In an era when ten million people are running, the heat around running has never been stronger. For example, the participant applications for the 2025 London Marathon surpassed 900,000, and the 2025 Seoul Half Marathon recorded its highest-ever number of participants. This appeal fits well with today’s wellness trends and has spread rapidly. With this shift in running, companies across various sectors are stepping into the scene, signaling the full-scale rise of running marketing. How has running met marketing, shaken up the market and excited consumers?
My running course, art-run
Running met art. The somewhat unfamiliar term “art-run” refers to a running culture in which one uses GPS tracking to draw one’s running route like a picture on the map. In downtown Seoul, representative art-run spots, such as Yeouido “potato-run,” Gwanghwamun “dog-run,” Namsan “heart-run,” have been quickly shared among runners. What makes art-run popular is that the run becomes a kind of result you leave behind, and you can share it with others. Overseas platforms also share similar GPS based art runs.
Brans meet running
One of the most prominent cases of running marketing is brand-level events. These initiatives attempt to turn consumers from mere purchasers into active participants of the brand, thereby creating interaction between the company and the consumer. Significantly, beyond sports brands such as Puma, Nike and Adidas, even non-sports companies are tapping into running marketing. For example, food-brand operator GoobneChicken held Korea’s first brand-running event called “Goobne Oven Run.” Participants ran a course themed on the process of chicken roasting under Goobne, wore branded goods, and on-site there were experience booths and new-product tastings.
Running conveying value
National holidays such as national liberation day of Korea and independence movement day are among the days when runners’ running certifications show up most. This is because of “charity runs” that seek to transmit social value through running: on those dates runners certify that they ran 8.15 km or 3.1 km and donate accordingly. At the brand level, one representative method is to host a major marathon-event and donate the entry fees plus corporate sponsorship funds to a specific organisation or initiative. Recently, virtual charity runs are also expanding the ways people participate. Running has thus gone beyond brand marketing to become a channel for conveying social value.
Running is no longer just a sport nor a hobby—it has entered our daily life as a culture and flow. As a pathway connecting brands and consumers, and as a vehicle to convey precious social values to the world, running is here. How about hopping on the running boom with us?
Choi Ye-jin (ST Reporter)
cloe04@soongsil.ac.kr
