Will 'le Crunch' affect your running?
As the merchant bankers continue to tinker with our lives and livelihood, the sight of lines of unemployed flashed on every screen wont be far away. But, will the rising cost of living mean that we consume less and therefore run less?
With the known benefits in generating the ‘feel good factor’ you could be one of those that gets out running more to wipe away the money-blues. It could of course mean a rise in injuries too as we squeeze an extra 100 miles out of those knackered old shoes, whose EVA has seen better days. One thing is for sure, running is a cheap sport. The only real cost is on entries fees to races and travel to get there, and if you dont race its virtually free – so surely us runners are gonna be okay, right?
No pain, no gain
Well, if you subscribe to the media that is rammed down our throats from morning ‘til night then we will all be wearing loin cloths and chasing hog in a couple of years. Runners though are a resilient bunch. The boom years of the eighties was of course a mirror of the world economic climate, runners consumed like nobodies business and great running brands sprung up (and in some cases quickly disappeared!). Races were abundant, as was cash, and everybody wanted to run the world. The early nineties saw harder times, but the sport remained strong and we still produced champions. Runners also still got out and ran, and the boom years of the 80’s were replaced with the steady years of the 90’s.
We have, lets face it, had a pretty good time of in in the noughties. But what of now? The economics just dont stack up for there to be continued expansion for many businesses, whether in sport or other. However, the big running brands (Nike, Asics, Adidas) have grown significantly over the last 3 years in our sector, with Asics even moving into stand alone stores, and they will continue to dominate the market and drive on with their marketing and sales strategies, no doubt. So, there will still be nice things to buy, if you have the cash.
Could it be the ancillary purchases and the general movement of people that suffers here then? I for one am thinking twice of driving the hundred miles round-trip to a trail race next week, because yeah £15 to enter and £15 fuel needs to be a consideration – it will mean that I for one will target specific races now. So as a straw pole of 1, I will cut back on racing. Additionally, as far as kit goes I might make do with the spikes I have had for three seasons too, so that’s one less shoe purchase in the system.
Thats a lot of money
In his book Trillion Dollar Meltdown, which examines the greed that has perpetrated our world in this new millennium, Charles R Morris predicts that “The crash, when it comes, will have no firebreaks”. He is, of course, referring to the world of over indulgence and risk-taking in the global financial markets which, let’s face it, has got us into this mess. But, you can bet your bottom scheckle that we will all be feeling the affects of the crunch in our everyday lives sometime soon, and Morris is right in his reference that when the banks are shaken to their foundations (and even toppled) we all feel the earth move.
Merchant bankers...
Its hard to tell if your local running store will be hard hit, or if your x-c league and fell races will be affected. Logically the smaller, more local, race scene shouldn’t really be any the worse off. In fact its the bigger budget affairs, that attract inward investment from both running and non-running brands that could feel the pinch – only time will tell.
Personally, I subscribe to the ideology that of hardship comes good, we always surprise ourselves and in the dark financial days that may well come in the next year or so people will, I believe, keep on running!
