Massive surveyed just over 9,400 respondents who took part in mass participation events. They found:
- 69% of fundraisers chose the event or challenge before selecting who to fundraise for. Whilst 14% said they raised money as part of their event participation, only 4% were recruited by charities.
- Most respondents (91%) are runners with half marathons being the most popular distance event. Event organisers report increases in cycling and triathlon entries, and marathons and ultra marathons are also gaining in popularity.
- New participants (those running for less than 2 years) are 59% female versus 41% male. This split is even more notable among younger age groups, where females make up a significant majority.
- The average age of respondents was 46 years old.
- As in previous years, participants continue to be drawn from higher earning groups with larger than average disposable incomes.
- Participants are most likely to hear about mass participation events from social media (41%), friends and family already taking part (34%), email from event organisers (31%), and word of mouth (29%). Female respondents were almost 10% more likely to hear about events on social media than males.