Eventbrite, a self-service registration and ticketing platform, recently shared results of an online survey of 2233 U.S. adults through Harris Interactive Service Bureau.  While undoubtedly the survey was designed to determine the market for Eventbrite services, the results are interesting nonetheless.  I didn’t check for survey biases, validity, nor reliability.  I just read the results as reported and now I’m sharing them with you.

  • Obstacle challenges and themed runs are already as popular as traditional marathons and half-marathons.  That doesn’t surprise me at all.  I’ve done multiple half and marathon distance obstacle races, but not a single traditional or half marathon.  I don’t foresee one of those traditional races in my future.
  • Almost half of the people who have participated in either a themed or obstacle challenge plan to do so again.  #addiction
  • 1 in 5 people indicated their likelihood to participate in an event du to seeing photos from friends or family on social networking sites.  I’ve said multiple times that social media has been a major driver of obstacle racing.  I suppose that statement can now be extended to theme runs.
  • Running for a cause (63%) and running for the fun of it (71%) are reported as driver to participation….much more so than losing weight (36%)

For more information about the results of this survey, read about it on the Eventbrite blog.