The Decibel - Why running is more popular than ever

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

Distance running, once a relatively niche sport, has exploded in popularity. The trend has been ongoing for at least a decade, but 2024′s running season may be the biggest one yet. Marathon race organizers are expecting record participation in races this year, both in Canada and in cities around the world.Today, Ben Kaplan, general manager of iRun Magazine, Allison Hill, co-founder of Hill Run Club, and members of The Decibel’s own running club explain how the sport has grown more inclusive and diverse, drawing in a whole new generation of runners.This episode originally aired on May 1, 2024.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail]

So today I've got our senior producer Adrian in the studio with me. Hey, Adrian. Hey. So you've picked an episode for us to hear that we ran earlier this year. What was the episode you picked? It's called Why Running is More Popular Than Ever. And the reason why I picked it is because the starting point for this episode was so different from a lot of our news episodes, which is, you know, based on the news cycle. This one really began with us chatting around the news desk.

And at some point, somebody asked a question of like, is it just me or is everyone you know a runner now? And not just a runner, but training for a marathon or they're part of a run club. Like it's really central to their identity. And like, when did this happen? Yeah, it seemed to like really explode in popularity all of a run club, like it's really central to their identity. And like, when did this happen? Yeah, it seemed to like really explode in popularity all of a sudden. Exactly. And once we started looking into it, what we found is this deeper cultural story, right? It's about community.

It's about representation. It's about the ways that we've changed after the pandemic and some of the activities that we value now. And I have to give a lot of credit to our producer, Cheryl Sutherland. She's an avid runner herself, and she really put this episode together. Yeah. So I have to ask, Adrian, after listening to this episode, of course, and you've listened to it closely, it sounds like, did it make you want to run more?

I know you run a little bit, but did it encourage you? Yeah. You know, you guys make a very compelling case, especially the Decibel Run Club, without giving away any spoilers. But yeah, I mostly run just to keep up my cardio. I still find it really hard to run past like 10K. So I'm always really impressed by you guys. Maybe in 2025, I'll pick up running for real. So we'll see. Well, wonderful. Thanks so much, Adrian. Let's listen to the episode. So what are we doing right now?

So we're on our run club, our decibel run club, which we do once a week. Yeah. Me and the producers. Do you like doing this? I love doing this. Some of the Decibel team regularly get together to do a leisurely run, and our run club is not unique. Running has seen a surge in popularity, with 2024 shaping up to be one of the busiest marathon race seasons ever. People have lots of different reasons for running. And even though I love it now, it wasn't always fun for me.

So it's funny, I started running, I guess probably when I was like 18. So like, throughout like my teen years, running absolutely terrified me. I hated running. But my dad always ran, like he would do marathons and triathlons, so I grew up kind of knowing that stuff. And I kind of encouraged my whole family to do a 5K. After that, I was like, you know, this thing that I thought was really scary and terrifying, I was like, I could do that. And so I was like, okay, I'm just going to keep doing it. Today on the show, we're going to talk about why more people have taken up running.

We'll talk to Ben Kaplan, general manager of iRun magazine, and the author of the book, Feet Don't Fail Me Now, The Rogue's Guide to Running the Marathon. Then we'll hear from Allison Hill, a Toronto entrepreneur who focuses on wellness for Black women, and who founded a run club in 2020 that's exploded in popularity. And you'll also hear from the runners on the Decibel team about why they like to run. I'm Mainika Ramanwelms, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. Okay, Mainika, you've got to keep up with me. We've got to chat.

Ben, thanks so much for being here. Oh, it's a pleasure. So we are seeing quite a surge in running right now. And I think we should talk a little bit about the numbers. Obviously, it's hard to know exactly how many people are running on their own. But what are we seeing in terms of, you know, the number of people who are actually signing up for these races? I mean, it's bananas.

