Female participation in running competitions is growing: At the 2024 New York City Marathon, which is regarded as the largest in the world, 24,731 women completed the race — marking the highest number of female participants in its history. Women athletes are also increasingly visible thanks to the amplification of social media platforms, where people share their training journeys and race experiences. On TikTok, there has been a recent flood of videos with tags such as “how to look pretty while running” and “makeup for marathon.” For some amateur runners, the sport offers the potential for romance — leading some observers to dub run clubs as “the new dating apps” — which may explain a heightened interest in maintaining one’s appearance and looking good. “I know girls in my run club that have got run club crushes,” laughed Humphries. “Park runs and races are a really good way for people to meet. I think that for a long time, run clubs felt like something for the older generation, but with social media, younger people are (getting more involved).”