Dedication through fitness vacation - A tool in strengthening the running identity

Abstract: The idea of training three times a day might not be the first thing one thinks of when hearing the word vacation, fitness vacations are, however, not a new phenomenon. Recently, they have, nonetheless, been repackaged to target a new, and wider, audience of people using the vacations as part of their social identity. Existing studies have focused on competition and its role in identity evolvement and have called for further research on the role of identity evolvement in serious leisure. Hence, this study explores the process of running identity, investigating the relationship between running identity, motivation, and fitness vacations, through an ethnographic study. The study presents, based on previous theory and data collection, four components of running identity which aid the analysis of the role identity plays in motivations related to fitness vacations. Results indicate that the consumption of fitness vacations is closely linked to the process of identity evolvement. For the serious runners the motivation behind consuming a fitness vacation is related to obtaining performance results, while the less serious runners travelled for hedonic reasons and the experience itself. Overall the fitness vacation resulted in re-vitalisation for the participants, helping them to continue towards their goals at home.