If your an avid runner and want to explore careers within the running industry, you're in the right place.
We have broken down the top 17 careers in running to give you an idea of the type of roles where yy can trun your hobby into a viable career option.
Before we jump in a quick disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER: Most of the jobs titles and average salaries have been taken off our job site, however some jobs and average salaries for some of these positions have been taken from third party websites to give you an indication of the salary range.
With that clarified, let's jump into the best careers in running to consider:
If you think about any running event you have ever been to, whether that’s a trail run, track race, marathon or just a parkrun, someone has had to have organised that, this is the role of a running event coordinator.
As part of the main responsibilities they have to secure permits, recruit volunteers or hire staff, oversee participant registrations and manage the race logistics such as the running route, markers and assess the safety of the course, ensuring all participants are safeguarded.
You will work in correspondence work with sponsorship managers to help secure funding to ensure the race can financially go ahead as well as making sure spectators are at a safe distance.
Running event coordinators are normally employed by non-profit organisations and charities that harness running to boost charitable donations, but also by running specific brands, running clubs, government backed initiatives and fun run companies.
You can find running focused holidays, where you go abroad or to a scenic aspect of the UK with other like minded individuals to run, eat, have fun and socialise with.
Retreat managers are the people who oversee these retreats, managing the flights, accommodation, food, schedule and runs for all participants across whilst factoring in for varying ability levels, which is no mean feat.
A running retreat manager has to hire, train and lead a team of specialist running coaches to provide coaching support, educational seminars and community building activities to ensure all holiday makers are having a good time and engaged.
Most running retreat coaches are employed by running specific retreats or they are independently run by a freelance running coach.
Every major running apparel and equipment manufacturer performs market research into each product they produce and has a cost analyst helping them to manage their cost efficiency when developing products.
As part of the job description you will create a framework with how costs are calculated, based on seasons, trends, target market, competitors, overheads and many other elements.
You will try to identify and improve the costing process, standardising these across all factory vendors as well as providing market costing feedback to the design team, that influences the design and material selection.
Additionally, you will negotiate competitive prices with suppliers and ensure all costing data is timely, accurate, and reflective of the true cost of production at every stage of the process.
One of the most popular careers in the running industry is that of an online running coach and I even have an online running coach to assist me with my training.
Online running coaches design periodised running plans with and sometimes nutrition and strength programmes to accompany this for clients wherever they may be in the world through harnessing running specific training platforms.
You can communicate with clients over video calls, messenger or email and make adaptations to programmes based on their feedback, injury status and training goals.
You will use data insights from wearables that can connect to software platforms to make further adjustments as well as educating them via guides, videos or personalised feedback to help them improve their technique, mental focus or preparation.
Most online running coaches are either independent or work for an online running coach company.
If you have a strong skill set in writing, you could merge this talent with your running passion to pursue a job as a running writer or editor for a running magazine, journal, running brand or blog.
Every article in both print and digital format on running gear, software, training advice and product guide has been written by a running specific writer.
As part of the job you will perform extensive research on what to write and include in your article, combined with keyword research and competitor analysis, you will then write compelling and concise content that really resonates with your readers.
This role can even extend to writing copy for newsletters, website product pages, leaflets and social media posts. Additionally, you may have to collaborate with brands, get expert contributions or interviews from thought leaders within the world of running and sometimes negotiate affiliate fees for including a product within an article.
As someone who writes a lot on health for Active Careers on fitness and sport related topics as it’s a passion of mine, I can tell you first hand it’s a really rewarding and fun job to pursue.
Personal Trainers are individuals that help across the whole spectrum of health and fitness, whether someone wants to lose weight, put on muscle, develop endurance, enhance their flexibility or a combination of these.
As a personal trainer you will perform health assessments, set fitness goals, write fitness and nutrition plans and motivate clients towards their desired goals.
You will conduct both private and small group personal training sessions, track clients progress, make programme adjustments based on their results and preferences, as well as helping them refine their form. You can combine personal training with things like running coaching or S & C to widen your client appeal.
Personal Training has the widest routes to employment on this list as you can work across a plethora of different areas such as at gyms, leisure centres, studios, hotels, spas, healthcare centres and retreats. You can even become a personal trainer on a cruise ship or in the army.
A more unusual career in running is working as a running product tester, which is kind of how it sounds, you test running products before they launch into the public domain.
The primary role of a running product tester is evaluate the performance, durability, comfort and functionality of various running products, whether that be running trainers, apparel, accessories, gadgets or wearables.
As part of the job, you will have to test the product through running with it over a variety of distances and terrain depending on what the product is designed to do.
You will provide feedback against a brand’s specific criteria such as fit, feel, performance and various other metrics that manufacturers can utilise to enhance the product further.
Big clothing and tech manufacturers rely heavily on product testers to ensure their products are top notch in both quality and performance that their consumers are accustomed to.
You could become a brand ambassador for a running gear or equipment manufacturer, a supplement company or a running software enterprise.
Brand ambassadors are not just about social followings, they are about engagement and whether you fit how they want to represent their brand as much as anything else. Some brands want runners elite runners, others prefer “average joes” or individuals that represent a certain demographic or type of running.
Brands want brand ambassadors to share their content and promotions online, represent them at trade shows and participate in events that they run.
Although strength and conditioning (S& C) is a general term for providing sport specific training, the type of athlete you specialise in, is not.
