World Athletics Launches New Running Oversight Department
The new department will set standards for 320 global road races to support the growing community of 1 billion runners.
Updated on Oct. 30, 2026 in Running
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World Athletics has established a new Running & Mass Participation department to oversee the sport's road running, marathon, cross country, and trail disciplines. This standalone division will manage regulatory and technical services for an estimated 1 billion runners worldwide.
Why it matters
The creation of this department recognizes running as one of the fastest-growing areas of international sport. It aims to streamline the oversight of over 320 events that currently hold a World Athletics road race label.
World Athletics announced the launch of a new division to manage its road, trail, and cross-country racing portfolio. The department now oversees 320 events holding an official road race label out of a global population estimated at 1 billion runners.
The players
World Athletics
The international governing body for the sport of athletics, responsible for regulating professional and mass-participation events.
Jakob Larsen
A seasoned athletics administrator and former head of product research at World Athletics who now co-heads the new department.
Alessio Punzi
A long-term World Athletics staff member who will co-lead the new Running & Mass Participation division.
The details
The new department will function as a standalone division within World Athletics, focusing on standardization, educational services, and technical regulation for mass participation sports. It will also manage cross-sector partnerships involving technology and data to support the growing landscape of road and mountain events. Co-heads Jakob Larsen and Alessio Punzi will guide these initiatives to align administrative support with the scale of the global running community.
Timeline
World Athletics launched the new department the week of October 26, 2026.
The TCS New York City Marathon is scheduled for November 1, 2026.
Health Landscape
This move represents a strategic pivot toward formalizing the administration of global mass-participation running. It shifts the governing body away from purely elite competition oversight to accommodate the 1 billion people engaging in road and trail running globally.
For regular runners, this development means that the events you participate in may eventually feature more standardized technical and safety protocols. Check your local race registration materials for any updated affiliation labels that indicate adherence to these new global standards.
The takeaway
The formalization of mass-participation governance reflects the massive scale of the global running community. Runners should look for standardized safety and technical credentials when evaluating the quality and organization of international road race events.
What happens next
The TCS New York City Marathon takes place on November 1, 2026.
Further reading
Explore more training and event news in the Running section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Sportcal.
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