Sightseeing and sunbathing are being swapped for start lines, according to new data from sports travel insurance provider SportsCover Direct, which revealed a 55% year-on-year rise in travelers taking out specialist cover for endurance and challenge-based sporting events.
Challenge-based sporting trips are also being recognized more widely, with TripAdvisor naming ‘sweat jetting’ one of its top travel trends of the year. Major marathons are now driving significant visitor surges in host cities, with Chicago Marathon bringing a 300% rise in visitors, followed by Boston (+228%) and Berlin (+222%).
The endurance sports events are driving the growth of “racecations.” Year-on-year growth looks like this: Ultramarathon +77%, Ski racing +44%, Duathlon +34%, Half marathon +34%, Obstacle race training +33%, Half Ironman +29%, Aquathlon +25%, Marathon +21%, Cross triathlon +21%, and Ironman +19%.
The data also points to a more ‘accessible’ approach to endurance sports, with half marathons (+34%) outgrowing full marathons (+21%), and half Ironmans (+29%) growing faster than full Ironmans (+19%). Those findings suggest that athletes want the challenge of racing abroad without committing to the full distance.
Elsewhere, ski racing has emerged as a surprise second-place entry, up 44% year-on-year, with events like Sweden’s Vasaloppet drawing more global entrants and showing an appetite for winter endurance travel.
SportsCover Direct’s data is backed by the wider industry: Google searches for ‘ultra race‘ are up 234% year-on-year, while searches for ‘European marathons‘ are up 34% over the same period. Strava also recorded a 9% rise in members completing marathons and ultramarathons, with 40% of its users logging a run while abroad, and entries to this year’s TCS London Marathon ballot from 18-29 year-olds rose 105% year-on-year, evidence that the appetite for endurance travel spans generations as well as distances.
Izzy Weatherall (photo courtesy Gloucestershire Live on Facebook)
Among those traveling to test their limits is Izzy Weatherall, an ultramarathon swimmer of over ten years, who recently swam the 20 Bridges route, a 28-mile circumnavigation of Manhattan Island, as part of open water swimming’s ‘Triple Crown’ challenge.
Having already completed the English Channel and Loch Ness, Izzy took her ultramarathon swimming journey international for her Triple Crown attempt, drawn by New York’s favorable tides and the chance to combine a bucket-list trip with a bucket-list challenge.
Izzy comments: “I always look for the most awesome places to do a challenge. If I visit somewhere, I’m always drawn to the challenges I can do there; it’s just part of the sport! I’ve always wanted to visit New York, so why not combine a once-in-a-lifetime trip with a once-in-a-lifetime swim?”
What Izzy and others are doing shows no sign of slowing down. Over the next several months, global competitors are expected at some of Europe’s biggest endurance events. They include the Berlin Marathon, Ironman Barcelona-Calella, and the Spartan Race European Championship in Estérel Saint-Raphaël. Immediately ahead in the October 31-November 1 UK-founded Ultra X Madeira.
Chris Trotman, Head of Underwriting and Sales at SportsCover Direct, summarized the trend this way: “It’s brilliant to see amateur athletes pushing themselves in this way, and it shows just how much endurance sport has moved from a niche pursuit to a mainstream travel motivation. But it’s also important to remember that competing abroad brings a different set of risks to a normal holiday, from the physical demands of the event itself to traveling with specialist equipment and kit. Standard travel insurance often excludes race and competition cover, and so travelers should check that their holiday insurance covers their specific event and sport. That way, competitors can focus only on what matters most — getting to the finish line.”
For more information, refer to SportsCover Direct.
