Adelaide's running boom: what the numbers tell us about a city on the move

More than 38,000 people have registered for the City-Bay Fun Run this year, the highest count in the event's 52-year history, according to organisers. That's up 12 per cent from 2025, when 34,100 entries were recorded, and the surge mirrors a broader trend across Adelaide's running scene that data from local councils and Parkrun suggest is reshaping how the city exercises.

The numbers come as sport and recreation managers scramble to understand why participation has spiked in a city where, just five years ago, the biggest running events struggled to sell out. The answer, according to race organisers and council sport planners, lies in a post-pandemic shift toward outdoor, low-cost fitness, combined with a surge in women's participation and an ageing population that sees running as a sustainable alternative to high-impact sports.

A city of weekend warriors

Parkrun SA's 2025-26 annual report, released last month, shows an average of 4,200 participants each Saturday across Adelaide's 14 Parkrun locations, up from 3,500 in 2023. The Torrens River course, which starts near the Elder Park Rotunda and winds along the River Torrens Linear Park toward Hackney, regularly draws 650 runners, making it the second-most attended Parkrun in Australia after Melbourne's Albert Park.

The City of Adelaide's Active City survey, published in March 2026, found that 34 per cent of residents aged 18-64 now run at least once a week, compared with 27 per cent in 2022. The biggest jump came from people aged 45-59, where weekly running rose from 18 per cent to 29 per cent over the same period.

That demographic shift is showing up at the starting line. The Adelaide Marathon Festival, held in June along Sir Donald Bradman Drive and the surrounding parklands, saw 2,100 finishers in the full marathon, a record for the event, and 300 more than in 2025. Organisers said the number of first-time marathoners jumped by 22 per cent, with women making up 48 per cent of the field.

The economics of the running habit

The cost-of-living pinch hasn't slowed the trend. Registration for the City-Bay remains at $55 for adults, unchanged since 2023, and Parkrun is free. The SA Health-funded Run Adelaide program, which offers free coached sessions at the Adelaide City Parklands every Tuesday and Thursday evening, saw attendance rise to a monthly average of 1,100 this April, up from 800 in the same period last year.

But the data also shows that participation isn't uniform. The southern suburbs, particularly around Noarlunga Centre, where a new 3.2-kilometre running track was installed at the South Adelaide Athletics Club last October, have trailed the inner north and east. The City of Marion's community survey, released in March, found that only 19 per cent of residents in the council area run weekly, compared with 41 per cent in the inner-eastern ward of Burnside.

That geographic gap has prompted Sport SA to launch a new grant program, called 'Active Suburbs', which will allocate $200,000 to clubs and councils in areas with below-average participation. The first round of funding, announced on 1 July, includes $35,000 to the Port Adelaide Athletics Club to upgrade lighting and running tracks at Largs Bay Reserve.

What happens next depends on whether the boom can be sustained. The City-Bay Fun Run is set for 20 September, and organisers have capped entries at 40,000 to avoid overcrowding on the 12-kilometre course from the city to Glenelg. Registration opens on 1 August.

For those new to the sport, the Run Adelaide program offers a free 'Couch to 5K' series starting 2 August at the Park 1 Pavilion near the corner of Montefiore Road and Botanic Road. No experience required, just a pair of shoes and a willingness to see what the numbers are already telling us.