Running club statistics span formal governing-body affiliation, recreational groups, event infrastructure and community running. The figures below cover England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and global parkrun activity, with different definitions and reporting periods kept separate.
Key Running Club Statistics
The most useful headline measures are:
- 1,454 affiliated clubs in England were recorded by England Athletics during 2024/25.
- 177,441 registered athletes and runners in England were recorded by England Athletics during 2024/25.
- More than 4,000 additional registered athletes and runners in England were reported in 2024/25 compared with 2023/24.
- 13,613 Scottish Athletics members in Scotland were recorded at 31 March 2025.
- 101 affiliated athletics clubs in Northern Ireland were recorded by Athletics NI in the 2023-24 registration year.
- 6.5 million regular running participants in England were reported for 2023/24.
- 3,287 RunTogether groups in England were reported for 2023/24.
- 206,991 active RunTogether runners in England were reported for 2023/24.
- More than 21,000 licensed coaches and leaders in England were reported for 2024/25.
- Around 4,000 licensed officials in England were reported for 2024/25.
- More than 30,000 young people in England were engaged across club, school and community settings in 2024/25.
- 24 Scottish clubs took part in Club Together during 2024/25.
- 1,064 new members in participating Scottish clubs were recruited through Club Together in 2024/25.
- 92% of new members in participating Scottish clubs were retained by Club Together in 2024/25.
- £334,000 of annual investment in Scotland supported Club Together during 2024/25.
- More than 7 million registered parkrun members globally were reported in April 2022.
- 2.3 million global parkrun participants were recorded in 2024/25.
- 897,000 global parkrun first-timers were recorded in 2024/25.
Contents
- Affiliated clubs and registered members
- Participation and recreational running groups
- Coaches, officials and youth engagement
- Development, recruitment and retention
- Funding, fees and event infrastructure
- Global community running and parkrun
Affiliated Running Clubs and Registered Members
Formal membership figures depend on the governing body and the scheme being measured. England Athletics separates clubs, member bodies and registered people, while Scottish Athletics and Athletics NI publish their own membership totals and organizational categories.
| Geography and body | Period | Reported measure |
|---|---|---|
| England Athletics | 2024/25 | 1,454 affiliated clubs |
| England Athletics | 2024/25 | 446 affiliated member bodies |
| England Athletics | 2024/25 | 177,441 registered athletes and runners |
| Scottish Athletics | 31 March 2025 | 165 clubs and associates; 13,613 members |
| Athletics NI | 2023-24 | 101 affiliated clubs; 8,030 members |
Source: England Athletics Annual Report 2025, Scottish Athletics Annual Report and Accounts 2025, and Athletics NI AGM Report 2024.
England Athletics reported that its registered athlete and runner total grew by more than 4,000 people year over year in 2024/25 versus 2023/24. Scottish Athletics recorded 12,829 members in 2024 and 13,613 in 2025; that two-point comparison is a reported annual-report difference, not a new survey estimate.
The current England Athletics network description, accessed 2 October 2026, reports 1,800 clubs and member bodies and 177,500 registered club athletes and runners. Those rounded current-page figures are not directly interchangeable with the 1,454-club annual-report figure because the category definitions differ.
Running Club Participation Trends and Recreational Groups
Formal club affiliation is only one part of running participation. England Athletics reported 6.5 million regular running participants in England in 2023/24 from the Sport England Active Lives measure, which is a survey population and not a club-membership count.
RunTogether provides a separate leader-led recreational measure. England Athletics reported 3,287 RunTogether groups and 206,991 active RunTogether runners in England in 2023/24, while its 2025/26 season message described more than 3,000 groups and more than 250,000 participants at a later reporting point.
| Programme | Geography | Period | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| RunTogether | England | 2023/24 | 3,287 groups; 206,991 active runners |
| RunTogether | England | 2025/26 season message | More than 3,000 groups; more than 250,000 participants |
| Club Together | Scotland | 2012/13 to 2024/25 | 17 participating clubs grew to 24 |
| Club Together | Scotland | 2024/25 | 7,181 members across participating clubs |
Sources: England Athletics Annual Report 2025, England Athletics: Our Work, England Athletics at a glance in 2023/24, and Club Together Annual Report 2024-25.
Club Together involved 22 Scottish athletics clubs in 2023/24 and 24 in 2024/25. Membership across those participating clubs reached 7,181 in 2024/25, with the programme reporting 8% membership growth for that year.
These measures should not be combined into a single participation total. Regular running, active programme runners, club members and registered governing-body athletes describe overlapping but different populations.
