Liminal Experience of Participants in Mass Sports Events: A Case Study of Marathon Participants

Abstract

Event experience is an important topic in event research. Liminal experience, as the core experience of event participants, remains limited in research on mass sports events. Taking liminality theory as the logical starting point and marathon participants as subjects, this study collected data through interviews and analyzed it under the guidance of grounded theory. Forty secondary categories and ten main categories were extracted to construct a model of the liminal experience for marathon participants. The results show that the liminal experience of marathon participants can be regarded as a gradual process of "anticipation-release, inversion, and transcendence-self breakthrough and growth." The participants broke away from their daily structure with anticipation for the event and expectations of good self-performance. They immersed themselves in liminal experiences through perception, interaction, release, catharsis, transcendence, and inversion. Finally, the participants experienced a bittersweet experience, emotional sublimation, and personal growth. They were willing to promote and pass on their experiences. The research is innovatively based on marathon participants' event experience, interprets their experience from the perspective of embodied theory, explains the construction process of marathon participants' liminal experience, and enriches the research content of the liminal theory. This study observed that the marathon participants' experience is a liminal experience; however, it differs from other liminal experiences in that the participants have a flow experience and an individual self-breakthrough and growth in the liminal experience, which are difficult to produce in other events. Therefore, the theoretical value of this study is to supplement the research on the experiences of participants and liminal experiences in the field of events. The liminal experience conceptual model constructed in this study clearly shows the performance of participants at various stages, identifies key dimensions of their behavior, and lays the foundation for subsequent empirical research. The practical value of this research is that, through interviews with marathon participants, we learn about the views of amateur competitors on mass sports events. Most of them have service requirements, and organizers must continuously improve their ability and level of organization to provide participants with a good experience. Operators, sponsors, and other relevant organizers of mass sports events create a favorable atmosphere through policy support, financial support, and promotion, which helps participants enter the liminal state and immerse themselves in the event.

Keywords

• liminal experience
• event experience
• mass sports events
• marathon participants
• grounded theory