Emerging Products
Running's clean simplicity leads to its universality. In some sense, the activity's flexibility means that each runner decides, and self defines good running. For example, one with a competitive personality can push himself/herself, decide to race, and measure success in terms of times, places, and races. Alternatively, one can use running as an activity to clear one's mind, allow time for reflection, personal and spiritual growth, and measure success accordingly. With other sports, teams, equipment and coaches can create a distraction and impose societal defined norms of success on the individual participants.
One needs shorts, shoes, socks, and a sports bra (if applicable) to run. If you want to get really crazy, throw on a sports watch or a heart rate monitor. As far as sports or recreational activities go, running is far more accessible than other activities. Rowing and sailing require a boat, skiing requires a pricey lift ticket and skis, cycling requires a bike, swimming requires a pool, and tennis requires gear and court time. Nothing says "prohibitive" like the cost of golf clubs and green fees. Also, many of these activities require a skill set that can be fairly expensive in terms of time and money to develop. Running requires only a will to place one foot in front of the other at a pace causing discomfort.
Of course, one can spend as much or as little as one wants on running. Shoes require an investment of approximately 100 dollars every 300 to 500 miles, depending on biomechanics. Apparel can get expensive if you wear running specific clothing, with wicking properties, and optional accessories such as sunglasses, heart rate monitor, watch, and other such things. Each individual piece can cost 50 - 100 dollars each. But at the end of the day, all one really needs for a good run is a good attitude when lacing up the shoes and heading out the door.
The desire to keep pounding the pavement strongly resembles the desire to see a new product succeed. Success with emerging products may also have multiple meanings and measures, such as market share, social impact, revenue, and return on investment. As in running, sometimes success' elusiveness causes frustration, but perseverance remains a virtue.