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Dr. Neil Baxter.

A blog on the sociology and history of running

Author: Neil Baxter

November 21, 2019Neil Baxter
My Last Race survey

My Last Race survey

My new survey is now being piloted! If you have run at least one race in the last two years and can spare 5 minutes to complete the questionnaire, please click here for details. …
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November 16, 2019Neil Baxter
Sport and the mid-life crisis

Sport and the mid-life crisis

I read an interesting article on Medium the other day, in which Paul Flannery, an American sports journalist, talks about why he and countless others have turned to running as a way of coping with

…
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October 7, 2019Neil Baxter
Are women less competitive than men?

Are women less competitive than men?

Taken at face value, the Big Running Survey data suggests that women are indeed less competitive than men. Only 16% of the women surveyed reported a strong motivation to do well in races compared to

…
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September 10, 2019Neil Baxter
A brief history timing

A brief history timing

What’s the most common question you’re asked after finishing a race? In my experience it’s almost always ‘what was your time?’, and talking to other runners it seems this experience is pretty much universal. It

…
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September 6, 2019Neil Baxter
Fastest Man in the Empire

Fastest Man in the Empire

The story of Ben Hart, the British Empire's fastest man, who made a fortune as a sprinter two centuries ago. …
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August 11, 2019Neil Baxter
Gender difference in running motives

Gender difference in running motives

Our Big Running Survey collected data on almost 3,000 runners’ behaviours, preferences and motivations. One of the most striking things that emerged from the analysis was the big difference between male and female runners’

…
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December 17, 2018Neil Baxter
A defence of the seriousness of running

A defence of the seriousness of running

Whenever I get asked about the subject of my PhD I have to suppress the urge to launch into a sort of paranoid defence of the sociological relevance and intellectual seriousness of my research topic. Running

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November 28, 2018Neil Baxter
History’s forgotten 4 minute milers

History’s forgotten 4 minute milers

Until recently I was sure I knew who the first person to break the four minute mile was. Roger Bannister’s achievement on a blustery Oxford afternoon in 1954 has, after all, gone down in the

…
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November 27, 2018Neil Baxter
Key running statistics – Part 2

Key running statistics – Part 2

Second part of my selection of important or interesting running statistics derived mainly from the Big Running Survey. …
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November 26, 2018Neil Baxter
Barriers to running

Barriers to running

What stops runners from running as much as they'd like? This post explore some of the most common barriers, and how they change over the life course. …
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About Me

About Me

I’m an independent social scientist based in Cambridge, and attached to the University of Warwick, where I completed my PhD.

I'm interested in health, lifestyle & identity, and have conducted extensive research on the meaning and cultures of running.

Latest tweets

  • RT @SReadBooks: New on the bookshelves, the highly anticipated new book from @richardaskwith, #TheRaceAgainstTime: Adventure in Late-Life R…20 days ago
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Article topics

  • Age
  • Big Running Project
  • Disability
  • Ethnicity
  • Gender
  • Geography
  • Historical
  • Money
  • My Last Race
  • Running
  • Socioeconomic status/class
  • Statistics
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©2019 Neil Baxter
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