Constructing mobile place: tales from the run

Ramoneda, Alvaro and Cook, Simon and Di Masso, Andrés and Vidal, Tomeu (2026) Constructing mobile place: tales from the run. Social & Cultural Geography. ISSN 1464-9365

Text AAM_-_Constructing_mobile_place.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 21 August 2027. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (302kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

This article examines the runner’s place construction process. We found that runners became skilled curators of their places, adapting and transforming them. We argue that this represents an embodied, dynamic and recursive mobile place construction, only possible through runners’ movement, questioning the notion of a fixed place. While running alongside participants during their regular runs, we conducted 20 running interviews. Employing a forehead camera enabled us to understand runners’ experiences, capturing novel insights compared to traditional stationary interviews. Using Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967/2006), we conceptualized that in every mobile place construction there are three interrelated instances: Selection, Interaction and Reflection. Our findings demonstrate that mobile place construction occurred while runners put these three dynamics in motion, forging and foregrounding their relationship with place. Therefore, they become runners as part of developing places, using specific affordances to shape these constructions. By recapturing the concept of place construction within the social sciences, this study underscores its relevance for understanding embodied, mobile, and personal mobile place construction.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1080/14649365.2026.2715608
Dates:	Date Event 20 July 2026 Accepted 21 August 2026 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Place, Mobile Place Construction, Active Place, Running, runner`s place, mobility.
Subjects:	CAH03 - biological and sport sciences > CAH03-02 - sport and exercise sciences > CAH03-02-01 - sport and exercise sciences
Divisions:	Life and Health Sciences > Life and Sports Sciences
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2026 10:44
Last Modified:	25 Aug 2026 10:44
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17186

Actions (login required)

View Item