Professor: So last time, when we were discussing the growth of endurance sports, a question came up about the motivation for getting into these sports. Why would anyone want to go through so much physical pain and stress? What’s in it for them? Well, looking at the research, there are a couple points that seem especially important.
One of these is the personality often durance athletes. As a group, these people tend to be high achievers you know, people who set high goals for themselves, both in sports and in life in general. They like difficult challenges, and they aren’t happy with goals that are easy to achieve. So endurance sports fits right into this type of personality. These sports are very difficult, very extreme-like ultramarathons where people run hundreds of miles, often in extreme heat or cold-but the athletes get a lot of satisfaction from it. And when setting goals, most endurance athletes don’t focus on winning the race. Instead, they have personal goals, like maybe just finishing the race is enough, or finishing with a better time than before. So it’s really more about the athletes challenging themselves, doing their personal best, and always pushing to do better. Another source of motivation is the relationship between the athletes. In general, endurance athletes don’t see the other athletes in a race as opponents, or people they’re trying to beat. Instead, they see them as partners – partners in this unique adventure, doing something that no one else is doing. They share the highs and lows of the race, the pain and the pleasure, and they feel that they are in the experience together. And the athletes report this as a life-changing experience … an emotional high that keeps them wanting to come back for more. So this, this strong emotional experience is a big part of the motivation.
