What is it about?
Running events involve much more than race-day participation. Participants interact with different services, technologies, and people before, during, and after an event, creating experiences that unfold across the entire participation journey. However, these experiences are often examined as separate elements rather than as connected parts of a broader system. This study explores how service design approaches can help better understand and improve participant experiences in running events. By bringing together different service design tools, the study proposes a way of identifying important interactions, touchpoints, and relationships among participants, organizers, and other stakeholders. The study highlights the importance of viewing running events as interconnected service systems and provides a framework that may help organizers create more participant-centered experiences.
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Why is it important?
Running events are increasingly becoming complex experiences involving multiple services, technologies, and stakeholders. However, research has often focused on isolated aspects of participation rather than examining how experiences are connected across the entire event journey. This study is important because it proposes a structured way of understanding participant experiences through service design approaches. By viewing running events as interconnected service systems rather than individual touchpoints, the study may help researchers and event organizers better understand, design, and improve participant experiences.
Perspectives
While working on research around running events, I increasingly felt that participant experiences were often discussed as isolated moments, such as registration, race-day activities, or satisfaction after the event. However, from my perspective, participation feels much more like a connected journey that develops before, during, and after an event. This motivated me to explore how service design approaches could provide a more structured way of understanding these experiences and the interactions that shape them. I hope this work contributes to further discussion on how sport event experiences can be understood and designed in more participant-centered ways.
PhD Zafeiroula Kallitsari
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Role of Service Design in Enhancing Customer Experience in Running Events: A Theoretical Perspective, Event Management, January 2026, Cognizant Communication Corporation,
DOI: 10.3727/152599526x17761674947331.
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