These guys, and you have to understand, too, these races during the pandemic nearly closed. But like the Calgary Marathon, which is the end of May, is up 70% over last year. I got off the phone yesterday with the guy, the race director in Montreal. His run is in September, right? And two weeks ago, he opened up registration. He could have 25,000 people. Since then, for a run in September, 15,000 of the 25,000 bibs are already taken. That's phenomenal. So it's like, yeah, it's gangbusters. I mean, so big question, of course, is why? Like, why are we seeing such a surge in numbers here? I love that. I mean, I think when

the gyms closed during the pandemic, people ran. I am Cheryl, and I'm also one of the producers here at the Decibel. Here at the Decibel, not outside, but I mean, you know what I mean, at the Decibel. Yeah, I started running to train for a Muay Thai fight. Then the pandemic hit in 2020, and instead of it being kind of like a a side treat um i mean i just had a baby as well so it was really nice way for me to kind of get out have my own time after having a baby you kind of feel like your whole body is not yours anymore right and it was like i could barely run anymore and it was crazy like all of a sudden I was doing two kilometers. And then I could do five.

And then I could do seven. And then I could do ten. And I could just keep going. And so it was really something to push myself to see how far I could go. So yeah, I feel like it makes you feel like some of the bigger things in life that are really difficult maybe are a little bit more achievable. Then like last year, the year before, these things opened up a little bit and it's like the races were ready for the people, you know, and they delivered and people were having a good experience.

They were like, oh my God, this is fun. The other thing is it's like, oh my God, I can do this. I can run 10K. You know, you walk a little bit, you run a little bit, people are cheering for you. You finish, everybody applauds. You get a banana, like you have a ribbon around your neck. It's like, it's an awesome thing. So I think people came back into it in 2022, more came to 2023. And then they were like, hey, Rebecca, let's go do this. And each person brought like three or four people.

Do we actually have numbers in terms of how many people across the country have registered this year? The previous record in Canada for marathon finishers was something like 31,000. And this year we are projected to have like over 36,500. Wow. You know, and I also know that it's not just in Canada because like we had 578,000 applicants for 50,000 race bib slots for the London marathon. And like the Amsterdam Marathon is up 300%. So it's like, this isn't just a Canadian thing.

It's a global phenomenon. These bibs are harder to get than Taylor Swift tickets. Let's take a little bit of a step back. I want to just talk brief about the history, I guess, of running. You know, when did that become, obviously running is not a new thing, but when did it become a common thing for exercise? So we definitely saw the marathon in the Summer Olympics in 1896. And then more like around the Bay race in Hamilton came in 1894. So we were doing these things sort of around then, but it was more like, you know, in the 60s,

Bill Bowerman, who would go on to start Nike with Phil Knight, in the 60s, he wrote a book about jogging. And then like in the 70s, Jimmy Carter was like jogging when he was president of the U.S. So it's like then it became like that word entered the lexicon. And for a while, too, like most things, it was a very male space. Right. So women weren't allowed to enter races for a while. Oh, man. I mean, more recently than you would think. I mean, it wasn't even until 84 that the women's marathon was in the Olympics and the Boston Marathon. I mean, the Boston Marathon, which is like kind of like the gold standard for runners because you have to qualify to get into it.

But it wasn't even until 67 that women could do it. And when one woman came out, Catherine Switzer, the race director literally comes down off his perch or whatever it is and tries to tackle her off the race course. 1967 women couldn't do that. I mean. Yeah, there's that famous picture of her right on the course, the guy trying to pull her off. Amazing. Yeah. So it's like that's not so long ago. And part of the reason why running is becoming more popular is because it's becoming more inclusive. Right. So I guess can we talk a little bit about that? Like when did we see that start to change? OK, there's a few different things. One is, there wasn't really a Michael Jordan, all the Michael Jordans of running were white for a long time, like in the 70s, the guy who won the gold for America, white guy in the 80s, the woman who won the gold for America, white woman runners

world covers white guys. You know, who changed it was Iliad Kipchoge, who's like probably the greatest marathon runner of all time. Kipchoge is a Kenyan marathoner. He runs for Nike and he won the Olympic gold in 2016. Iliad Kipchoge is the Olympic marathon champion and he has destroyed the field. And, you know, he had the money of Nike behind him to make sure that every single last person, wherever you were, knew about him. You know, and that sort of changed the face of the sport. And then it started to change things. There's a guy, Charlie Dark in London, you know, he's like a black DJ and he would start a crew and run crews started happening. And like in Toronto, we had the Parkdale Roadrunners.

