Why race events are moving to digital training plans

• Event companies are responsible for delivering some of the most exciting and passionate events. They should not have to be experts in ensuring the runners are performing to their full potential as well.
• Although generic running plans are very cost-effective, they lack flexibility to runners’ schedules and running ability (Nelson, 2021). 
• The race day (days) is just part of their journey, it is the celebration day to prove their hard work.
• Static training plans are not specific to a runner’s target distance, no guidance regarding pace they should aim at and ancillary work is absent (Gaudette, 2022).
• Digital training plans can enhance an athlete’s performance due to it making the runner more accountable for training, ensuring it is suited to the runner and providing them with further guidance along the way (Nelson, 2021).

More and more events like Plymouth Half, Ironman and RunForAll have decided to provide their athletes with digital training plans. Why is that we ask? Are runners now more focused on the overall journey? Is every runner able to enjoy completing a generic training plan? Could the journey be better? 

Race events traditionally provide runners with a generic 16-week marathon training plan, usually in a pdf format, to help runners prepare for their event, some may even provide beginner, intermediate and advanced options. Others just provide a few tips and tricks whilst leading up to the event. Although these generic plans are very cost-effective, they lack flexibility to runners’ schedules and running ability (Nelson, 2021). 

Some athletes may have their own running coach or are part of a running club but for most this is either unfeasible, intimidating or no running club is accessible enough. The running world is seeing runners looking for other options (Middlebrook, 2020). 

Many runners sign up to events to stay motivated to keep training as it keeps them focused on a goal (Knaving et al. 2015). The race day (days) is just part of their journey, it is the celebration day to prove their hard work. And when runners enter races to stay motivated to train and keep fit, but do not have a personalised training plan in place, this good intention may cause runners to injure themselves and be unable to exercise for long periods of time. 

Due to the training plan not being specific to their distance, their plan not including guidance regarding the pace they should aim at and the absence of ancillary work (Gaudette, 2022). This may even cause runners to have to miss their race due to injury or feeling they are not prepared enough. So, it is clear, the runners’ journey to the event is also very important to get right to ensure they even arrive on race day.

Event companies are responsible for delivering some of the most exciting and passionate events. Their expertise creates unforgettable experiences for the running community. They should not have to be experts in ensuring the runners are performing to their full potential as well. This should be an area where they could find expert advice or outsource to even better the runners’ experience. 

Digital training plans can enhance an athlete’s performance due to it making the runner more accountable for training, ensuring it is suited to the runner and providing them with further guidance along the way (Nelson, 2021). For example, advising what pace they should aim at for their tempo runs and maybe even more importantly and hard for runners to control, specifying their easy run pace. 

When the individuals have an affordable customised training plan which they can follow, they are more likely to complete it, and therefore train more consistently which leads them to achieving their target pace on race day. 

This not only makes the runner really proud of themselves, it also benefits the event company because the runners’ event experience can depend on how well they did performance wise (Shipway et al. 2012). Who does not want to see people achieve PB’s and succeed at their event?

A vast majority of runners attending events are the type of runners which are more interested in the peripheral aspects of the event and not just the race itself (Shipway et al 2012,  Goodsell et al. 2013). Race events are no longer solely about the race. It is about signing up, the lead up to the event, the community and the atmosphere the event provides participants with.

Race participants are more likely to sign up to the same race again if they had a great experience. Ensuring a positive experience for participants is important as it is one of the key factors for repeated behaviour. Data shows that perceptions about event satisfaction and quality influence event loyalty in runners (Alexandris et al. 2017; Funk et al. 2011).

During COVID-19 lockdowns with no live events, runners had to find new ways to stay motivated, just as event companies had to find new ways to engage with their community. Virtual events were becoming more and more popular within the running world to stay motivated throughout those many months of no live running events. With this, grew the virtual running community. 

More and more runners were creating communities and connecting with each other in a virtual manner. Even before social distancing was a thing, runners would usually rather train alone but connect with each other in other ways (Goodsell et al. 2013; Malchrowicz-Mośko and Poczta, 2018). 

Race events tried creating communities via Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups, Clubs on Strava, etc. Some runners liked certain group setups and they enjoyed the team spirit and the community it created but felt like it often lacked organisation. 

Would it not be easier for everyone to have everything in one APP? 

Coopah Running Community

Coopah is your digital running coach powered by AI. It provides runners with personalised training plans specific to their race/ event, for example, a 12 week marathon training plan. It does not just tell you what training runs to do, it specifies the distance and their pace to each runner depending on their ability, race distance and desired goal time. 

‘’Finally a running app which covers everything! 

I’ve tried so many plans, read a range of online blogs and have always been frustrated by how stressful the non running part can be.’’

Marathonrunner24, 3rd December 2021

On top of this, Coopah provides strength and conditioning sessions, yoga classes, rest days and different cross training options which are so important in maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. 

Coopah provides runners with a personalised plan, a passionate community and the knowledge so they can focus on running and enjoying the journey. What more could you offer your race participants?

Get in touch with us at run@coopah.com if you are interested in hearing more.

Coopah: Your Digital Running Coach

End 

References

Alexandris, K.,Theodorakis, N., Kaplanidou, K.,Papadimitriou, D., 2017. Event quality and loyalty among runners with different running involvement levels: The case of “The Alexander the Great” International Marathon” [online], International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Vol. 8 Issue: 3, pp.292-307

Funk, D.C., Ridinger, L.L., Jordan, J.S., and Kaplanidou, K., 2011. Capacity of Mass Participant Sport Events for the Development of Activity Commitment and Future Exercise Intention, Leisure Sciences [online], 33: 3, 250 — 268

Gaudette, J., 2022. 4 Reasons Your Training Plan Will Fail (and how to fix it). [online] Runners Connect. Available at: <https://runnersconnect.net/4-reasons-training-plan-will-fail/> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

Goodsell, T.L., Harris, B.D., and Bailey, B.W., 2013. Family Status and Motivations to Run: A Qualitative Study of Marathon Runners, Leisure Sciences [online], 35:4, 337-352.

Knaving,K., Wozniak, P., Fjeld, M., Bjork, S., 2015. Flow is Not Enough: Understanding the Needs of Advanced Amateur Runners to Design Motivation Technology. [online]. In: CHI 2015, Crossing, Seoul, South Korea, 18-23 April 2015.

Malchrowicz-Mośko, E., and Poczta, J., 2018. Running as a Form of Therapy Socio-Psychological Functions of Mass Running Events for Men and Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [online]. 15, 2262

Middlebrook, H., 2022. Need Motivation to Train? Try Virtual Coaching. [online] Runner’s World. Available at: <https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a32033241/benefits-of-virtual-coaching/> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

Nelson, L., 2022. What type of Running Program is for you? Generic vs Customised [online]. Available at: <https://www.healthhp.com.au/post/what-type-of-running-program-is-for-you-generic-vs-customised> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

TrainingPeaks. 2022. How to Train for an IRONMAN™. [online] Available at: <https://www.trainingpeaks.com/guides/ironman-training/> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

Run Plymouth. 2022. Plymouth Britain’s Ocean City Running Festival. [online] Available at: <https://runplymouth.co.uk/> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

Run For All. 2022. Run For All. [online] Available at: <https://www.runforall.com/> [Accessed 8 April 2022].

Shipway, R., Holloway, I., Jones., I., 2012.  Organisations, practices, actors, and events: Exploring inside the distance running social world. International review for the Sociology of Sport [online]. 48 (3) 259-276.