GOING THE DISTANCE

Why everyone is taking up marathons - and how you can, too

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Have a friend begging you to join their Sunday morning run club? Does marathon season see your Instagram feed flooded with people from your old high school posing with medals? If you answered yes to either of these, we can’t say we’re surprised – it seems everyone is taking up running. Last year’s Sydney Marathon beat the record for the largest marathon held in Australia with 25,000 participants. Look to TikTok and there are more than 87.7 million dedicated videos on marathons.

“Running has undergone a rebrand in recent years, thanks to the rise of social media and the popularity of athleisure wear,” says Nat Grosvenor, CEO of Bodyfit Group. “Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have made running look stylish and aspirational, particularly among Gen Z.”

While this is enough to get us interested in running marathons, why are people sticking to it? And, more importantly, how can we actually get ourselves to last the distance of a not-so-humble 42.19km? WHO asks the experts just that…

WHY IS EVERYONE RUNNING ALL OF A SUDDEN?