Leveraging mass participation events for sustainable health legacy

Abstract

Given their population reach, mass sporting and physical activity events within the community have considerable potential as levers to encourage people to become physically active and improve their health. Research attention has focused on the multitude of potential outcomes from mega sports events involving competitive elite athletes, but the impact of mass participation events has received less scrutiny. This article reviews the evidence on whether mass participation events attract 'non-sporty' members of the population. The evidence that events can be leveraged for long term health gain is also reviewed. It is also important to ascertain whether people who take part in an event do so as a 'once-off', or whether the event can be a trigger to longer term, sustained physical activity habits amongst participants. The potential underlying mechanisms by which mass events might be leveraged to increase population physical activity, including the alignment of the role of charity, are explored, and guidance for leveraging events for health gain presented. The potential legacy of such events is largely untapped. A challenge for event organisers is to ensure that mass participation sports events do not elicit negative health consequences as a result of close alignment with conflicting corporate interests.

Changes in physical activity, weight and wellbeing outcomes among attendees of a weekly mass participation event: a prospective 12-month study

“…Although the evidence base is limited 2 , some promising findings have been reported. Among participants of a cycling event in Australia, novice riders reported increased cycling frequency in the following month 3 .…”

Prediction of 3000-m Running Performance Using Classic Physiological Respiratory Responses

“…Similar events are held annually worldwide. For instance, the City to Surf in Sydney attracts 60,000 participants, and the Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin has over 40,000 participants, while the BUPA sponsored Great Run series attracts several hundred thousand participants across 15 events (Murphy, Lane, & Bauman, 2015). In São Paulo, the most important economical Brazilian city (South America), from 2001 to 2015, road races increased from 11 to 415 with over 724,000 participants in 2015.…”

A quasi-experimental examination of how school-based physical activity changes impact secondary school student moderate- to vigorous- intensity physical activity over time in the COMPASS study

“…However, it is unclear why the addition of a charitable run (Terry Fox Run) in school 11 resulted in a decrease in student MVPA. Although there is little evidence to suggest that one-time events are effective for increasing MVPA [ 52 , 53 ], it should be noted that it was unknown whether the Terry Fox Run occurred within the recalled week of MVPA (previous week). Therefore, it is possible that some other change not captured in the SPP or Co-SEA was responsible for the observed decrease in student MVPA in this school.…”