Involvement of Ultramarathon Runners: Understanding Intention, Behavior, and Perceived Skill of the "Absolute Unitary Being"

AbstractUltramarathon running, competing in distances beyond the 26.2 mile marathon, is one of the fastest growing segments of endurance competition. The sport has more than tripled in entrant size over the past 12 years and now attracts over 26,000 athletes on an annual basis. However, there is a limited understanding of what motivates individuals to pursue such a taxing physical and emotional activity. This study explored the dimensions of the Zaichkowsky Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) and the Laurent and Kapferer Consumer Involvement Profile (CIP) as predictors of ultramarathon runners' intention to participate, behavioral participation, and perceived skill level. Multiple regressions indicated that the cognitive and affective facets of the PII scale were significant in predicting the behavior and that the cognitive facet of the PII scale was a unique significant predictor of the perceived skill. In addition, it was found that the CIP affective dimensions of "pleasure" and "sign value" were unique significant predictors of the intention to participate.Key words: Ultrarunning, endurance sport, involvement theoryIntroductionThe recreational activity of running has experienced remarkable growth. Running and jogging experienced a 6.7% increase from 2008 to 2009, with 43.89 million athletes participating in the sport ("Outdoor recreation participation report," 2010). Ultramarathon running, the sport of foot racing in events surpassing the traditional 26.2 mile marathon distance, has attracted a highly motivated segment of the running authence. The sport has more than tripled in entrant size over the past 12 years. In 2010, 26,842 individuals competed in ultradistance events, amassing a total of 46,280 finishes (Medinger, 2011). Most ultramarathoners perform continuously for more than four hours, while some maintain pace for more than 24 hours and beyond when 100 mile or multi-day races are entered. Muscular degeneration occurs over these extended race distances, while mental and physiological exhaustion comes into play. Competitors must monitor fluid intake, electrolyte levels and food consumption, while also monitoring emotional and cognitive decision-making abilities. The ultramarathon experience has been defined as a hypothetical mystical state of consciousness, and is referred to as an "Absolute Unitary Being" by Hones (2004, p. 40). However, ultramarathon running is not limited to the elite. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day encompasses three 20-mile segments over an extended weekend. In 2012, the event encompassed 14 major U.S. cities. Participants raised awareness for breast cancer programs and generated millions of dollars to fund breast cancer research and community health programs ("20123-Day Schedule," 2012). Though literature provides a definition of ultramarathon running, there is a limited understanding about what motivates individuals to pursue such taxing physical and emotional activities. Few studies have investigated the psychological schemas of competitors who ran 100 miles and beyond.The construct of involvement is frequently used to explore the psychometric profiles of participants in different sports. Sport involvement is defined by Dimanche, Havitz, and Howard (1991) as follows:psychological state of motivation, arousal, or interest between an individual and recreational activities, tourist destinations, or related equipment in one point in time, characterized by the perceptions of the following elements: importance, pleasure value, sign value, risk probability, and risk consequences (p. 237-238). Involvement has been a popular measure within leisure study. Gender study of the involvement among leisure participants indicated that women had higher activity-attraction involvement than men (Wiley, Shaw, & Havitz, 2000). Mclntyre (1989) incorporated the measurement of the involvement within a beach camping setting while Aj zen and Driver (1992) constructed a multi-item involvement profile as a predictor of behavioral intent among leisure sport participants. …