THE RUNNING TRIBES: TYPOLOGY OF THE LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING COMMUNITY OF GREECE

Authors

  • Yannis Georgiou School of Physical Education and Sport Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Nikolaos Patsantaras School of Physical Education and Sport Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Irene Kamberidou School of Economics and Political Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v11i3.5435

Keywords:

Marathon, Running movement, Physical Activity, Segmentation, Habits, Attitudes, Sport industry, Market segmentation, Gender gap

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to create a typology of the long-distance running community of Greece. The sample consisted of 3228 participants/runners in the "Athens Marathon, The Authentic". The variables used for the segmentation included the demographic, social, attitudinal, and behavioral characteristics of the individuals participating in running as a leisure time physical activity. A cluster analysis was implemented using Python K-Mode by creating a code and using the Elbow method because all the variables were categorical. The analysis yields five (5) different clusters, with some similarities but discernible differences, which distinguish each one of the clusters, making them unique. According to the recorded differences, each one of the clusters was assigned a name. The first cluster was named Leisure Health-Oriented Joggers, the second cluster Older Competitive Marathon Runners, the third Health Oriented Experienced Marathon Runners, the fourth Lonely Marathon Runners, and the fifth Sports Oriented Social Marathon Runners. This is the first-ever presentation of a typology of the Greek running community. Moreover, such a typology could benefit the private and public sectors. Specifically, the segmentation of the running community could influence the sport industry in regard to services, products or merchandise as well as entrepreneurial initiatives. By focusing on the characteristics of each distinctive cluster, the public sector could use this as a guide in planning and implementing new physical activity policies, projects and programs.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

Author Biographies

  • Yannis Georgiou, School of Physical Education and Sport Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

    Yannis Georgiou is a PhD Candidate of Sport Sociology at the School of Physical Education and Sport Science (SPESS) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece (NKUA). After his studies in Sports Management; Exercise and Quality of Life; in Dietetics and Sport Nutrition; and in Sport Sociology, at the University of Peloponnese, Democritus University of Thrace, Harokopeio University of Athens, and the NKUA, from where he received four respective masters’ degrees. Yannis turned his research interest to the investigation of the running movement in Greece in correlation with various sociological variables, and in the perspective of the systemic theory as a separate and distinct social system. His scientific and research interests are in Sport Sociology and Sport Management. He has participated in several conferences, as a speaker, and published in a number of scientific journals and conference proceedings.

  • Nikolaos Patsantaras, School of Physical Education and Sport Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

    Nikolaos Patsantaras is a Professor of Sport Sociology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the School of Physical Education and Sport Science (SPESS) where he completed his undergraduate studies. He continued his graduate and doctoral studies at the University of Konstanz in Germany. He is currently the Vice-Dean of the SPESS and the former Director of the SPESS Theoretical, Social Sciences and Humanities Division: http://en.phed.uoa.gr/human-resources/professional-staff/patsantaras-nikolaos.html

  • Irene Kamberidou, School of Economics and Political Science National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

    Irene Kamberidouis is a Professor of Sociology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), the School of Economics and Political Science, the Department of Sociology. Irene is one of the six members of the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Committee of the NKUA. She completed her BA and MA at Emmanuel College and Boston College, Boston and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA, respectively, and her junior year at the Sorbonne (Paris IV), France. Having repatriated to Greece, she completed her PhD at the Sociology Department of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens.

    Department of Sociology (NKUA):https://en.soc.uoa.gr/staff/irene_kamberidou/

    UoA scholar: http://scholar.uoa.gr/ikamper/home

References

Bridel, W., Markula, P., & Denison, J. (2015). Critical considerations of runners and running. In Endurance Running (pp. 1-15). Routledge. eBook ISBN9781315749518

Chaturvedi, A., Green, P. E., & Caroll, J. D. (2001). K-modes clustering. Journal of Classification, 18, 35-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00357-001-0004-3

Delnoij, M. (2004). Ze zijn gewoon niet te binden. Hardlopers, atletiekvereningen en de opkomst van lichte gemeenschappen [They cannot be binded. Runners, athletics associations and the emergence of light communities]. Unpublished MSc Thesis, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam.

Eurobarometer (2018). Special Eurobarometer 472, Report, Sport and Physical Activity. European Commission. https://sport.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/special-eurobarometer-472_en.pdf (Retrieved May 6, 2024)

Forsberg, P. (2015). Denmark. In J. Scheerder & K. Breedveld (Eds.). Running across Europe (pp. 59-80). Palgrave Macmillan, London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137446374_1.

Georgiou, I., Patsantaras, N., Kamberidou, I. (2019). Motivations of the Participants of the Running Movement in Greece. Book of Abstracts/proceedings of the 5th Sports Science Conference "Exercise & Health", School of Physical Education and Sports Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, April 12-14, 2019, Athens [in Greek].

Georgiou, Y., Patsantaras, N., & Kamberidou, I. (2017). Exploring the relationship between the running movement and organized sport institutions in Greece. Book of Proceedings of the 4th Sport Science Conference “Physical Activity and Sport in Today’s World: Education-Society-Culture.” School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece [article in Greek].

