A 48hr trip to NorCal included a conversation about capitalism, and meeting Des Linden at Western States five minutes after I finished listening to her latest podcast.
Yep! I believe it's US data, but American sources/reporters rarely think to clarify things like that. Either way, it's literally double of what it was, which is how it feels.
“75% runners earn more than 50% over the median salary”
My 2cents on this is that running like many sports or activities is a luxury to be able to do. It’s something one can pursue once certain comfort is achieved, comfort in the form of stable and enough income- to eat, sleep, have a roof over ones head, take care of family and then have some more money, time and energy. Which is why i feel there could be similarities in terms of the kind of people we find the sport popular amongst, not just financial but other aspects as well.
Though I feel time and energy when it comes to something like running one can take out because inherently it’s an activity that someone does solely for them selves.
Yeah, there's definitely that middle-class luxury of spending time on oneself. The emerging middle class in China is certainly fueling their trail running boom.
For sure china trail running over that last 10 years has blown up big time. Question on the consumerism and sustainability bit. Don’t you think the jobs of the brands is to sell, I mean if the voices say we don’t want something they’ll just find another way to sell something, its pretty much the pillar on which consumerism is based. So don’t you think its probable more important for us as individuals to be really thinking and questing do we really need this or that before we get it. And for us all as individuals to be responsible for opening up our wallets and make all those purchases of the latest colour way of the freshest drop of the year. (Which is essentially a point you have made)
It is the brands' job to sell! Conscious consumerism is paramount, but it would take a seachange for us to truly purchase thoughtfully as a society, which is just one of the reasons I don't like to put the onus too firmly on the individual.
It's difficult because we're not about to change the economic system of the world any time soon, so living comfortably and as sustainably as possible within it is the goal, and everyone has a different level of desire and ability to do that.
However, I think it's really important for community leaders to show the way, and I am increasingly hopeful about that.
Raz: "75% of runners earn 50% over the median salary (please speculate why in a comment!)"
Speculation: Lower income jobs are more taxing physically, and people in those jobs don't need more activity. If I worked on my feet all day, I doubt I would take up running. Also: Urban dwellers in large metro areas earn more, and a high percent of runners are in those areas. Rural people tend to not be involved in recreational exercise. These are all just guesses.
The "logic" of asking the question takes two simple attributes without considering the other factors. A deeper dive would probably raise some other factors.
Such as these totally made up stats:
75% of runners live within 25 miles of a medium or large city (higher income, yes, but cost of living could show that within that area they are not actually above the median salary for that area.)
75% of runners are white/Caucasian. I can't cite an actual stat here, but I am pretty sure this is true, and the number may be higher. This will skew the salary data, since I am also pretty sure wages are higher in general for whites. Yes, I think there is still a wage disparity based on race.
Yep, desk jobs in the city traditionally pay more (not mine, but I digress), and running is the perfect balance to sedentary screen time.
I'm not so sure about the final point, though. It certainly makes sense, but an overwhelming proportion of new runners are women, who also suffer from that wage disparity.
Raz, very good point on the wages and women, However I would point out that your first statement didn't include the variable of "new" runner, just runners in general (75% of runners earn 50% over the median salary"). So while it may be true that a large percent of "new" runners are women, that doesn't tell me the current split for all runners (is it still skewed towards men). Also it's possible that 85% of all runners earned 50% over the median salary before the current boom of women runners entering the sport, meaning that 75% could represent a decline in that number. We would have to view a trend line over time and not rely solely on a single data point. (75%).
A deeper analysis would probably yield some surprises. I worked in Corp analytics for a number of years, and it was interesting to present standard reports each month, and then explain the differences and causes. There was often a "gotcha" no one was expecting. I kept year old reports around, just because I knew that next year, I would have to remember what happened last year.
It absolutely could be a decline! It might also be a dataset from a different time, rendering the two stats as very separate. I would love to see all the data over time, but that's a very specific, unprofitable request.
I was having the conversation just this weekend about data analysis, and how I absolutely do not have the patience to parse datasets through the necessary systems, but love to sit with the results and give them cultural context. I hope someone gets me more running demographic results soon haha.
Yeah, its a conundrum of causation and correlation. Is one thing really related to other, and if so why? Attribution can get complicated, and the number of variables introduced can exponentially complicate it. I wish we could always rely on two things. IE: this happened (A), and then this always happens (B).
As for patience, yeah, you really have to be a data geek to make it all work. Thanks for the exchange on this Monday morning!
