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Despite significant personal and financial costs many people participate in marathon races each year: Since the level of fitness and endurance required to complete a marathon far exceed the minimum requirement for cardiorespiratory fitness, many investigators have studied the motives of long-distance runners. Due to instrumental and methodological difficulties, however, previous studies were not able to provide statistically derived groupings of marathon runners based on motives. In this study, it was hypothesized that marathon runners are heterogeneous in terms of their motives for running and that definable subgroups could be identified Multivariate cluster analysis showed that the 1519 participants formed 5 definable groups that were named: Running Enthusiasts, Lifestyle Managers, Personal Goal Achievers, Personal Accomplishers, and Competitive Achievers. Differences among these groups were discovered on several demographic, training, and performance variables, confirming the significance of the groupings. Personal rather than social or competitive reasons were endorsed most often across all groups.
It is not inherently obvious why anyone engages in marathon running, yet each year in the United States thousands participate in these events. An analysis of the costs of marathon participation reveals many factors that seem to pose serious obstacles to the completion of a marathon. First, training for a marathon is a significant undertaking. Months of day in and day out running with sometimes lengthy individual training sessions are required to prepare for a marathon. Numerous hours and miles of training are necessary, especially if the participant anticipates running the entire distance. This level of training is clearly beyond what is necessary to acquire the basic health benefits of regular exercise (Blair et al., 1996; Blair et al., 1995; Blair et al., 1989; "Physical Activity", 1995) and necessitates that work, meal, family, and social schedules be organized to accommodate the regimen. Additionally, other recreational activities are missed and time with family and friends is likely to be reduced. All of this is particularly significant when considering the difficulty that many, perhaps most, people have with maintaining minimal aerobic exercise routines.
Though the monetary costs of marathon running are not onerously high compared to other activities, there are numerous expenses including shoes, running attire, race entry fees, and often travel. The physical and psychological costs are also noteworthy. Runners may, particularly in the...