Pre-Event Marketing of Trail Running Events: Stories of People, Place and Experience

3.1 People

The ‘people’ element of trail running events includes trail runners (both beginners and elite runners), spectators, visitors and event organisers (including volunteers), with very limited research on the latter three so far. Duglio and Beltramo (2017) argued that small-scale trail running events can lead to direct economic impacts in terms of the sport tourists, and their travel and spending behaviour in the destination. Alongside the runners, there are also spectators who travel to these events, although it is difficult to measure the exact economic return for the organisation as spectators do not need a ticket to access the trail and show their support. The study did, however, find some positive impacts in terms of future tourism and revisits to the host destination.

Research on trail runners on the other hand, is vast. The two most popular factors previously investigated include: 1) trail runners’ socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics (such as age, gender, income, as well as number of trail running events per year and participation involvement); and 2) their motivations to participate, such as seeking adventure, enjoying natural environment, personal challenge and self-achievement (for a full list of attributes, see Myburgh & Kruger, 2021, Table 1). McKay et al. (2019) and McEwan et al. (2020) further argue that trail running has a smaller market than road running, and is indeed a rather exclusive and elitist activity due to the specialist equipment needed, the high event entry fees and the fact that participant numbers need to be limited in order to preserve nature and the trails. As such, these types of events mainly attract committed trail runners with considerable disposable income. Measuring the runners’ levels of perseverance, personal effort, career, identity, unique ethos and benefits, McEwan et al. (2020) concluded that trail running can be classified as a serious leisure activity, and that participants invest a substantial amount of time, money and effort in it. McKay et al. (2019), on the other hand, found that trail running events attract many repeat visitors, as runners tend to participate in the same event(s) each year.

From the range of studies on trail runners’ characteristics and motivations, a number of market segments have also been identified, such as Hodeck et al.’s (2018) classification of sport-orientated trail runners, want-it-all runners and health-orientated trail runners; or Myburgh and Kruger’s (2021) segments of all-in trail finders, trail friend finders and stand-out trail finders. Trail friend finders, for example, are less interested in the competitive spirit of the event and more interested in the social element. Chambers and Poidomani (2022) similarly found that for some participants, a certain sense of community, belonging and connection is an important feature of trail running. A sense of camaraderie and friendship often develops at these events, not just during the race itself, but also during other activities before and after the main event. For the third category identified by Myburgh and Kruger (2021, stand-out trail finders), on the other hand, the features of the trail were the most important attribute to consider. This is a key element also identified by Getz and McConnell (2014) who argued that some trail runners choose to participate in specific events because of the destination as well as the trail attributes. It is therefore important to further consider the second element of trail running, the ‘place’.

3.2 Place

Specific attributes of the destination, the event and/or the trail are the most common factors previously explored within the ‘place’ element of trail running. In terms of the destination, trail runners consider the available routes and accessibility of the destination, as well as accommodation and travel packages available, and to some extent also the image of the destination (Getz & McConnell, 2014). Concerning event attributes and specific trails, participants first and foremost prefer scenic and interesting routes, beautiful landscapes, natural beauty and scenic variety (Timothy & Boyd, 2015; Valente, 2020). Safety, facilities and good signage are further important ‘place’ features for trail runners when choosing which event to participate in, alongside environmental protection and good trail maintenance (Jordaan et al., 2021). Lastly, the degree of difficulty, as well as specific surface characteristics, topography, hilliness or other trail technicalities also play a major role (Starnes et al., 2011). Jordaan et al. (2021, p. 667) even found that “a trail that provides memorable experiences” and “a trail that offers a sense of fun” are among the most popular types of trails, demonstrating how the ‘place’ element can also have a significant impact upon the third element of trail running – the ‘experience’.

3.2 Experience

‘Experience’ is a much debated topic within the events body of literature in general, but in this particular context, it includes sports, culture and nature as the key features constituting the trail running experience. The above-described trail attributes and technicalities have an impact upon how trail runners connect and relate with nature, not just on a physical level, but also emotionally and psychologically. Chambers and Poidomani’s (2022) study, for example, found that trail runners not only appreciate maintaining good health and being active as a meaningful experience, but also the role nature plays in this. Participants in their study described instances of seeing other runners stop to take a photograph – the experience of taking in nature and beautiful scenery was clearly more important to them than individual performance and achieving a certain run time. This opportunity to be in and with nature was also important for participants’ mental health, and thus goes beyond the physical fitness component of other types of sports events. In order to keep the experience fun and interesting, Jordaan et al. (2021) recommend that event organisers change the route each year.