For example, you can write a strength and conditioning programme for a basketball player, but this is actually quite tough if you know very little about the technicalities and demands of the sport, which is why you can specialise as a S & C coach in a discipline you’re familiar with.
This is where you will design periodised training plans that fit into and compliment an athlete's running programme, that focuses on building strength, speed and flexibility in the gym to help aid performance.
As an S & Coach, you can help clients identify physiological weaknesses, optimal running mechanics and muscular imbalances to help prevent injuries, in addition to conducting fitness tests, tracking and monitoring.
The majority of S & C coaches that specialise in running are independent coaches that work privately with elite and amateur clients, with that said you can find roles with governing bodies and specialised clinics.
As many avid runners know, the quality of your running shoe is the most important piece of equipment you need, to the extent that there are running shoe specialist shops in virtually every major city across the UK.
With this career in running you get to showcase your knowledge and expertise of running shoes and this can aid performance. You will need to know (with training) the features of different running shoes, the benefits, unique selling points and provide customers with great customer service.
You will naturally have to adhere to sales targets, work towards daily and monthly KPIs (key performance indicators), but most running shops are independently owned and have a strong focus on answering queries, providing genuine advice and ensuring the individual gets the right running shoe for their training needs.
In order for running events to “run” (pun intended), sponsorships are the forefront of income streams, coupled with registration to financially support races.
As a running sponsorship manager, your job is to help raise funds by liaising with targeted brands and corporate partners to sponsor up and coming events, as well as running influencers to help promote and draw attention to the event.
You will have to manually outreach to companies, build relationships, negotiate deals and budget manage any paid promotions, meaning you will need to be skilled in a bit of business to business sales, marketing and be an excellent communicator.
Any place that facilitates a running event, has a sponsorship manager, whether that being an obstacle course brand, a regional running club or an official running organisation like UK athletics.
Operating as a sports massage therapist (SMT) will lead you to working with a lot of running based injuries from tight hamstrings, IT bands through to plantar fasciitis and cartilage degeneration.
SMT have to identify injuries through performing detailed client assessments and then create an effective treatment plan using a range of techniques including trigger point therapy, deep tissue massage, taping and strapping and many more specific techniques, depending on what the nature of the injury is.
You will administer a plan of action for your client to follow and provide post treatment support, after care and education whilst keeping track of their progress and making adjustments as and when required.
You can find this job in the running industry at a whole host of prospective employers, from sports clinics, private medical care companies, amateur and professional sports clubs, high end gyms, PT studios, the NHS and you can always opt to go freelance.
Every major professional running race, and highly competitive amateur ones, whether on the track, a marathon on the roads or a trail run over the mountains needs a race director to oversee it.
Race directors are responsible for planning the routes with an event coordinator to make sure the route is properly measured, is accessible, is properly signposted and has staff positioned in the correct junctures to prevent people making a wrong turn or cheats.
Race Directors also have to be experienced in making sure staff and competitors are properly briefed, have to create contingency plans encase the weather affects race conditions, as well as emergency procedures on the off chance something happens to an athlete, which means this job comes with a lot of responsibility.
If you have an interest in marketing and business, you can combine these with your love for running and become a running merchandising manager.
Companies that specialise in running gear such as running shoes, hire merchandising managers as they play a big role in making sure a new product is successfully launched and well received by their target demographic.
Merchandising managers monitor market trends, shifts in customer behaviours, provide competitor analysis and develop strategies for tapping into these markets.
Additionally, you will strategically position and align products with the right retailers to maximise sales and ensure products are designed and priced to meet consumers needs.
One of the more obvious running career options is that of a face to face running coach with the majority of passionate and avid runners opting to become a private running coach.
Face-to-face running coaches will do everything an online coach will do, in terms of writing a bespoke training plan, creating goals and accountability.
But the big difference is that face-to-face running coaches can offer a more personalised and in-depth approach than an online coach as you can provide guidance and technical analysis in real time on things like strife length, posture, arm swinging and feet positioning.
Additionally, having someone physically there to motivate you, pace you or provide you with race specific support is why face-to-face coaches are still utilised by many amateur athletes.
Running coach specific companies hire face to face to coaches, as well as individual athletes and running retreats.
A common job in the running industry is that of an athletics coach, with private schools and active holiday camps being the biggest recruiters of athletics coaches.
Depending on the company you work for, the main responsibilities of an athletics coach is to plan and deliver athletics sessions both in group and individual formats that are fun and accommodating of different abilities and age groups.
An athletics coach focuses on the whole spectrum of athletics, from sprinting and longer distance runs through to relays and field based sports.
As an athletics coach you will help students with understanding race tactics, create challenging sessions, provide insight into nutrition and technique, whilst giving participants plenty of support and encouragement.
See the Latest Physiotherapy Jobs
If you like the idea of helping others, have good levels of empathy, and an academic head on you, the role of a physiotherapist could be a good choice.
Physios help clients recover from injury or regain mobility after surgery as well as helping clients with neurological conditions and musculoskeletal disorders, as well as pelvic floor dysfunction which is very common in runners.
Physiotherapists design customised rehabilitation programs aimed at enhancing recovery and mobility through a range a techniques like acupuncture, manual therapy, electrotherapy, stretching and exercise.
Physiotherapy jobs are largely occupied by clinics, private healthcare companies and the NHS, however they can be found at high end gyms, nursing homes and universities.