TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘Ploughing on’: a sociological investigation of ‘endurance work’ in competitive swimming and distance-running

AU - McNarry, Gareth

AU - Allen-Collinson, Jacquelyn

AU - Evans, Adam B.

N1 - CURIS 2021 NEXS 251

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Despite a burgeoning corpus of qualitative studies of sport and physical cultures, in-depth and embodied investigations of those requiring sustained engagement with ‘endurance work’ remain relatively under-developed. These physical cultures are sociologically interesting as they often demand of practitioners intense commitment in terms of time, energy, and (for many) finances devoted to endurance-training regimes. They also require substantial sacrifice with regard to social activities and family life, even for those not competing at elite levels. The nature of endurance and enduring still remains under-researched from a sociological and qualitative perspective, however, and we directly address this gap in the research literature by contributing fresh theoretical insights and empirical data on the lived experience of endurance in two different lifeworlds: competitive swimming and distance running. Employing a sociological-phenomenological framework, we analyse and conceptualise data derived from two separate ethnographic and autoethnographic research projects, and explore interesting commonalities in the shared lived experience of endurance and ‘endurance work’ in these two distinctive physical cultures.

AB - Despite a burgeoning corpus of qualitative studies of sport and physical cultures, in-depth and embodied investigations of those requiring sustained engagement with ‘endurance work’ remain relatively under-developed. These physical cultures are sociologically interesting as they often demand of practitioners intense commitment in terms of time, energy, and (for many) finances devoted to endurance-training regimes. They also require substantial sacrifice with regard to social activities and family life, even for those not competing at elite levels. The nature of endurance and enduring still remains under-researched from a sociological and qualitative perspective, however, and we directly address this gap in the research literature by contributing fresh theoretical insights and empirical data on the lived experience of endurance in two different lifeworlds: competitive swimming and distance running. Employing a sociological-phenomenological framework, we analyse and conceptualise data derived from two separate ethnographic and autoethnographic research projects, and explore interesting commonalities in the shared lived experience of endurance and ‘endurance work’ in these two distinctive physical cultures.

KW - Distance running

KW - Embodiment

KW - Endurance work

KW - Performance swimming

KW - Sociological phenomenology

U2 - 10.1080/2159676X.2020.1772859

DO - 10.1080/2159676X.2020.1772859

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85087552723

VL - 13

SP - 658

EP - 670

JO - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

JF - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

SN - 2159-676X

IS - 4

ER -