The Acea Run Rome The Marathon is a microcosm for the mass participation sport industry. It’s evolution over the last five years has reflected how people are reshaping movement, identity and community. Essentially, it has shifted its focus solely from performance to purpose.
We already know more people are running. That’s not new. What’s new is why people are running more, and what it reveals about belonging, self-expression and value in a twitchy digital age. In March, 50,000 runners took to the streets of Rome to keep the pace, but also be present.
In 2025, over 21,000 runners crossed the official marathon finish line, up 50% from the previous year, putting Rome in the top ten marathons globally for finishers. That’s a headline in itself. But what’s more interesting is how the event mirrors deeper shifts. Firstly, there has been a surge in international participation, with nearly 18,000 of those runners travelling from abroad, spanning 127 countries. This alongside a spike in digital content and a week-long set of experiences means the Rome Marathon feels more like a festival than a footrace.
Rome hosts a marathon, but also became a platform for expression, for community and for values. And that’s the shift brands and organisers need to watch.
Wellness once conjured an image of yoga studios, smoothies and a pilates class. But plugging it into a broader spectrum like sport has transformed it into a $6.3 trillion market and made it increasingly about real-world rituals — running through iconic cities, joining like-minded communities, and feeling part of something bigger. The Rome Marathon alone generated an estimated €75 million in economic impact for the city, showing just how far these rituals ripple beyond the start line.
This shift has resulted in a change of priorities. Participants are less likely to chase a PB at a major marathon and focus more on the experience.
Rome taps into this by integrating health throughout the experience. From the accessible 5km Acea Water Fun Run to wellness-led initiatives during the Rome Running Week, the event practises physical activity as fitting into any lifestyle.
It is also where the Rome Running Week comes in to include everything from cultural tie-ins to a programme called Rome is Woman, showing how events can create emotional connection as well as physical challenge.
It’s part of a wider truth: People want to feel something (and share it on Insta). Speaking of which…
A decade or so ago a participant would toe the line at a race and just run. But the modern world calls for a more modern experience, and it is more uncommon to identify an athlete that hasn’t shared a start-line selfie that it is to identify one. The modern participant runs, documents, shares and curates the experience. Events happen in parallel across two spaces: The physical and the digital.
Rome understands this better than most. In 2025, its social content reached over 6 million people on Instagram alone, a 529% jump. All this was driven by emotionally resonant moments like the 42 seconds of silence for Pope Francis — human, meaningful content that spreads. The impact wasn’t just digital either: thanks to this, the marathon was covered on major national television news across Italy.
From pre-event reels to real-time updates and post-race highlight clips, Rome treats digital not as an afterthought but as a core part of the experience. It fuels reach, deepens loyalty, and gives sponsors the kind of brand association money alone can’t buy.
Events that treat digital as a bolt-on aren’t just missing an opportunity. They’re speaking a language the audience stopped using years ago.
Rome’s sustainability efforts (renewable energy, recycling, environmental education) carry more depth than column inches. They’re visible on the ground and increasingly expected by both participants and sponsors. It’s not a nice-to-have, but a dealbreaker.
In practice, that meant 100% renewable energy powering the event, hybrid vehicles making up 40% of operational transport, and food and clothing donations supporting those in need.
Rome shows what’s possible when events stop acting like one-day races and start behaving like movements. The future of mass participation will belong to those who blend technology with community, brand with meaning, and wellness with real-world relevance.
The next edition on 22 March 2026 is an opportunity. For organisers to go deeper. For sponsors to embed, not just badge. And for participants to keep rewriting what movement means.