The process toward commitment to running—The role of different motives, involvement, and coaching Claudio M. Rocha a, *, Otavio A. Gratao b a University of Stirling, [104_TD$DIFF]Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, FK9 4LA, Stirling, UK b University of [106_TD$DIFF]Sao Paulo, School of Physical Education and Sport of Ribeirao Preto,14040-907, Ribeirao Preto-SP, Brazil ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 3 March 2017 Received in revised form 13 October 2017 Accepted 13 October 2017 Available online xxx Keywords: Active leisure Serious leisure Running event ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation was twofold: (a) to explore and describe the relationships between different facets of motivation, involvement, and commitment to running, and (b) to test whether recreational coached runners differ from non-coached runners in their motivation, involvement, and commitment to running. Drawing on the psychological continuum model (PCM), a model was proposed to test relationships among motives, attitudinal and behavioral involvement, and commitment to running as a leisure activity. Results showed that two (enjoyment and health) out of five motives were significant indicators of attitudinal involvement. Attitudinal involvement was a significant predictor of behavioral involvement, which in turn was a significant predictor of commitment. Coached runners differed from non-coached runners in all tested variables. The structural relationships among the variables varied based on the tested group. Implications for theory and practice are presented. © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. 1. Introduction People have different motives to engage in active leisure activities, such as running (Funk, Jordan, Ridinger, & Kaplanidou, 2011; Yair, 1992). Motivation is the first positive attitude that pushes people to consume active leisure activities (Madrigal, 2006; Trail, Anderson, & Fink, 2000). Motivation was defined by Mitchell (1982) as an individual psychological process that arouses and directs intentional behaviors. In this investigation, we explore different motives that people might have to run and to describe the relationship between motives and other attitudes, such as involvement and commitment to running. Although researchers have described some different motives for which people engage in active leisure activities, there is a gap regarding the relationship between different motives and intentions to continue exercising. Different motives to run might push runners to different levels of involvement with running (Beaton, Funk, Ridinger, & Jordan, 2011; Funk et al., 2011). People who run for fun, enjoyment or pleasure might to be more involved with running than those who run for a sense of obligation, for example, to avoid diseases (Funk et al., 2011). Beaton et al. (2011) defined sport involvement as an attitude that emerges when individuals perceived that sport occupies a central part in their lives and provides hedonic (i.e., pleasurable) and symbolic values for them. Based on Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior, Funk et al. (2011) proposed that attitudinal involvement with running should affect behavioral involvement, which has been empirically represented by, for * Corresponding author at: University of Stirling, Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport,[108_TD$DIFF] Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4[109_TD$DIFF]LA, UK. Tel.: +44 1786 466388. E-mail address: claudio.rocha@stir.ac.uk (C.M. Rocha). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2017.10.003 1441-3523/© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Sport Management Review xxx (2017) xxx–xxx G Model SMR 461 No. of Pages 14 Please cite this article in press as: C.M. Rocha, O.A. Gratao, The process toward commitment to running—The role of different motives, involvement, and coaching, Sport Management Review (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2017.10.003 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sport Management Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smr