Running surrounded by nature at night, often with limited contact with other people, is one of the safest physical activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this article is to determine what motivates night recreational runners and to analyse the differences between men and women according to age, and also to see whether the fact of having had COVID-19 or not matters when it comes to athletes’ motivation behind participating in runs. Runners were also asked about participating in cities or out-of-town events in terms of verifying the cleanliness of the air before running, using masks or running in green areas. 233 individuals in total participated in this descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study. The questionnaire uses the division of motives used in the Marathon Motivation Scale (MOMS) and a number of additional questions on environmental factors. Overall, the main motivation that drives night-time runners is health orientation, weight concern, personal goal achievement, psychological coping, life meaning and self-esteem. The research also showed higher scores for health orientation, recognition, psychological coping, life meaning and self-esteem among runners who had had COVID-19 than runners who had not had the virus. In addition, respondents clearly indicated that night running makes it easier to fall asleep and improves the quality of sleep. Most runners rated their mental health as being good, did not run in the morning despite better air levels, did not choose running events outside the urban area and did not check the air quality index before running. Therefore, it will be important for coaches, event organisers and other professionals to consider athletes’ age, gender, whether they have had COVID-19 and runners’ approaches to eco-attitudes when trying to understand their reasons for participating in different sports or leisure events, especially those that focus on a priority in shaping environmental attitudes.

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Motivation and Eco-Attitudes among Night Runners during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Research on sustainability and/in sport and, specifically, on the ecological aspects of participatory sporting events is still very scarce despite the recognition these topics have received by actors like, for instance, the European Commission and the United Nations. Against this backdrop, this paper sheds light on a field that is virtually uncharted in academic research, which is the environmental attitudes and willingness to pay for environmental sustainability of participants in participatory sporting events in Europe. In collaboration with the organizer of the Frankfurt Marathon, a study was conducted with a specific focus on German (speaking) marathon runners. In total 1764 data sets were collected with a German (1455 respondents) and an English (309 respondents) online questionnaire. Very insightful descriptive analyses showed that the awareness for the issue of sustainability and sport is still low and that ecological initiatives only have a medium influence on the evaluation of a marathon event. Nevertheless, particularly the German-speaking respondents indicated a high willingness to pay for environmental sustainability in general and for specific measures that can enhance the environmental friendliness of a marathon event, in particular. As will be discussed in the paper, these insights have important managerial implications and are a valuable basis for further research in this evolving field.

German Marathon Runners’ Opinions on and Willingness to Pay for Environmental Sustainability

ABSTRACT Research Question Climate change continues to be a critical issue that impacts the ways we produce and consume sport. The extent to which sport responds to climate change (e.g. minimizing carbon emissions, adapting to climate impacts) will become more dire. Thus, it is crucial for sport to respond now to address current and emerging sustainability challenges. The popularity of sport can create opportunities to promote and influence individual behaviour change and drive organizational efforts to be environmentally sustainable. Research Methods The sport management academy is currently limited in its efforts to highlight, examine, and educate industry and students on the issues raised due to changes in the natural environment and the impact on the sport sector. The five articles included in this special issue aim to begin to bridge this gap. Results and Findings Sport is not inherently sustainable or unsustainable. We introduce this special issue to provide an overview of the current and future environmental challenges in sport management. Implications We encourage sport researchers to critically assess existing practices and enhance the management knowledge that not only influences the world of sport and sport managers, but also policymakers and sport fans on mitigating the impacts of climate change. We hope the following articles spark ideas, discussions, and further research projects.

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Environmental matters in sport: sustainable research in the academy

ABSTRACT Research question: Sport is recognised as a significant contributor to a sustainable future. Sport federations (SFs) in particular can play an important role in this regard. However, literature that focuses on environmental sustainability (ES) in the sector is limited. To this end, the purpose of this study is to examine the institutionalised behaviour of SFs by analysing their environmental initiatives, environmental strategy and to detect and discuss opportunities for further development. Research methods: For the study, all available websites of the SFs in Belgium were examined by means of a content analysis. To assess the current behaviour of SFs and determine their progress in terms of ES, an extended version of the environmental wave typology created by McCullough and colleagues (2016) is empirically applied. Results and Findings: The results reveal a low commitment to ES, indicating that not dealing with the environment is still institutionalised in their natural behaviour. Only 37 of the 141 included SFs, communicated environmental initiatives or strategical considerations. The majority of the identified actions were low-intensity initiatives and only four federations provided a comprehensive strategic approach. Implications: This study contributes to the emerging research on ES in sport by examining the underresearched SF sector and applying the institutional theory to understand which factors influences their environmental behaviour. Opportunities that can initiate a positive change in the sector are described and due to its methodological approach, the study can serve as a blueprint for future research on the environmental performance of sport and other organisations.

Are sport organisations environmentally sustainable? – A website analysis of sport federations in Belgium


 Although the involvement of diverse stakeholders is crucial for business events, there has not been much attempt to investigate who should be considered as stake-holders and how they relate to each other. To fill this gap, this research focuses on identifying the key stakeholders in the greening process of business events using China as the context. A constructivist grounded theory is adopted by drawing data from document analysis and in-depth interviews with 17 experienced industry practitioners. It finds that there is a lack of stakeholder engagement due to stakeholders’ instrumental and profit-driven approach. A stakeholder diagram with four-level top-to bottommodel is proposed to better achieve green business event goals. Several Chinese characteristics are identified including the key driver of the top-bottom administration model. This research provides valuable insights into stakeholder involvement in the greening process of business events and identifies practical implications.


Stakeholders in the greening process of business events: a constructivist grounded theory to the chinese context

The United Nations (UN) considers sports as an important enabler of sustainable development. The popular and fast-growing Participatory Sports Event (PSE) sector can play an important role in this regard, however, research that measures and reports sustainability in PSEs is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to construct and validate a research instrument based on the UN’s sustainable development goals, and to examine sustainability in PSEs. To this end, an online survey was administered among a representative sample of 303 PSE organisers, located in Flanders, Belgium. A confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the instrument and provided evidence for its validity and reliability. The results reveal significant discrepancies between the three dimensions, with a noticeable lower score for environmental sustainability compared to social and economic sustainability. Furthermore, challenges are highlighted in the field of the civil society sector and in walking sports events. The findings also indicate that large-sized events are more likely to be sustainable. The current study can act as a foundation for future research on sustainability in PSEs and can assist PSE organisers and policymakers to increase the sustainability-related performance of the sector.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6034/pdf

Ine Hugaerts

Papers

Sustainability in Participatory Sports Events: The Development of a Research Instrument and Empirical Insights

German Marathon Runners’ Opinions on and Willingness to Pay for Environmental Sustainability

Are sport organisations environmentally sustainable? – A website analysis of sport federations in Belgium