Lastly, the previously mentioned trail running community also somewhat constitutes part of the culture created around the activity and therefore the impact upon individual runners’ cultural experience. In her study of 121 female trail runners, for example, Lincoln (2021) found that the social connections and collective presence of other women created through the sport helps female trail runners experience strength, empowerment and resilience through their outdoor leisure activity.

4.1 Research context

Innsbruck has in recent years moved away from its former image as an ‘Olympic city’, and has rebranded itself. Seven pillars of the new brand were identified emphasising the alpine-urban atmosphere. These include, “fascinating Alpine mountains; specific sporting expertise; vibrant urban space; avant-garde Alpine aesthetics; young, intelligent and cosmopolitan inhabitants; healthy living; and ecological excellence” (Haller et al., 2020, p. 6). According to Haller et al. (2020) this interplay between the city and the mountains has frequently been featured in both internal as well as external marketing efforts over the last 10 years, and continues to shape the city, the region as well as its profile and image. The two events explored in this study also contribute to this image of Innsbruck and its surrounding regions as an alpine-urban destination. Table 1 provides an overview of the events.

The Innsbruck Alpine Trailrun Festival 2023 is organised by Laufwerkstatt, a local trail running club. The festival is celebrating its 8^th season in 2023, and takes place from 1–4 June 2023. As the lead-up to the World Mountain and Trailrunning Championships, the festival is advertising this as an “opportunity to be on the trails where world champions are crowned – you are practically their forerunner!” (IATF, 2022). The IATF features eight different trails, including a night trail, and various trail lengths (from 7k all the way up to 110k trails), and both experienced trail runners as well as trail beginners can participate. There is an individual ranking as well as an opportunity to participate in a team ranking. Along with an expo area, kids trail and other side events, the festival hosts “a great program full of athleticism, fun and alpine-urban experiences, (…) [where] unique trails lead over field and hiking paths and provide participants with fascinating panoramic views of the Alpine metropolis” (IATF, 2022).

The second World Mountain and Trail Running Championships is held in Innsbruck-Stubai from 6–10 June 2023. The championships are hosted by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), International Trail Running Association (ITRA) and World Mountain Running Association (WMRA), which in turn are being coordinated by the International World Athletics Association. The contests include “a Vertical and a Mountain Classic (‘up and down’) as well as two trail runs, a ‘trail short’, covering a distance of approx. 45 km, and a ‘trail long’, covering approx. 85 km” (WMTRC, 2022). Roughly, 1400 elite athletes are expected to attend from at least 60 nations. Similar to the IATF, in their communications strategy, the WMTRC are tapping into the above-described image of “Innsbruck as ‘Sportive Capital of the Alps’ [that] demonstrates a high level of competency in hosting major sports events. The region around Innsbruck offers everything a trailrunner could wish for; there is an endless variety of trails with awe-inspiring views of the city, and leading into high-alpine terrain. Here, the freedom afforded by nature goes hand in hand with a special urban flair” (WMTRC, 2022).

4.2 Data collection

In order to explore 1) how the IATF and WMTRC use elements of storytelling within their communications strategy in the lead-up to the event, and 2) how different stories about the two events are interwoven to create a shared meaning around the overall image of Innsbruck as an alpine-urban destination, a range of marketing communications material was collected over an eight-month period (June – December 2022). This included publicly available updates on the two event websites, social media channels, promotional material, as well as articles in the local and national media. To avoid collection bias, the event websites were checked every Friday for updates and all articles as well as a screenshot of Facebook and Instagram posts were downloaded and collated in separate folders for each event. Table 2 shows the total number of each type of ‘story’ collected. They include both textual content (e. g. newspaper articles) as well as multimedia content (photos and videos) (Mayer & Weller, 2017). It should be noted that only official posts were considered, not social media posts by trail runners themselves. If they commented or replied to an official IATF and WMTRC post, however, this was fully anonymised and also included in the analysis.

