The sky is the limit: A motivational and event attribute typology of trail runners

Abstract

Trail running is currently one of the world's fastest-growing running categories. Unfortunately, limited research has focused on trail running as part of sport tourism. Therefore, this research segmented athletes based on their motives to participate and the event attributes they seek when choosing a trail running event in South Africa. An online questionnaire was developed and shared on the social media platforms of the SkyRun event, and 131 responses were obtained. The factor analysis revealed respectively five motives and trail attributes as the segmentation bases. The cluster analysis revealed three distinctive segments (the "all-in" trail finders, "stand-out" trail finders and "trail friend" finders). Each of these segments is extremely viable to consider by both event organizers and destination marketers. The results can help event organizers, and destination marketers develop cost-effective marketing strategies to attract and retain each segment.