Q2 2025 Race Trends Report
Like-for-like events achieved 9.2% growth in Q2 2025, continuing strong industry momentum. Younger participants (16-39) and emerging 60+ demographics drive proportional growth
Q2 Period: 1st April - 30th June
Events that have been working with Eventrac for over two years saw 9.2% growth in Q2 2025 compared to the same period last year. This follows the 14.4% growth we reported in Q1, showing continued momentum across the industry.
This report includes all mass participation sports across the UK - running, cycling, triathlon, duathlon, swimming, OCR and others.
Industry Trends
Age Demographics
Younger Growth Continues
The trend we've been tracking continues - people aged 39 and under are still growing faster than the traditionally dominant 40-59 age range. There's also an indication of increased participation by those in the 60+ demographic, which could be an emerging trend and may be further evidence that events are increasingly playing a bigger part in healthy lifestyle choices by all generations, not just those of Gen-Z.
As we've noted in previous reports, whilst the 40-44 age bracket remains the largest participant segment, we continue to see the flattening age distribution curve we first identified. The proportional increase in the 16-39 & 60+ age ranges relative to the 40-59 segments is ongoing.
This reinforces the trends we identified in 2024 - Gen Z and Millennials continue to show strong growth, but may also be signs that older generations are also prioritising events as a means to promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Gender Distribution
The gender gap continues to close, with females continuing to narrow the participation difference. Current distribution stands at 59.5% men and 40.3% women, showing the ongoing trend towards more balanced participation across genders.
Age Distribution Comparison
All age groups experienced absolute growth due to the overall 9.2% industry growth. The table below shows the relative proportional representation of each age group:
The negative values indicate these segments grew at a slower rate than the overall market, not that they experienced a decline in absolute numbers.
Registration Timing Patterns
Advance Booking Trends
Events in Q2 showed the more expected pattern of how far in advance people book that we've been monitoring. In nearly all cases, all age groups left it later on average to book onto an event. The number of days on average in advance reduced from 85 days to 80 days, which continues the later booking trends for spring/summer races that we've been tracking.
May Bookings
May saw a notable spike in bookings compared to previous years, with traffic and bookings up nearly 40%. When we analysed which months these events were scheduled for, 60% of bookings made in May were for events either in May or June, demonstrating the last-minute booking behaviour we've been observing. Interestingly, 8-9% were for races in 2026, demonstrating that opening entries early can help capitalise on this year's buzz.
It's difficult to pinpoint one factor why this May was proportionally higher than in previous years. A later London Marathon, very strong weather with the warmest and sunniest spring ever recorded in the UK, and the changing habits of participants we've been documenting could all be contributing factors.
Registration Channel Analysis
Direct vs Marketplace Bookings
Direct bookings through organisers' own channels (websites) accounted for 96.45% of registrations in Q2 2025, representing a slight decrease from 97.44% in Q2 2024. The remaining 3.5% of registrations were processed through marketplace platforms.
Marketplace Performance
Find a Race maintained the growth momentum from Q1 with a 1% rise in Q2 2025 vs Q2 2024.
Let's Do This registrations being managed by eventrac continue their decline with a 1% decrease, down from 1.4% to 0.4%. These bookings are now manually imported following Let's Do This discontinuing API support in Q2 2024.
Timeoutdoors and runABC bookings maintained similar levels to Q1 2025.
The Ahotu integration was not heavily utilised in Q2 2025 but a rollout will begin soon.
The Outlook
Q2 2025 continues the trends identified in our year-end report and Q1 2025 report. We continue to see growth across the industry and across all age demographics, particularly from those in the Gen-Z and Millennial generations and also the Boomers (60+) generation.
The data confirms the ongoing evolution of the industry, which continues to successfully expand beyond its traditional participant base whilst maintaining strong growth fundamentals.
