Abstract

There are numerous news items and articles in the Spanish media that underline the boom in fun runs in Spain. This paper aims to check with sociological rigor whether the number of runners has increased in recent years. In order to achieve this objective, the three latest national surveys of sports habits in Spain were analyzed. These surveys were conducted by the Sociological Research Center and sponsored by the Higher Sports Council in 2000, 2005, and 2010. The data indicate there was an increase in the practice of running between the end of the 20th century and the end of the first decade of the 21st century, from 3.8% runners in 2000 to 5.1% in 2010. It is also worth noting that in Spain in 2010 there were nearly two million people aged over 14 who were runners.