Mobility behaviour of trail runners to events: the dominance of the car and local races offers prospects for a transition to more sustainable events

Abstract ID: 3.16021 | Accepted as Talk | Requested as: Talk | TBA | TBA

Robin Lesné (1)
Florian, Lebreton (1); Guillaume, Routier (2)

(1) Université du littoral côte d'opale, quai de la Citadelle, 59140 Dunkerque, FR
(2) Université Claude Bernard - Lyon 1

Categories: Mobility, Policy, Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development, Tourism
Keywords: No keywords defined

Categories: Mobility, Policy, Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development, Tourism
Keywords: No keywords defined

Abstract

Our thinking is based on the premise that trail running is marked by heightened environmental awareness, including in terms of mobility. Trail runners are seeking to preserve the environment, the space in which they practice, to ensure the sustainability of trail running. Favoured social categories are over-represented among trail runners, and show above-average ecological sensitivity. As a physical activity, trail running facilitates the adoption of active mobility.
To study these mobilities, we distributed an online questionnaire (n=627) in France. We confirmed the initial postulate regarding home-to-work mobility: fewer cars and more public transport and active mobility than the French. Among the respondents, some provided more detailed information on the mobility associated with their participation in their last trail event with number sign (n=562). In this context, the results confirm less this commitment to eco-responsible mobilities: while 45% made the trip car-sharing, 42% did so car-soloing. In other words, the car seems to be used almost systematically to get to these events, and in almost half of cases car-soloing. What’s more, the distance factor seems to have little effect. On the one hand, for journeys of less than 20 kilometres, the car accounts for 78% of trips, while active mobility is limited to 12% of journeys. On the other hand, it’s only over 100 kilometres that car-sharing overtakes car-soloing, with the gap widening as distance increases, to the benefit of rail and bus, which account for 19% of journeys over 500 kilometres.
Over and above the cultural, social and individual determinants that undeniably influence the mobility behaviour of trail runners towards events, our results point to some encouraging prospects with regard to the weight of “local” races. With 29% of respondents indicating that their last race was less than 20 kilometres from home, and 58% less than 50 kilometres away, we can see that participation in trail events is largely based on proximity, in contrast to the media coverage of the activity, which gives greater prominence to mega-events with international participants. This also suggests the potential for collective transport offered by organizers, in particular to limit car-soloing.

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