Is Running Embarrassing Now? The Rise of Running Culture.

Running is booming — but so is the backlash. From run club aesthetics to Strava call-outs, has running become performative, or just culturally dominant?

Why Is Running So Popular Right Now?

Running participation has surged in recent years. Run clubs are growing rapidly in major cities, marathon ballot entries are at record highs, and apps like Strava have turned training into a highly social activity. What was once a niche endurance sport has become a visible part of modern lifestyle culture — which is exactly why the backlash is starting to appear.

Running has been taking some heat lately. There was the viral Reddit thread: a run club founder asking how to police kit choices that didn’t fit the crew’s aesthetic. There are whispers about clubs stopping mid-run to capture content. A low hum of schadenfreude around running influencers sidelined by stress fractures. Vigilante accounts popping up to “expose” inflated times on Strava. There’s also the ongoing — and admittedly necessary — critique of gender accessibility in running, alongside the more uncomfortable stories about the toxic side of some run clubs. 

Media events where everyone is handed identical trainers to parade around in — not much running actually happening. Or events where everyone gets issued the same branded t-shirt to wear (brand domination!), which are also environmentally questionable, as we covered in our “cost of our kit” piece.

And it’s not just brands anymore. It’s the school-gate mums posting kit lays. The colleague sharing their first 10k splits. Your friend who discovered HYROX and suddenly owns four matching sets. Everyone, it seems, is now broadcasting their training life.

Which got me thinking about another viral question.

Last year, Chanté Joseph wrote a piece for Vogue asking: Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now? The comparison might seem odd. Culturally, it isn’t. Because what Joseph tapped into wasn’t romance. It was identity.

And running, right now, is more than an identity. It’s cultural currency.

Standing Out

As someone who spent years trend spinning in the fashion industry, I’ve seen this cycle before. A movement gains traction. It becomes a marker of belonging. It becomes oversaturated. Discretion returns as the new status symbol. We hype. We over-perform. Then we recoil. Running moved through that cycle remarkably fast. Branded kit became uniform. Carbon plates became shorthand for seriousness. Split times became status signals. We didn’t just run. We curated.

From Personal Best to Personal Brand

There was a time when running was niche. Now: Kit lays are photographed like editorial spreads. Splits are debated against chip times. “Easy pace” captions are carefully worded. Product placement slides quietly into every carousel. And it’s not just influencers. It’s everyone. When everyone is doing it, it stops feeling aspirational and starts feeling noisy.

The Cringe Cycle

Branding things as “embarrassing” isn’t new. Those old enough will remember Heat Magazine’s infamous “Circle of Shame” — a cultural ritual of public correction. Today we call it something else.

Cringe. The ick.

It’s the same impulse. When something becomes too visible, too dominant, too polished — we want to puncture it. But is running actually embarrassing? Or are we just reacting to the moment when something becomes everywhere? Or are we simply tired of the aesthetic arms race?

Has Running Reached Peak Popularity?

Running is having a cultural moment. Run clubs are booming. Major marathons are oversubscribed. More people than ever are discovering the strange pleasure of a long run and the pride of finishing a race. Of course it’s noisy. Anything this popular will be. Trends amplify the edges. The aesthetics get louder. The content multiplies. And eventually, people start rolling their eyes.

The Next Flex

Trends move on. They always do. The think pieces fade. The Reddit threads dwindle. The internet finds something new to debate. And when that happens, runners will still be doing what they’ve always done. Heading out the door. One foot in front of the other.

Because running was here before the hype. And it’ll still be here when the trend cycle moves on. In fashion, after peak logo mania comes quiet luxury. After hypebeast culture comes minimalism. Running itself remains simple. Honest. Brutal. Humbling. What feels outdated isn’t the act. It’s the theatre around it. And maybe — just maybe — discretion is the next flex.