As part of the new SportsShoes.com Running Report, which uncovers the top trends across the running industry, two new indexes have revealed the top earning running influencers on social media.
The running scene across both Instagram and TikTok has exploded in the past year, with hundreds of running influencers trending on both platforms. This has been reflected in the UK’s search habits, with an 180% increase in searches for ‘running influencers’ in the past year alone.
With so many running influencers sharing everything about the sport, from product recommendations to weekly running challenges, it’s a tough arena to stand out in. So, SportsShoes.com has taken a deep dive into the data to find out which British influencers are speeding to the front of social media audiences’ attention, as handy inspiration for those looking to get started on, or improve, their running journey.
To create the indexes, SportsShoes.com looked at the UK’s most famous running influencers, analysing their followers, average likes per post and number of posts for Instagram and for TikTok, looked at their followers, number of videos and total likes on the platform.
The Most Popular Running Influencers on Instagram
Topping off the list with an Influencing Score of 15.63 is Mary McCarthy. A Southwest Londoner, Mary is known as the ‘pocket rocket’ and her content includes fitness, fashion and food. Mary is armed with a Sports and Exercise Masters and competes in ultra-marathons among swimming, gym workouts and cycling.
Hot on Mary’s heels is Made in Chelsea star Joshua Patterson, scoring 9.68. Josh has his own company, Runna Plans and is also a soon-to-be published author. His Instagram feed mainly consists of the marathon challenge he’s just completed – becoming the first person in history to run a marathon in all 76 British cities.
Russ Cook completes the top three with 8.23 points. The social media star and charity fundraiser is currently on a mission to become the first person to run the entire length of Africa.
| Rank | Influencer | Instagram Handle | Influencing Score |
| 1 | Mary McCarthy | marymccarths | 15.63 |
| 2 | Joshua Patterson | joshuapatterson_jp | 9.68 |
| 3 | Russ Cook | hardestgeezer | 8.23 |
| 4 | Emma Kirk-Odunubi | emmakirkyo | 8.12 |
| 5 | Emma Mailer | em_fitx | 7.38 |
| 6 | Savannah Sachdev | savannahsachdev | 6.60 |
| 7 | Laura Fountain | lazygirlrunning | 6.17 |
| 8 | Rowan Wood | thefellrunner | 6.15 |
| 9 | Sophie Power | ultra_sophie | 5.46 |
| 10 | Tasha Thompson | tasharunstings | 5.07 |
| 11 | Anya Culling | a.culling | 4.76 |
| 12 | Rhianna Crisp | rhiannacrisp | 4.65 |
| 13 | Lillie Bleasdale | lilliesfitness | 4.58 |
| 14 | Sophie Raworth | sophieraworth | 4.30 |
| 15 | Sabrina Pace-Humphreys | sabrunsmiles | 4.13 |
The Most Popular Running Influencers on TikTok
Besides Instagram, running influencers also utilise TikTok as a platform to share their running journey with their followers. In the last year, in particular, more people than ever have started to document their runs in short-form videos, creating a running community that has developed rapidly, encouraging more people than ever to get into the sport. With this in mind, SportsShoes.com also took a deep dive into TikTok’s most popular running stars.
Imogen Boddy (@imoboddy) has been crowned the most loved British TikTokker, with an Influencing Score of 197.84. Imo is a running coach who is the youngest female to run the length of the UK. She posts videos of her running and wellbeing journey, from mental health to running tips.
Bath-based athlete and running coach Lillie Bleasdale ranks in second place with an influencing score of 148.25, while Natalie Long rounds off the top three, scoring 46.97. Natalie is an ultra-runner and mum-to-be who regularly posts running challenges on her feed.
| Rank | Influencer | TikTok Handle | Influencing Score |
| 1 | Imogen Boddy | imoboddy | 197.84 |
| 2 | Lillie Bleasdale | lilliesfitness | 148.25 |
| 3 | Natalie Long | nat_runs_ | 46.97 |
| 4 | Caroly Rowena | carlyrowena | 27.81 |
| 5 | Molly Butterworth | mollybutterworth_ | 25.10 |
| 6 | Alfie Manthorpe | alfiemanthorpe | 16.79 |
| 7 | Susie Chan | susie_chan_ | 16.42 |
| 8 | Aidan O’Flaherty | theirishphysio | 11.85 |
| 9 | Charlie Watson | therunnerbeans | 11.83 |
| 10 | Mary McCarthy | marymccarths | 10.89 |
| 11 | Joshua Patterson | joshuapatterson_jp | 10.80 |
| 12 | Kirsty Hendey | kirstyhendey | 10.01 |
| 13 | Emma Kirk-Odunubi | emmakirkyo | 9.28 |
| 14 | Hollie Maskell | physiofithollie | 8.66 |
| 15 | Rhianna Crisp | rhiannacrispx | 7.58 |
Dan Cartner, Head of Marketing at SportsShoes.com, said: “With social media trends having a massive influence on the public’s interest and habits around running, we wanted to take a deeper look into how social media impacts the running industry in general. Our results show that platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have a huge influence in generating a higher interest in the running community, encouraging more people to join and get inspired to start their own running journey, which is great to see.”
A full breakdown of the results and other interesting statistics around running can be found at: https://www.sportsshoes.com/advice/running-hub/health-wellbeing/running-report
