This is the first book to critically examine the relationship between running events in local, national, and international welfare policy, their marketing and management, and the resulting social impacts.

Kostas Alexandris is a Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and an invited faculty member at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He is also the Director of the "Sport, Tourism and Recreation Management" Lab. He is an Associate Editor in the journals Managing Sport and Leisure and Leisure Studies, and a member of the editorial boards of several international journals.

Vassil Girginov is a Professor in sport management/development at Brunel University London, UK, and a Visiting Professor at the Russian International Olympic University, Russia and the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He also serves as the President of the European Association for Sport Management. His work is concerned with understanding the relationship between the Olympic Games and social change in various cultural and economic milieus. His research interests, publications and industry experience are in the field of Olympic movement, sport development, comparative management and policy analysis.

Jeroen Scheerder is a Professor in sport policy and sport sociology in the Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium, where he heads the Policy in Sports & Physical Activity Research Group. He is the promotor-coordinator of the Interuniversity Policy Research Centre on Sports on behalf of the Flemish Government, and the academic coordinator of the KU Leuven Sport Policy & Sport Management Programme. He also served as the President of the European Association for Sociology of Sport (2014-2016). He is (co-)editor of Running across Europe (2015), Functions of Sports Clubs in European Societies (2020), and The Rise and Size of the Fitness Industry in Europe (2020).

Foreword

SEBASTIAN COE

1 The many facets of running

VASSIL GIRGINOV

2 The running eventscape: Developments, runners' profiles and policies

JEROEN SCHEERDER AND KOBE HELSEN

3 Marketing running events

KOSTAS ALEXANDRIS, PAUL HOVER, AND LINDA OOMS

4 Running events' impacts

VASSIL GIRGINOV

5 Conclusion

VASSIL GIRGINOV