4.3 Data analysis

The author manually coded and thematically analysed all data. A blended approach of inductive and deductive coding (Linneberg & Korsgaard, 2019) was thereby deemed most appropriate. In a first step, a ‘general inductive approach’ (cf. Thomas, 2003) was used when analysing how the trail running events story changed and unfolded over time. The two events were examined separately for this to be able to later compare and contrast. Through this initial approach, two critical moments that defined the story were identified: the WMTRC 2023 Press Conference and the IATF 2023 Announcement of Trails. Exploring these two critical moments from various perspectives (such as a newspaper article about the press conference, followed by an announcement on the WMTRC website and a photo on their Instagram page) allowed for data triangulation and increased the validity and reliability of the results.

Within the two identified key moments, data was then analysed again deductively and according to the three elements delineated from the literature. As is common with deductive coding, a pre-defined list of codes was used for this, which included the identified types of people, place and experience from the conceptual framework (see Figure 1). For example, data within the Place element was coded according to ‘Place – Destination’, ‘Place – Trail’, ‘Place – Terrain’ and ‘Place – Other.’ Categories were then developed within each theme as well as across the three main themes to find specific patterns in the event stories conveyed. For example, patterns across all social media posts were identified in how they used a combination of ‘People’ elements in photos, together with ‘Place’ and ‘Experience’ elements in the accompanying text. Linneberg and Korsgaard (2019, p. 264) argue that, “by doing this [a blended approach of inductive and deductive coding], the researcher remains open to surprises in the data while at the same time staying attuned to existing theories,” and hence ensures trustworthiness and rigor in the data analysis process. At this stage, the themes and categories were not only explored within each event, but also across the two events. In a final step, all themes were related back to the literature in order to develop a more critical discussion.

5.1 WMTRC 2023 Press Conference

The press conference for the WMTRC 2023 took place in Innsbruck on 13 September 2022. Key stakeholders of the event, including organisers, representatives from the Tourism, Sports and City Councils and the Tourism Association, as well as trail run ambassadors attended, and it drew great interest from local media representatives. Firstly, it is noticeable, that the place element of the story was particularly prominent at the press conference. Sports councillors and members of the Tirol Tourist Board, for example, referred to the uniqueness of the place in their speeches:

“With this major sporting event, Innsbruck can present itself as a ‘city in the mountains’. We don’t have to expand or rebuild anything, we show what it is: a city in the heart of Europe, embedded in a unique mountain world” (Press conference, 2022).

“From a tourism perspective, and above all from a brand perspective, mountain sports in Tirol are part of our DNA. The mountain is firmly anchored in the Tirol brand, so the Mountain and Trail Running World Championships fit in perfectly” (Press conference, 2022).

In line with previous research, the specific attributes of the destination hence seem to be a key feature for trail running events frequently mentioned in event marketing communications (Getz & McConnell, 2014), and in this case the mountains and alpine-urban atmosphere of Innsbruck, Stubai and the surrounding region clearly define the event as a “destination event” (McEwan et al., 2020, p. 1028). Others however, note that trail run event participants also consider the trail technicalities in their decision-making, and whether the routes are scenic and interesting (Timothy & Boyd, 2015; Jordaan et al., 2021). This came through in the press conference when it was highlighted that,

“the planned running routes in and around Innsbruck will offer numerous sporting and visual highlights for athletes and spectators” and more specifically,

“One route leads through the picturesque old town of Innsbruck and then climbs steeply over numerous meters to the ‘Höll’ at the Hoetting quarter. There will be beautiful sporting pictures from our Alpine-urban state capital out into the world” (Press conference, 2022).

Secondly, however, the unique landscape on its own was not enough for the WMTRC 2023 committee to award the championships to Innsbruck-Stubai. They were,

“convinced by the unique mountain landscape of Tirol, the special combination of urbanity and alpinism as well as the great know-how in the disciplines of mountain running and trail running” (Press conference, 2022).

The people element therefore also needs to be considered, and in this case, particularly the role of the organising committee. Indeed, the know-how and expertise in hosting trail running events specifically relates to the organisers of the IATF, who were on several occasions praised for their,

“pioneering work for our region in the field of mountain and trail running” and “will [therefore] provide organizational and technical support for the [WMTRC] event” (World Mountain Running Association, 2022).