And this was like maybe 2010 or something like that. And again, it was like, oh, runners with tattoos. Like, okay, running was never hip. And then running kind of gradually became hip. And I know my man in Montreal, the race director in Montreal, wants to meet with all the different race crews before his event in September. He said he doesn't have enough time to get to them all. There's so many clubs in Montreal that he can't get to them all.

Yeah. I mean, and it's six months away. We've talked a lot about the positives here, but Ben, there must be, I guess, some difficulties here too with such an influx of people running and joining these races. I guess, what are some of the downsides of such an uptick of runners? There was a story that kind of went viral in January, or the run clubs. Like, you know, you get 100 people together and you're running down Queen Street. Like, you're overwhelming the sidewalk. Like, it's dangerous.

Like, I mean, I have all these stitches in my gut right now. And it's like, if I'm limping down the road and 200 runners pass me by, like a herd of antelopes. Like, that's like, that's terrible. The litter at the races, you know, we're putting 45,000 people in the Vancouver Sun Run. You know, you've seen what it looks like when Coachella leaves and all that litter. Well, I guess some of the logistics is kind of behind this stuff, too, right? Like, you need porta-potties for all those people. You need water stations that are efficient. Like, that can be very difficult if all of a sudden you have a lot more runners.

And I guess, you know, there's always the possibility of injury, too, if you don't train well and if you don't kind of, you know, build up your stamina. Yeah, for sure. And I mean, you hate to see that. I mean, you know, if you're going to increase distances or whatever, you want to do it gradually. And the idea is like everything else. It's like you don't have to hit a home run overnight. It's like what you want to do is develop a healthy lifestyle and make something that you're going to stick with. So Ben, we've talked about a lot of different aspects of this year, but I just, I want to end by asking you, like, why do you run? What gets you out the door? Man, I appreciate you asking me that. I mean, I tell you, sometimes I can feel like in my own life, like personally, I can like, kind of like everything I do is wrong. But then

sometimes when I run, I could just feel my chest pump out, you know, and it's like, oh, you know, and it's like, I'm powerful. Can I ask, I mean, you mentioned your stitches a little bit earlier, like, I guess how that kind of maybe you think about things now. Well, sure, man. I just, so yeah, I just had the cancer diagnosis and I just had my kidney taken out. And like, so I'm, I think like 15 days since that. And I tried to take like a step with my daughter and it was like, that's not happening. So currently I'm off. And this is the first time, this is the longest I've ever been. But you know, I, you know what I did? I flushed out my New York marathon medal. You know,

I did it, the New York marathon in 2018. And I'm from New York originally. So it's like I put that back and that's in November. So I'm like, I'll be back, you know, I'm 50 years old. And like, I'm just like, just getting started. Ben, thank you so much for taking the time to be here. Peace, dude. Thank you. Coming up, we'll talk to Allison Hill about why she started a run club and how inclusivity is shaping the sport today. But first, more from the Decibel Run Club. Who are you? Hey, I'm Rachel, one of the producers.

Hey. Running has pretty much always been my go-to exercise. I'm very frugal, I don't like spending money. And I find gyms very intimidating. I don't know, I used to feel like I'm being judged. And so running outside is great. I like running in the different seasons. I'll run all winter long.

