How the expanding edges of human endurance teach us about the limits of how we think about sports, athletes, and age.

On the 22nd of March in sunny Tennessee, a 40 year old woman stumbled towards an innocuous car park barrier. She was covered in cuts and bruises, had a grey / yellow pallor to her skin, and was in desperate need of rest. As she fell to the floor by the makeshift finish line, she made history… Jasmine Paris had just become the first woman to complete the infamous Barkley Marathons. 

Within seconds of the news breaking, millions of people around the world began to cheer (digitally, at least), with many proclaiming Paris a trail running GOAT. 

The Barkley Marathons is a notorious ultra-running race in Frozen Head State Park. The event started in 1986, and has run almost every year since, yet this year was the first time a female athlete completed the fabled ‘five loops’. Despite having its own Netflix documentary, it is niche. Most runners haven’t heard of it, yet alone the general non-running public, yet within the first 24 hours of it being published, 36 million people viewed the BBC News story about Paris’s finish. 

This was more than just a moment for trail runners; this was a moment when the definition of how we think of an athlete changed. Many elite ultrarunners peak in their late 40s – at the extreme end, last year Fauja Singh became the first person in history to complete a marathon at one hundred. Outside of running we’re seeing the culture of Jeju Haenyeo (female divers in their 80s) grow in attention, and most recently Donna Jean Wilde broke the Guinness World Record for the longest plank – at 58 years old (4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, if you’re interested).

We might be living longer, but we’re also living healthier too, and this increase in vitality is creating perception-smashing athletes that are breaking down stereotypes that elite sport is a pursuit only for the youth. 

So what does this mean for brands? Given sport is an area of culture that many brands are either invested in or interested in, the ramifications are massive. Here are our top three:

• While many advertisers have become much more inclusive in their portrayal of athletic achievement, age remains an area that is still unrepresented. Understand that age is no longer an inhibitor of athletic achievement, and that elite stars like Jasmine Paris, Courtney Dauwalter, and Fauja Singh are inspiring tens of thousands of people to step into sports that they’d previously thought they’d ‘aged out’ of.
  
• By demonstrating your understanding of this seismic shift in athletic perceptions, you’re bucking the category conventions – but most importantly, you’re accessing new audiences that hold a majority of global disposable incoming. The over 50s hold 80% of all spending power globally, yet according to the HBR, are only targeted by 5% of advertising. That’s a lot of space for new growth.
  
• Brands that are invested in sports subculture and communities often focus on grassroots communities – and this is usually a shorthand for school and college age teams and athletes. Investing in and building a platform for this new wave of older athletes would help your brand access a space clear of congested competition. 

To unlock more about sports culture, email discover@culturelab.co

^{(Sources: The Bailey And Harding Ultra Sound System podcast, Damian Hall’s Barkley Marathon Exclusive episode, April 2024. Don’t Underestimate the Market Power of the 50+ Crowd, HBR 2022)}