There was a time when runners were seen as a certain type of person.
Serious. Slightly obsessive. Usually alone. Never in a group unless it was a race. They ran with headlamps. Talked carb loading and VO2 max. They wrote splits on their arm and did their long run on Sundays. They were runners. Serious runners.
Now? Entire groups of very different people are voluntarily waking up at 5am on a freezing Sydney morning just to run beside strangers and drink coffee afterwards.
Somewhere along the line, running stopped being a discipline and became culture.
And according to running coach Ben Lucas — who recently completed his 50th marathon — that shift is changing the entire fitness landscape in Australia.
“We’re seeing people come into running now who never would have called themselves runners a year ago,” Lucas says.
“It’s become social, it’s become accessible, and people are realising they don’t need to look like an elite athlete to be part of it.”
Lucas would know. As head coach of both the Harbour 10 and the Sydney Marathon, he’s watched participation explode firsthand. Events are selling out faster than ever. Run clubs have become social fixtures in major cities. And our Southern winter, always peak running season here, is making its mark internationally with the TCS Sydney Marathon in August, and the Real Insurance Harbour 10 on Sunday, 26 July 2026.
For a lot of people, running has become the rare form of fitness that cuts through modern life’s data-led chaos. It’s simple, meditative, good for both body and mind, and occasionally delivers the kind of moments you actually remember for a lifetime — crossing the Harbour Bridge at sunrise while the sky burns orange; crossing a finish line; the celebration after.
That cocktail of inputs never gets old and is drawing a new generation in because more people are looking exercise that feel sustainable and connective.
Lucas says one of the biggest mistakes first-time runners make is thinking they’re not runners
“People think they need to be a certain type of person,” he says. “But everyone can run. Its human. And running together is natural.”
It’s also why events like the Real Insurance Harbour 10 have found such a strong audience.
Returning to Sydney on July 26, the event has quickly positioned itself as one of the city’s major mid-winter races, offering both 5km and 10km distances across a fast, flat harbour-side course.
But unlike traditional races that can feel intimidating to newer runners, the atmosphere leans heavily into community. Run clubs show up together. First-timers mix with marathon veterans. And the finish line leads directly into an afterparty at Cruise Bar instead of everyone immediately limping back to their cars.
Which probably says everything about modern running culture. People still want the challenge. They just don’t want the isolation anymore. And maybe that’s the real reason running keeps growing. It’s no longer just exercise.
It’s become a place people feel they belong.
