Why Do Runners Wave?

To help celebrate Global Running Day, Mizuno conducted a survey about America’s running habits. The results of the survey conducted by Research Now were obtained through online interviews among a national sample of 1,000 adults ages 18 and older who have gone for a run in the past three months.

Here are some of the significant findings of the survey:

Most runners generally acknowledge other runners in some way.

89 percent of all runners answered “Yes” or “Sometimes” when asked if they wave or acknowledge others while out for a run.
29 percent of runners said they acknowledge others by waving.

Waving is considered a friendly or polite thing to do.

30 percent of runners said they wave because they’re friendly.
29 percent of runners said they wave to be polite.

A wave brings positive energy into the running world.

79 percent of runners have positive feelings about waving.
32 percent of runners said waving makes them feel happy.
24 percent of runners said waving encourages them.
23 percent of runners said waving makes them feel like part of a community.

Certain age groups are more likely to wave than others.

Runners ages 45 and up are significantly more likely to wave than runners ages 18-24.

Younger people are more motivated by a wave from someone.

Runners ages 18-24 are significantly more likely to feel encouraged when someone waves at them than most other age groups.

Men and women differ in the ways they acknowledge other runners.

Men are significantly more likely to wave or nod as a form of acknowledgement. Results show that women prefer to smile.

There aren’t a lot of waves in a New York minute.

According to the survey, New York runners are significantly less likely to acknowledge others at all than runners in Florida and Texas.

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