Walking and running to benefit breast cancer: descriptive characteristics of participants in the 2017 Walk for Life events

Abstract

Aims: The prevalence of charities and other non-profit organisations sponsoring for-cause physical activity (PA) events has continued to rise. Few studies have examined for-cause events through a public health perspective to determine the reach and potential for public health and PA promotion. This study described participants in a for-cause event supporting breast cancer to determine the reach of the event and identified possible leverage points of for-cause events for public health promotion. Methods: Participants registered online for the Walk for Life events in Columbia, SC (Half marathon, 10k, 5k, and Walk-a-thon), were included in this study. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results: Over 6,000 people participated in the event and 4,942 registered online. Of online registrants, most participants were women ( n = 3,800, 78.95%) and most participants, completed the walk-a-thon ( n = 3,539), followed by the 5k ( n = 829), half-marathon ( n = 236), and 10k ( n = 209). The average age of participants was 39.79 years (SD = 1.35). Conclusions: For-cause PA events often recruit high numbers of participants, particularly high-priority populations in PA interventions. Therefore, these events bear innovative implications for PA researchers and practitioners to leverage these events to promote health and PA while simultaneously supporting charity and non-profit organisations.