Donning a pair of trainers and getting out for a run is a popular means of keeping fit. It offers up a whole host of physical and mental health benefits, whether it’s just for fun or competitively. But how many people run in the UK in 2025?
Let’s take a look in our running statistics 2025 round up.
Running Statistics: A Quick Sprint
If you’re just here for the speedy stats (every pun intended), here are the most important figures to be aware of:
- In 2024, 1 in 5 people over 16 in the UK said they went running at least monthly.
- Men (20.76%) were just a little more likely than women (17.98%) to have gone running in 2024
- Running was particularly popular with the 35 to 44 age group in the UK, 30.12% of whom say they ran at least monthly in the UK in 2024
- It was least popular with the 55+ age group, where just 8.3% say they’ll do it in 2025
- There are aroun 99 million posts on Instagram (as of February 2025) with the hashtag #running
Now, if you fancy slowing the pace to a jog so you can hang around for all the details, you’ll find more information about those running facts within. Let’s go!
How Popular is Running in 2025?
To find out how popular running is in the UK in 2024, we polled the public. With the help of a market research company, we surveyed 2,000 people aged 16 and over in the UK in January 2024 and asked:
- What sporting/fitness activities, if any, do you expect you`ll do at least monthly on average in 2024? (Tick all that apply)
Running was the top chosen activity with 19.40% of respondents saying they plan to run monthly in 2024.
Here’s those responses in summary:
| Proportion Who Ran At Least Monthly in 2024 | |
| All | 19.40% |
| Men | 20.76% |
| Women | 17.98% |
So we see men are likelier to run at least monthly in the UK but the difference isn’t significant. This appears to be a fitness activity that has cross gender appeal.
Running Popularity by Age in the UK in 2025
Where we saw some real variation, however, is in the responses broken down by age.
Here are the figures.
| Proportion Who Ran At Least Monthly in 2024 | |
| 16 – 24 | 22.87% |
| 25 – 34 | 28.35% |
| 35 – 44 | 30.12% |
| 45 – 54 | 23.97% |
| 55+ | 8.31% |
The least likely to run are those aged 55 and over. But this isn’t a simple sliding scale where the older someone is the less likely they are to run. In fact the keenest runners are those aged 35 to 44.
The youngest people in our survey were less likely than those aged between 25 and 54 to run.
Where in the UK are the Keenest Runners?
Our survey also broke down responses by the region in which they live.
And there’s a notable variation in the proportion of people who expect to run at least monthly.
| Region | Proportion Who Ran At Least Monthly in 2024 |
| East of England | 14.97% |
| Greater London | 27.97% |
| East Midlands | 14.77% |
| West Midlands | 14.12% |
| North East | 17.50% |
| North West | 19.37% |
| Northern Ireland | 21.43% |
| Scotland | 23.42% |
| South East | 20.58% |
| South West | 16.57% |
| Wales | 15.05% |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 20.61% |
London followed by Scotland is where people are likeliest to say theyd ran in 2024 with 27% and 23% respectively.
At the opposite end of the scale is West Midlands (14.12%) and East Midlands (14.77%).
In other words, people in London are almost twice as likely to run at least monthly as those in the West or East Midlands.
Running on Social Media – The Numbers
Have you even been for a run if you haven’t Instagrammed it?
Well, yes, of course you have. But the running community on social media is massive with people using social media platforms for accountability and to inspire others.
At the time of writing, there are over 92 million posts on Instagram with the hashtag #running and that’s not the only one either. Other popular running related hashtags on Instagram are:
- #runningmotivation – 11.9 million posts as of February 2025
- #runninglife – 2.7 million
- #runningcommunity – 5.9 million
- #trailrunning – 19.4 million
- #runninggirl – 5.6 million
- #runningman – 4.8 million
Getting Started with Running – Couch to 5k
One incredibly popular way people get started with running is through the Couch to 5K program. Did you know. Here are a few facts about that:
- The NHS Couch to 5k app has been downloaded more than 7 million times
- On average over the last 12 months there have been 61,800 searches per month in Google UK for “couch to 5k.” This is up from 55,000 searches per month in January 2024
- Searches peaked though in January 2021 when there were 246,000 searches in Google UK for “couch to 5k” according to statistics from kwfinder.com (Covid lockdown coupled with New Year resolutions probably contributing here). March 2024 saw searches go over 100,000 for a given month for the first time since 2021.
Running in 2025
Running is an incredibly popular active pastime in the UK in 2025. According to our statistics, it’s the activity people are most likely to take part in at least once a month. And it’s easy to see why:
- It’s good for you
- It’s low cost
- It can be done almost anywhere
Not going to lie. I’m not a runner personally… I prefer hiking. But whether you’re looking to get into long distance running competitively or just get a bit more active in 2025, taking up running will see you part of a community of millions.
