Pereira, Hugo VieiraPalmeira, António LabisaCarraça, Eliana V.Santos, InêsMarques, Marta M.Teixeira, Pedro J.2022-08-032022-08-032021PLoS One. 2021 Jan 22;16(1):e0245242http://hdl.handle.net/10451/54053Copyright: © 2021 Pereira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The purpose of this study was to cross-sectionally estimate the prevalence of recreational running in Portugal and describe characteristics of adult recreational runners. A random representative sample of 1068 Portuguese adults was selected. Socio-demographic information, physical activity habits and running behavior were assessed. Recreational runners' training habits, motivations, barriers, vitality and flow were also assessed. The prevalence of recreational running in Portugal was 10.6%. It was higher in men (14.6% vs. 6.6%, p = .024) and in younger runners (13.6% vs. 7.7%, p = .026). Participants ran on average 3 times, 20 kilometers and 3 hours per week. General health orientation (88%), self-esteem (63%), and life meaning (57%) were the most predominant motives for running, while time was the most prevalent barrier (43%). This first Portuguese running prevalence representative study, indicates that almost 11% of adults ran regularly, and describes correlates of running, which can inform future running promotion interventions.engjournal article10.1371/journal.pone.02452421932-6203