Thirdly, adding the experience element further enhanced the story of people and place in different ways, as can be seen in the official photos taken on the day of the press conference. The example below shows the two chairpersons of the Tourism Associations Innsbruck and Stubai in front of a poster displaying two visibly excited and happy trail runners enjoying the sport and nature experience of running across the beautiful mountain ranges around Innsbruck-Stubai. Thus, a unique combination of people, place and experience is evident in this photo:

Figure 2:

WMTRC 2023 Press Conference (13/09/2022; source: https://newsroom.pr/at/news.php?id=16051; copyright: Alpine Trailrun Festival GmbH/Oss)

A few days after the press conference, several social media posts referred to the story and further extended it through particularly emphasising the experience element. The example below again shows people (three trail runners in the photo), but also calls runners, visitors and spectators to action (“Save the date … be sure to keep 6–10 June 2023 free … 5 days you’d better not miss next year”). The place element is incorporated through the photo as well as the text (“all eyes will be on Innsbruck-Stubai and thus on the most scenic places in the Alps”). It is, however, the combination of both that constitutes the experience element of the story (experiencing sports and nature).

To summarise, in terms of the WMTRC 2023, it is perhaps not surprising that the place element of the story was most prominent in official communication and pre-event marketing. This is in line with the frequent use of stories about a place in tourism and destination marketing, which Moin (2020) refers to as tourism marketers telling stories that convey a certain meaning and emotional bond with the destination. However, findings from this critical moment show that the trail running story emerging for Innsbruck and the surrounding region would be incomplete without the crucial people and experience elements.

Figure 3:

WMTRC 2023 Facebook Announcement (03/11/2022)

5.2 IATF Announcement of 2023 Trails

In line with Jordaan et al.’s (2021) recommendation that event organisers should change the route each year in order to keep the trail running experience fun, unique and memorable, the IATF does indeed keep the trail lengths the same, but changes the routes each year. The IATF 2023 trails were announced on social media between 22 September and 01 October 2022 with one route announced per day. The website was subsequently also updated to list the different trails and their specific features. The link to WMTRC was thereby used as a ‘hook’ to build excitement among potential participants emphasising this as a unique and memorable experience. On the event website, each trail is described in detail including the percentage of how much of the trail will be run along the WMTRC course. For example, for the K110 and the K42 respectively (see IATF, 2022),

“50 % of the route runs on parts of the World Cup course, and you can also feel that! ”

“Btw: The entire K42 course runs on sections of the world championship routes! Every runner, who signs up for this should have a desire for an intense marathon.”

It can further be seen that all the photos used to announce the trails featured all three elements: each of them shows at least one trail runner (people), a variety of trails and scenery (place) and emphasises the trail length, type and terrain through either the photo and/or the text (experience):

Figure 4:

IATF 2023 Facebook Announcement of trails (22/09 – 01/10/2022)

Findings here confirm how important it is for trail runners to know the degree of difficulty of each trail, as well as other trail technicalities (Starnes et al., 2011), especially for the ‘stand-out trail finders’ identified in Myburgh and Kruger’s (2021) study. Some of the photos, for example, clearly show specific surface characteristics, topography, or the hilliness of the trail, which are crucial elements in trail runners’ motivations to participate in terms of personal challenge and self-achievement. But they also highlight the beauty of the place, the scenery and the opportunity to experience nature.

Secondly, the accompanying texts on social media made additional reference to WMTRC 2023, and hence provided a further important element of the story in terms of the experience:

Figure 5:

IATF 2023 Facebook Announcement of trails (16/09 – 01/10/2022)

Similar to the WMTRC Press Conference, it can be seen that the place element of the story was also prominent in the IATF communications strategy. Instead of heavily emphasising the features of the destination, however, in this case the trails themselves, their technicalities and uniqueness, were much more prominent. Regarding the people element, the focus here was on the runners, with organisers, visitors and spectators not (yet) referred to at all. This will most likely change as the event unfolds. However, most notably the experience element was the one particularly referring to WMTRC as a ‘hook’ for communicating the sport and nature experience of the event. As such, the story clearly aims to create a shared meaning around this unique, emotional and memorable experience and is hence in line with previous research into the use of storytelling in tourism and destination marketing (Bassano et al., 2019; Moscardo, 2020).

