/) is the leading all-in-one platform for endurance and fundraising events. More than 17,000 races, supporting over 8,000 nonprofits, use RunSignup’s free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. Built on a powerful CRM, RunSignup delivers the art of technology to power the entire race cycle with promotional tools, registration, a full fundraising platform, and a suite of RaceDay products – including the runner-tracking app RaceJoy and race timing software, RaceDay Scoring.