One time I ran in a blizzard, it was wild. It's a good way to like explore the city you're into. Yeah. My name is Raisa. I'm usually more of like a treadmill sprint kind of person but recently I've kind of wanted to explore outdoor running a little bit more. So recently like what do you mean? How recent is that? Honestly in like the past months. I think that there's something therapeutic about running outside and on the street because you're passing by so many things whereas on the treadmill you're in a very like stagnant position. And it's also such a bonding thing with so many people when you're able to exercise in a group or in

this case go for a run with other people. I'm Maddie White, producer on the Decibel. I started running when I was like five years old. Wow. I started running with my dad and I was a hyper kid and I just needed to get out and do stuff so running became my thing. And why do you run today? Why do I run like 30 something years later? I'm not telling you my exact age. Part of it is habit, part of it is identity, but largely it's because it is such a good, simple release for me. Even if I'm not going fast, which I don't anymore,

it still feels like I've accomplished something. Even if I'm just out for like 10 minutes, 15, 20 minutes. I have a question for Cheryl Sutherland. On a scale of 1 to 10, how ridiculous do you feel riding down the street with headphones and a microphone? How ridiculous do I look, I guess, is a better question. No, you look awesome. You look slightly deranged, but you look awesome.

Allison, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. So, Allison, let's just begin with, you know, what actually got you started running? Well, for me, I've always had like sort of a complicated relationship with fitness. I equated it to being skinny, right? I equated it to desirability. A lot of us will be like, oh, I have to go on vacation. So like, I need to shed these pounds or I need to fit in the stress. And I didn't really equate it to wellness, mental wellness, physical wellness. As an entrepreneur, I wasn't really prioritizing my health during the time that my business was growing. And eventually it got to the point where I needed to take control of my health to have like a long and healthy life. So that's what

brought me into physical fitness and actually just detaching the idea that I was being fit to be skinny. So by the time I started running, it was during the pandemic and everything else was closed. So because I had already developed a good relationship with fitness, I was like, okay, I know that fitness is a tool that I can tap into. So what do I have available for me right now? And I had some old beat up sneakers that I was wearing to the gym and I put them on and I just had my regular leggings and some random bra and I just did my best. And what I found when I was out there was my brain was trying to tell me to stop. It was saying like, this is really hard. Go back inside, eat snacks like everybody else. And I started to hear what my inner voice sounded like in a different way.

Because when you're running, you can't answer emails, you know, you can't really, you can talk on the phone, but you're not talking on the phone. And it's really, you really get the opportunity to hear what your brain sounds like. And I was so intrigued by the thoughts that were going through my mind. I was like, why is my mind telling me that this is so hard, but my body is still going? Right? So once I got into that, I was like, oh, OK, wait a minute. If this is applicable here, where else is my brain telling me that things are too hard when it's not actually true? I think you're hitting on a really interesting point here because running is obviously very physical, but it's really mental, too, right? It's absolutely mental because, yes,

there are restrictions on what our bodies can do sometimes. But the biggest barrier I found for me was actually getting past what my mind was telling me that it could and couldn't do. And once that clicked for me, I was like, wait a minute. I'm going to take this other places. And that was such a really strong tool for me, especially during the pandemic, because I had to close my business down. I had to pivot. I had to come up with new ideas. And I knew that when I was finished running, even though it was challenging, I had all this energy. I got the accomplishment for the day. I had something I could like kind of brag about a little bit. And it gave me the confidence boost to keep trying it

every single day. And that's when I realized like, wait a minute, this is a tool that a lot of people are not tapping into. And it doesn't just have to be running. When we think about moving our bodies, when we think about fitness, there's this idea that there is a certain group of people who have access to this, right? Whether it be through free time or finances. But just putting on the shoes that I had I had to

change my shoes later once I really got into it but just starting with what I had I was able to still tap into the power of running and I knew then that I was not alone in this and I had to share it with other people so this is yeah kind of how you got into the sport and how you got yourself running. So then what made you want to start your run club and how did you go about sharing it with other people? When I started running, I was sharing it online with people and I would get a lot of questions around, what are you wearing? How did you do that?

What bra do you have on? What shoes are those? Very practical things. Yeah. Like how is it possible that you are getting in these distances? And I just started sharing like, hey guys, it is actually pretty hard. I'm not even going to lie, but this is what I'm getting out of it. And I found that folks that look like me, it almost opened their eyes to this idea that like, if it's accessible to her, it's probably accessible to me. And perhaps the ideas that I had around this are not true or worth challenging.

