Family Status and Motivations to Run: A Qualitative Study of Marathon Runners

Abstract

Family structure influences motivations to run. Drawing on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 33 amateur marathon runners, we investigated how people in various family situations talked about why they run. We found that while there were no major differences in stated motivations to start running or to run marathons, there were differences among the various family statuses for why people continue to run. We concluded that researchers and those who want to encourage long-term engagement in active leisure should consider family context as an important influence on people's motivations to run.

Keywords:

• exercise
• family
• marathons
• motivation
• physical activity
• qualitative research
• running

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University. The authors express appreciation to Eric R. Gifford for assistance with data collection and to Matthew Snow and Stephen Tischler for assistance with data analysis. We thank Curtis D. Child and Wade Hollingshaus for their comments on earlier drafts.