“There is an estimated 25 million more runners in 2025 than in 2020” 25 million?? Did I read that right?
Yep! I believe it's US data, but American sources/reporters rarely think to clarify things like that. Either way, it's literally double of what it was, which is how it feels.
“75% runners earn more than 50% over the median salary”
My 2cents on this is that running like many sports or activities is a luxury to be able to do. It’s something one can pursue once certain comfort is achieved, comfort in the form of stable and enough income- to eat, sleep, have a roof over ones head, take care of family and then have some more money, time and energy. Which is why i feel there could be similarities in terms of the kind of people we find the sport popular amongst, not just financial but other aspects as well.
Though I feel time and energy when it comes to something like running one can take out because inherently it’s an activity that someone does solely for them selves.
Yeah, there's definitely that middle-class luxury of spending time on oneself. The emerging middle class in China is certainly fueling their trail running boom.
For sure china trail running over that last 10 years has blown up big time. Question on the consumerism and sustainability bit. Don’t you think the jobs of the brands is to sell, I mean if the voices say we don’t want something they’ll just find another way to sell something, its pretty much the pillar on which consumerism is based. So don’t you think its probable more important for us as individuals to be really thinking and questing do we really need this or that before we get it. And for us all as individuals to be responsible for opening up our wallets and make all those purchases of the latest colour way of the freshest drop of the year. (Which is essentially a point you have made)
It is the brands' job to sell! Conscious consumerism is paramount, but it would take a seachange for us to truly purchase thoughtfully as a society, which is just one of the reasons I don't like to put the onus too firmly on the individual.
It's difficult because we're not about to change the economic system of the world any time soon, so living comfortably and as sustainably as possible within it is the goal, and everyone has a different level of desire and ability to do that.
However, I think it's really important for community leaders to show the way, and I am increasingly hopeful about that.
Raz: "75% of runners earn 50% over the median salary (please speculate why in a comment!)"
Speculation: Lower income jobs are more taxing physically, and people in those jobs don't need more activity. If I worked on my feet all day, I doubt I would take up running. Also: Urban dwellers in large metro areas earn more, and a high percent of runners are in those areas. Rural people tend to not be involved in recreational exercise. These are all just guesses.
The "logic" of asking the question takes two simple attributes without considering the other factors. A deeper dive would probably raise some other factors.
Such as these totally made up stats:
75% of runners live within 25 miles of a medium or large city (higher income, yes, but cost of living could show that within that area they are not actually above the median salary for that area.)
75% of runners are white/Caucasian. I can't cite an actual stat here, but I am pretty sure this is true, and the number may be higher. This will skew the salary data, since I am also pretty sure wages are higher in general for whites. Yes, I think there is still a wage disparity based on race.
Yep, desk jobs in the city traditionally pay more (not mine, but I digress), and running is the perfect balance to sedentary screen time.
I'm not so sure about the final point, though. It certainly makes sense, but an overwhelming proportion of new runners are women, who also suffer from that wage disparity.
Raz, very good point on the wages and women, However I would point out that your first statement didn't include the variable of "new" runner, just runners in general (75% of runners earn 50% over the median salary"). So while it may be true that a large percent of "new" runners are women, that doesn't tell me the current split for all runners (is it still skewed towards men). Also it's possible that 85% of all runners earned 50% over the median salary before the current boom of women runners entering the sport, meaning that 75% could represent a decline in that number. We would have to view a trend line over time and not rely solely on a single data point. (75%).
A deeper analysis would probably yield some surprises. I worked in Corp analytics for a number of years, and it was interesting to present standard reports each month, and then explain the differences and causes. There was often a "gotcha" no one was expecting. I kept year old reports around, just because I knew that next year, I would have to remember what happened last year.
It absolutely could be a decline! It might also be a dataset from a different time, rendering the two stats as very separate. I would love to see all the data over time, but that's a very specific, unprofitable request.
I was having the conversation just this weekend about data analysis, and how I absolutely do not have the patience to parse datasets through the necessary systems, but love to sit with the results and give them cultural context. I hope someone gets me more running demographic results soon haha.
Yeah, its a conundrum of causation and correlation. Is one thing really related to other, and if so why? Attribution can get complicated, and the number of variables introduced can exponentially complicate it. I wish we could always rely on two things. IE: this happened (A), and then this always happens (B).
As for patience, yeah, you really have to be a data geek to make it all work. Thanks for the exchange on this Monday morning!