Why do women and men want to run a marathon?

The “different” reasons why women and men decide to run their primera a marathon

It seems that the gender difference haunts us even in the reasons why women and men decide to run a marathon. The most widespread popular belief is that women the reason for putting on running shoes for the first time is related to taking care of your image (lose weight) and improve your mood by finding a source to relax while at the men, what drives them to go out for a run is the emotion associated with competition.

However, and according to the results of the Elizabeth Loughren study carried out at Temple University in Philadelphia (United States) and presented at the annual conference of the Britisch Psychological Society, the reasons are more complex.

The study consisted of passing an online questionnaire to 900 people who had run a marathon for the first time a short time ago. Some of the questions in the questionnaire were of the type "What had motivated you to join a marathon?" "Did you plan to join another marathon?" and if the answer was affirmative, "Why did you want to repeat it again?"

Two compelling reasons to join a marathon and regardless of gender, since they were common responses in both women and men, were "to feel proud of myself" and "to finish the race in a specific time." .

Where if there were differences is that while in the women's responses the Two reasons The ones that most frequently appeared were those of running to improve their mood and of wanting to lose a few kilos for their wedding or any other special event marked on the calendar; in men's the winning reason for running marathons was to see how fast they could run.

Regarding themselves to repeat themselves, a slightly greater number of men confirmed their willingness to participate again in another marathon with the desire to improve their personal brand.

According to researcher Elizabeth Loughren (a regular marathon runner) "For women, the marathon may be more about the experience than the competition itself" and points out that “"When I talk to men about running a marathon, they often ask me what my time was or where I finished, while women will ask me how I felt."

Evidently, the gender factor is only one of the many factors that influence the reasons for deciding to undertake a marathon, and this is pointed out by Dr. John Kremer, sports psychologist at Quenn's University in Belfast (Northern Ireland). : “Age, for example, can play an important role in your motivations to participate in a sport. "Younger people are more likely to be motivated by competition, but the motivation of older people is generally related to health."

Regardless of what your main motivation is for making your debut in a marathon, and whether or not it coincides with that of your partner, the important thing is that you do share the illusion of being able to play a test together that deserves great respect and celebrate at the finish line having enjoyed the road as well as the goal in which so many training sessions have invested.

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