Hallmann, K., & Wicker, P. (2012). Consumer profiles of runners at marathon races. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 3(2), 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/17582951211229717

Han, J., Pei, J., & Tong, H. (2022). Data mining: concepts and techniques. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-0-12-811760-6

Kamberidou, I. (2020). “Distinguished” women entrepreneurs in the digital economy and the multitasking whirlpool. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship 9:1, 3. Springer Open, pp. 1-26. Springer Nature, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-020-0114-y Link: https://rdcu.be/b4sWF

Kamberidou, I. (2019). Gender integration in the military: Gender-neutral standards and coed sports. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, 5 (11), 2345. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3364728 [Google Scholar]

Kamberidou, I., Bonias, A. & Patsantaras, N. (2019). Sport as a means of inclusion and integration "for those of us with disabilities". European Journal of Physical Education & Sport Science, 5(15) 99-128: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejep/article/view/2658http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v0i0.265

Kamberidou, I., & Patsadaras, N. (2008). A new concept in European sport governance: sport as social capital. Biology of Exercise, 4, 21-34. [Google Scholar]

Kefi-Chatzichamperi, E., & Kamberidou, I. (2021). The National Action Plan for Gender Equality: Women, Sports and Military Institutions. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, 7(3), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v7i3.3959

Llopis-Goig, R., & Vilanova, A. (2015). Spain. In J. Scheerder& K. Breedveld (Eds.) Running across Europe (pp. 225-240). Palgrave Macmillan, London, https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137446374_1.

Masters, K. S., Ogles, B. M., & Jolton, J. A. (1993). The development of an instrument to measure motivation for marathon running: The Motivations of Marathoners Scales (MOMS). Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 64(2), 134-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1993.10608790.

Ogles, B. M., & Masters, K. S. (2000). Older vs. younger adult male marathon runners: participative motives and training habits. Journal of Sport Behavior, 23(2).

Ogles, B. M., & Masters, K. S. (2003). A typology of marathon runners based on cluster analysis of motivations. Journal of Sport Behaviour, 26(1), 69-85.

Patsantaras, N., & Kamberidou, I. (2022). Experiencing the Myth: Greekness and the German Hero. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, 8(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v8i6.4421

Patsantaras, N. (2020). Virtual bodies (avatars) and sport exercises: some important thoughts. European Journal for Sport and Society, 17(4), 339–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2020.1792087

Patsantaras, Ν. (2017). Post-modern sport reflections in the shadow of tradition: The case of the 2016 Athens authentic marathon. Proceedings-Abstracts of the 14th European Association for Sociology of Sport Conference, “The Values of Sport: Between tradition and (post)modernity”. June 14-17, 2017 Prague, Czech Republic, pp. 61-62.

Patsantaras, N. (2015). Cosmopolitanism: An alternative way of thinking in the contemporary Olympics. European Journal for Sport and Society, 12(2), 215–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2015.11687963

Petridis, L. & Batrakoulis, A. (2013). The running movement in Greece: Investigating the profile of the modern marathon runners. Hellenic Journal of Sport & Recreation Management, 10(2), 43 – 54.

Petridis, L. (2015). Greece: Mass running: A new trend from ancient Greece. In J. Scheerder & K. Breedveld (Eds.), In Running across Europe (pp. 140–160). London, UK: Palgrave and MacMillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137446374_1.

Rohm, A. J., Milne, G. R., & McDonald, M. A. (2006). Proven top-rate qualitative analysis and mixed methods research. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 15(1), 29-39.

Scheerder, J., & Boen, F. (Eds.). (2010). Vlaanderen loopt! Sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de loopsportmarkt. Academia Press. ISBN 9789038214849.

Topič, M. D., & Rauter, S. (2015). Slovenia. In J. Scheerder & K. Breedveld (Eds.) Running across Europe (pp. 208-224). Palgrave Macmillan, London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137446374_1.

Van Bottenburg, M., & Hover, P. (2009). Evenementenlopers in beeld. Utrecht/’s-Hertogenbosch: Universiteit Utrecht/WJH MulierInstituut. Retrieved on 10 October 2018 from https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/39527/cover.pdf?sequence=1.

Vos, S., Scheerder, J., Boen, F., &Feys, J. (2008, September). A typology of runners. Implications for marketing strategies. In Proceedings of the European Sport Management Conference (pp. 10-13).

Vos, S., Walravens, R., Hover, P., Borgers, J. & Scheerder, J. (2014). Voor de pret of de prestatie? Typologieën van evenementloopsters [For pleasure or competition? Typologies of event runners]. Vrijetijdstudies, 32(2), 19-34. ISSN 1384-2439

WEF (2023). Global Gender Gap Report 2023. World Economic Forum (WEF), June 20, 2023. https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-gender-gap-report-2023/ (accessed 8/6/2024).

Downloads

Published

2024-06-19

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2024)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).