Sept. 11, 2025 — Understanding what drives runners to sign up, show up, and return to races is essential for growing and sustaining the running industry. That’s why Running USA conducts its annual Global Runner Survey. The 2025 edition, sponsored by Active Network, is now available, offering the most comprehensive insights in the survey’s history. You can download the report (free for all membership levels) or purchase (for non-Running USA members) here.
This year’s report received more than 12,700 responses worldwide, representing a 73% increase over the 2024 edition. For the first time, nearly 10% of respondents resided outside the United States, underscoring the survey’s expanding global reach.
“The record-breaking response this year is a testament to the passion of the running community and the support of our members and partners,” said Michael Clemons, Director of Operations and research lead for Running USA. “These insights are invaluable for anyone looking to create better events, experiences, and products for runners worldwide.” Join Clemons for a Sept. 16 webinar in which top insights from the report will be shared (register to attend).
Actionable Insights for the Running Industry
The 2025 Global Runner Survey delivers data-driven perspectives to race organizers, brands, sponsors, nonprofits, and other industry stakeholders. Key areas of focus include:
● Event participation behavior
● Motivations behind choosing and returning to events
● Spending and charitable fundraising patterns
● Brand and technology usage trends among runners
To further enhance its value, the 2025 survey expanded into new research areas, including:
Support for runners with disabilities: Additional demographic questions were included to better understand needs and improve accessibility.
Social media impact on participation: For the second year, Running USA partnered with Treat Public Relations to measure how event communications and online presence influence runner decisions, now allowing year-over-year comparisons.
Technology and fitness equipment trends: In collaboration with Wahoo Fitness, the survey gathered data on participant preferences for treadmills and other fitness machinery.
Standard topics covered also include demographics; participation, spending, and travel; runner/walker profiles; event preferences and swag; communications and social media; charitable fundraising; DEIB initiatives; sport and fitness product usage and much more.
Conducted from March–July 2025 via convenience online sampling, the 2025 Global Runner Survey reflects an inclusive definition of “runner,” encompassing individuals who run, jog, or walk at any time during the year, whether they participate in organized events or not. Download the full report here.
In addition to presenting sponsor Active Network, Running USA expresses gratitude to Wahoo Fitness and Treat Public Relations, which were partners on this year’s survey.
About Running USA
Running USA is a non-profit that serves as the leading trade organization for the running industry in North America and hosts the nation’s preeminent industry conference annually. Through education, research, best practices and data, Running USA is committed to supporting and facilitating growth, diversification and excitement in running communities everywhere. We promote networking and idea-sharing between event organizers, sponsors, vendors and athletes. Running USA is a member of a global alliance of organizations focused on the betterment of the global running community including the Running Industry Alliance and European Athletics. For more information, visit runningusa.org.