Running Club Coaches, Officials and Youth Engagement
Clubs rely on qualified people as well as runners. England Athletics reported more than 21,000 licensed coaches and leaders in 2024/25, up 6% year over year, alongside around 4,000 licensed officials, up 19%.
The same 2024/25 report recorded more than 3,200 new coach qualifications and more than 1,000 new official qualifications. These are qualification completions, not necessarily unique people who remained active throughout the period.
For comparison, England Athletics’ 2023/24 at-a-glance figures were 21,800 licensed coaches and leaders and 4,000 licensed officials. The organization also reported 3,500 licensed road races in 2023/24, while its 2024 page listed 4,800 licensed events; the broader event total should not replace the road-race measure.
More than 30,000 young people were engaged across club, school and community settings in England during 2024/25. Because the figure combines settings, it does not isolate club-only youth participation.
Sources: England Athletics Annual Report 2025, England Athletics at a glance in 2023/24, and England Athletics Limited Annual Accounts 2023/24.
Running Club Development, Recruitment and Retention
Club Together offers a defined view of recruitment and retention among selected Scottish clubs. It recruited 1,000 new members in 2019/20, 495 in 2020/21, 1,074 in 2021/22, 1,104 in 2022/23, 1,144 in 2023/24 and 1,064 in 2024/25.
| Club Together measure | 2020/21 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New members recruited | 495 | 1,144 | 1,064 |
| Participating clubs | — | 22 | 24 |
| Reported retention of new members | — | — | 92% |
| Roles across the network | — | 30 | 34 |
Source: Club Together Annual Report 2024-25.
The programme reported 92% retention of new members in 2024/25. It also reported 34 different paid or supported roles across its 24-club network, compared with 30 roles across the participating network in 2023/24.
The report describes these outcomes as programme measures. They are useful for understanding a supported development model, but they should not be generalized to every Scottish Athletics club or treated as a national club-retention rate.
Running Club Funding, Fees and Event Infrastructure
Club development has measurable financial and delivery inputs. Club Together’s annual investment was £291,000 in 2023/24 and £334,000 in 2024/25, with the programme reporting a 15% increase between those periods.
Delivery time also rose from 424 hours per week in 2023/24 to 467 hours per week in 2024/25. Club Together reported this as a 10% increase, covering delivery across participating clubs rather than all Scottish running organizations.
In England, England Athletics reported around £100,000 through themed funding rounds supporting member clubs during 2024/25. More than £300,000 was invested in domestic competition providers during the same period, covering national, area and local providers rather than clubs alone.
The England Athletics individual athlete annual registration fee was £17 in 2023/24, up £1 from the prior £16 fee in 2022/23. This is a governing-body registration fee, not a complete measure of what a club member pays for membership, coaching, facilities or events.
Sources: Club Together Annual Report 2024-25, England Athletics Annual Report 2025, and England Athletics Limited Annual Accounts 2023/24.
Global Community Running and Parkrun Statistics
Parkrun is a useful global community-running comparator, but it is not a formal running-club affiliation scheme. Its measures include registrations, event participation, first-timers, junior finishes, locations, events and volunteer-inclusive activity.
In April 2022, the official parkrun background figures described more than 2,100 weekly locations across 22 countries, more than 7 million registered members and more than 250,000 people walking, running and volunteering on a typical weekend. Registration is lifetime and broader than weekly attendance, while the weekend figure includes volunteers.
Parkrun’s 2024/25 annual report recorded 2.3 million participants and 897,000 first-time participants globally. It also recorded 1 million Junior parkrun finishes; finishes are event completions, not unique children.
| Parkrun measure | Period | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly locations | April 2022 | More than 2,100 globally |
| Countries | April 2022 | 22 globally |
| Registered members | April 2022 | More than 7 million globally |
| Participants | 2024/25 | 2.3 million globally |
| First-time participants | 2024/25 | 897,000 globally |
| Junior finishes | 2024/25 | 1 million globally |
Source: COVID-19 Guidance for all parkrun events and Parkrun Global Limited Annual Report 2024-2025.
The 2024/25 annual report recorded 20% year-on-year overall participation growth. North American parkrun events grew 24.4% and participation grew 28.8% over the same comparison period, which describes parkrun activity rather than formal running-club growth.
Across all these measures, the safest interpretation is definitional: affiliated organizations, registered members, recreational groups, event participants and finishes are different units. Periods and geographies should remain attached whenever running club statistics are compared.