6.1 Theoretical and practical implications

The aim of this study was to highlight the similarities and differences in storytelling approaches used by two trail running events: the IATF as a community-based trail run experience for everyone and the WMTRC as a professional, elite sports event. Several important theoretical as well as practical implications can be identified: Both trail running events use elements of storytelling in their pre-event marketing strategy, but do not merely use this approach to convey information. Rather, the importance of featuring the place and the people in the story became apparent, and together with the experience element provided a shared meaning and value embedded in the story. As such, the findings contribute to the ongoing discussion around storytelling as a form of content marketing whereby the goal is to let the audience feel something, to engage the consumers on a personal and emotional level and to develop a deep connection with them (McKee & Gerace, 2018; Moin, 2020). The study also extends Walters and Insch’s (2018) findings of the use of community event stories to facilitate learning about the destination through people and place elements. Adding the experience element to this, as demonstrated in the findings section, further enhances the story of the destination through communicating a certain value proposition of the destination and its features. In a future step, this could perhaps even contribute to current trends in experiential tourism as a form of immersive experience (Bassano et al., 2019).

In terms of practical implications, event organisers need to recognise the power their stories can have within the wider destination marketing efforts. Events are short-term, yet very intense experiences based on and linked to the central story of the destination, and can therefore significantly contribute to an evolving destination storyworld. They can encourage and prepare visitors for the experience through teaching them about the purpose of the event and its role within the destination as well as the image and brand of the destination itself. They can also be used post-event to encourage repeat visits and word-of-mouth. It is important that event organisers first identify the relevant elements of the story they want to tell and to then create and share stories that include a combination of all relevant elements in order to hit the sweet spot of communicating the message (depicted in Figure 6 as the area where the three elements overlap). The identified three elements – people, place and experience – can thereby easily be adapted to other types of events as well as other types of destinations. For example, within a music or cultural festival, the people element could include performers, musicians, and creatives. The place element could assess a certain venue, visitor attraction or park. Moreover, the experience element could focus on sensory experiences, such as music, sound and dance. Figure 6 thus presents a more generic framework for practitioners to use, as well as for future research, as outlined further below.

Destination marketing and management organisations in turn, should more consciously include events and event stories into their communications strategy in order to not only convey information about the destination but also create a shared meaning and emotional bond with potential visitors. This can be particularly impactful in the case of an event portfolio strategy, whereby cities or regions develop a portfolio of recurring and one-off events, rather than just one single large-scale event. The synergistic effects of this approach are interesting in a marketing sense, as they often yield cumulative outcomes and returns for the destination as a whole (Ziakas & Getz, 2021). The findings of this study nicely demonstrate how this can be achieved: the two trail running events used different yet mutually reinforcing strategies in their storytelling approaches to contribute to the overall image of Innsbruck as an Alpine-urban destination. Both events benefit from each other in terms of their pre-event marketing efforts, and they together shape the overall trail running story within the destination. It should be noted, however, that this requires a clear strategy at the destination level to avoid any conflict between events that might be too similar or competing with each other, or even market an image that does not quite fit with the overall destination story.

Figure 6:

People, place and experience elements of event storytelling (Author’s own, 2023)

6.2 Limitations and suggestions for future research

In terms of limitations, this study is only based on two trail running events within a very specific destination context and as such, findings cannot be generalised. Data collection was limited to the lead-up to the event, and only included publicly available stories on the event websites, news, social media and promotional material. Other sources and types of data, such as interviews or focus groups with key stakeholders, may have rendered different results. It is therefore recommended that future research should include a longer term approach and investigate how the event and destination story evolves not just before the event, but also during and after the event.

Secondly, researchers should apply the three story elements developed in this study to other trail running events and other destinations in order to compare and contrast different regional, national and international contexts. As outlined in Figure 6, the three elements can also be adapted to other types of events and other types of destinations, and hence should be tested on a much bigger scale. Finally, on a theoretical level, tourism and events researchers can further develop the discussion around storytelling using more in-depth and critical approaches, such as the role of power and language, body and affect in shaping and reshaping these stories. Additionally, actor-network or assemblage theory could be used to more critically explore both the human and non-human elements identified in this study.