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Guardian

Guardian

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Health

From TikTok to the track: Gen Z are driving running’s third great boom

Guardian
Summary
Nutrition label

70% Informative

More than 1.1 million have entered the ballot for the 2026 London Marathon.

More than a third of UK entries are aged from 18 to 29 years old .

For the first time, the male/female split is almost 50/50 .

Running has always been cheap and accessible, now it is also fashionable.

Nick Pearson was formerly in charge of parkrun and now is chief executive of the talent agency Forte management.

He says that does not matter that the latest running boom has not yet had an impact on elite track and field.

“There are some people who say this boom won’t last, but I disagree. The direction of travel is upwards and you’ve still got some significant pockets, particularly in some cultural female groups, that can be unlocked into running.

VR Score

68

Informative language

63

Neutral language

61

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

31

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

medium-lived

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