What are the big running trends 2018? ISPO.com surveyed the industry on the various running topics and, with the input of the sports industry, identified these seven most important developments for 2018. The trends in pictures.
Trend 1, Customization: Brooks Running and its partner SuperFeet presented the FitStation at the ISPO Munich 2018. Interested runners can use it to put together their own personal running shoe. Adidas is also at the forefront of customization with its Speedfactory.
Trend 2, Professional running shoe advice: The selection of running shoes is now huge. Runners can lose track of what's going on. This makes perfect advice in the stores all the more important. Which shoe suits the individual needs of the consumer? The most important thing for the customers: Fast help, clear messages and even more accurate results through new, digital analysis systems.
Trend 3, motivation by influencers: Running has long since arrived in the social media. Brands have discovered influencers such as bloggers or athletes for themselves. With his #runyourworld campaign, for example, Saucony focuses on bloggers who bring users closer to the most beautiful corners of the most diverse metropolises in posts, pictures and blog entries and thus encourage them to go jogging.
Trend 4, trail running has come to stay: For the majority of runners, the experience of nature is more important than measurable results (according to Salomon, this is the case for 72 percent of runners). Off the beaten track, trail running offers just that: off the noise of the city, nature provides the varied and challenging ambience for a real running experience.
Trend 5, the target group of women continues to grow: Gone are the days when the sporting goods industry primarily produced for men. Women play an important role as a target group, especially in running. By the way, this is also noticeable among influencers, where Puma, for example, with Selena Gomez, Cara Delevingne or the New York City Ballet, consciously focuses on strong women.
Trend 6, Running Communities for more running fun: Ob Students, young managers or sporty mothers, especially in big cities running becomes more and more a community experience. In self-organized running groups or professionally set up running communities, more and more runners are doing their rounds together. The same goes for Icebug's "Forest Femmes", where women meet for trail running.
Trend 7, Perfect data analysis thanks to wearables, apps & Co.: Apps like Runtastic are now used by tens of millions of runners. The exact evaluation of distances, times, tempo or calorie consumption is feasible for everyone without great effort. With more and more sophisticated wearables all this becomes even more exact.
