Research conducted ahead of this Sunday’s London marathon reveals that marathon runners not only improve their fitness through training, but they could also be advancing their career.
The news comes from CV-Library, which conducted a survey amongst 1000 of Britain’s workers, ascertains how intensive marathon training can influence a runner’s work life.
The survey revealed that despite the negative stigma associated with burnout resulting from marathon training, a staggering 85.7 percent of marathon runners believe training did not negatively impact their ability to do their job. In fact, the research suggests that the dedication and commitment involved in training can have a positive impact on overall career success, possibly even making marathon runners better employees.
A grand total of 78.9 percent of workers believe that the routine of training for a marathon makes employees more able to commit and focus in their career.
A further 87.7 percent believe that the regular exercise outside of work actually improves overall productivity at work. Nearly three quarters of marathon runners successfully maintained productivity at work despite intense training outside of work hours
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library comments:
“Any individual who commits to running a marathon is clearly motivated by personal success, and this level of dedication is likely to influence their working life; a fact that should be positively channeled by employers. As staff spend months honing in on a goal, dedicated to meeting their targets and consistently improving, this change is often seen in the working environment too, as they become better, more productive employees.”
However, there are instances when these types of extreme challenges can be dangerous and ultimately damaging; putting a risk on staff welfare and productivity. It could be for this reason that over half of employers are hesitant to take a proactive role in supporting or sponsoring their staff in marathon training.
Ultimately though, if managed effectively, runners can use their focus, dedication and desire to succeed to positively impact their careers.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