And for people who aren't familiar with your run club, with Hill Run Club, who is this run club geared towards? Oh, okay. Amazing. So I'll give you a little backstory here. Hill is my mother's maiden name. And my business and the initiatives that I do are around the idea of Black women taking care of themselves, about them not pulling off their wellness, about them prioritizing their mental health and their physical health so that it impacts the quality of their lives. So HRC, Hill Run Club, was founded on the idea that Black women can get together,

they can take up space, they can make time for their wellness, and they can show up exactly as they are. So we wanted to make sure that this space was safe for Black women beginner runners who wanted to connect to community and connect with their bodies. And I say at the Run Club all the time, we could just very easily be flying kites, right? The running is the thing that's bringing us together, but it's truly the community, the understanding, looking left and right, knowing that you're safe, right? Knowing that you're understood

and knowing that the issues that you're dealing with in the world, somebody else here understands and they're gonna shield you and protect you from that. And that's a huge part of wellness. If I work at a job where I'm dealing with microaggressions all day, and then I go into a studio where I'm supposed to be well, where I'm supposed to be exercising, and I'm dealing with those same exact things, why would I go there? Right? So if wellness spaces don't feel inclusive and safe for us to go into, guess what? We don't go at all. And then we don't get to benefit from those elements. And you've got over, what is it, 400 members today?

400 members across Canada every Saturday morning between 40 to 50 women meet. And we do a 3K, a 3K, or a 5K. It's really interesting to hear how you've created this space, Allison, because I think, I mean, it's true. For a long time running, it was a very male-dominated sport. It was very white, right? So, I mean, that seems like it's definitely slowly changing. It's now a sport that is becoming more inclusive. My name is Richard Brill. I started running when I was eight years old, and I absolutely hated it.

In 2018, I picked it up again, and I joined a group of girls that said they were running downtown, and it was a group geared towards women of color. And I joined, and I really fell in love with it again. It just really created a sense of community, especially I just started university. I didn't really know anyone, and it gave me a sense of like sisterhoodship. I guess yeah can I ask you like is that what you're seeing like what kind of changes have you seen since you've started running? It wasn't really till I got to races where I started to see the different types of bodies the different type of people that were engaging in the sport. I think the visuals

that we get to see, and largely through marketing, are people who are super fit, super thin. We get to see the elite, but we don't get to see regular people. But races are, not that the sport has been inclusive this whole time, but I think now we're seeing in the sport that, first of all, the majority of people that make it up are diverse, right? And the second piece is they are bringing in a large amount of money to the sport, right? They're purchasing the clothes that everybody's talking about. I think now the world has shifted away from this idea of perfection, of glorifying the white body as the right body.

And we're opening up the space and understanding that the dollars are moving in all communities. So Hill Run Club is now going into its fourth season. I guess, what have you seen since that time? So what I've seen is a lot of folks who were nervous at first and within community, they were able to find their voice. They were able to find confidence and to try something absolutely new. Last year, we completed four races, 10Ks, 5Ks, half marathon, and we got over 50 women for the first time across a finish line. And what I'm really seeing is that folks are, especially in their adult age, they're coming out and they're saying like, I need new friendships. I need a new community. It's very hard when you get a little bit older to find friendships that

don't revolve around work or your kids or drinking or partying. So I think especially after the pandemic, folks were really looking at their lives and trying to figure out where can I find new, strong, healthy communities. And HRC has been that for so many women. And I'm so proud of that. Alison, it was so good to talk to you today. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Before we go, I just want to give a little shout out to a Vancouver run club. Cass, Laura, Becky, and my sister Nalini.

Good luck on your marathon, ladies. You got this. That's it for today. I'm Mainika Raman-Wilms. Our intern is Raisa Alibi. Zurha Jabril joins us as a fellow of Carleton University's Brooke Forbes Award. Our producers are Madeline White, Cheryl Sutherland, and Rachel Levy-McLaughlin. David Crosby edits the show. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pachenza is our executive editor. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.