Abstract

Chapter 20 Introduction:
Sociologists interested in the production and reproduction of “everyday life” have focused analytic attention on a panoply of different subjects, via a range of different theoretical traditions (see, for example, Back, 2015; Edensor, 2006; Hockey, 2019; Pink, 2012; Shove, Pantzar, & Watson, 2012). Despite increasingly widespread participation in recreational running in the United Kingdom (Hodgson & Hitchings, 2018) and other advanced industrial societies, however, there remains a relative dearth of qualitative research into the everyday experiences and identities of amateur, non-élite, and older runners. This is despite the salience of a runner identity to many of these participants, as illustrated by our narrative above (see also, for example, Abbas, 2004; Allen-Collinson & Hockey, 2007; Ohlendorf, Anklam, & Gardner, 2018; Tulle, 2003), many of whom have to “squeeze” running into hectic work and domestic schedules (Hockey, 2019). Whilst there is a paucity of running research – and sport-related research more generally – within sociologies of the everyday, the converse also holds: there has until recently been scant attention paid to analyzing the everyday within the sociology of physical cultures, sport, and exercise.