Running influencers on Instagram: 51 creators by follower tier (2026)

This is a list of 51 running creators on Instagram, grouped by follower count: 1,000 to 10,000, 10,000 to 50,000, 50,000 to 250,000, and 250,000 and up. They live in 18 countries, and each tier mixes road and marathon runners, trail and ultra runners, triathletes and HYROX athletes. For each one you get the follower count, the engagement rate of their typical post, how often they post, one recent post and a note on which brands fit. We picked them from 438 running creators that Virev's crawler read between August 25 and September 30, 2026, and opened every profile on Instagram on October 10.

The pages that rank for running influencers are lists of names. Feedspot's top 100 running influencers starts with Nick Bare, a hybrid athlete with 1.4 million followers who founded a supplement brand, and shows follower counts but no engagement. Influencer Hero's top 70 covers the US only and gives one engagement rate per creator, with no benchmark to compare it to. RunToTheFinish's 10 accounts are the author's favorite non-elite runners. None of them says what a runner of a given size gets on a typical post, and none says how runners get paid. This page measures both.

How to read the numbers

• Typical ER is likes plus comments on the creator's median post, divided by followers, because one viral Reel can lift an average far above what a paid post will get.
• Posts/wk is the pace across the creator's 12 most recent posts, and racers post in bursts around a race, so a high number can mean one busy week.
• Recent post links to a post close to the creator's typical numbers, with the date and the likes we read on Instagram on October 10, and Instagram rounds counts above 10,000.
• Followers come from Virev's last read of each account, between August 25 and September 30, 2026.

To check a runner who is not on this list, paste the handle into the Instagram engagement rate calculator. It shows the average and the typical post side by side.

What a running creator gets per post, by follower count

A brand that books a runner usually starts with a size, such as a runner with 5,000 followers or one with 20,000. The question behind it is how many likes and comments a post gets at that size. Here is the median account in each band.

• A runner with 20,000 to 35,000 followers gets about 540 likes and comments on a typical post, a rate of 2.21%.
• A runner with 1,000 to 2,500 followers gets about 100 likes and comments, at 6.32%, so the rate is three times higher and the count is a fifth.
• The rate falls from 6.32% to 0.57% across the bands, with a flat stretch from 35,000 to 250,000 followers where it holds between 1.19% and 1.44%.
• The 1M+ band holds only 4 creators, so read its numbers as examples, not a median.

Runners get more engagement than other fitness creators

We measured the 1,563 other fitness creators in the same crawl the same way: gym, bodybuilding, yoga, Pilates and general fitness. Runners beat them in every tier.

• The gap is largest at 50,000 to 250,000 followers, where a runner's typical post is 1.38% and other fitness creators get 0.83%, about two thirds more.
• Under 10,000 followers, runners get 4.41% against 3.49%.
• Runners also take more labeled deals: 29% of all runners posted a labeled or #ad post in 2026, against 14% of other fitness creators, and the gap holds in every tier.

Running influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers

The median running creator in this tier has a typical post of 4.41%, or about 135 likes and comments. 12 of the 13 creators below beat it. Search running creators with 1,000 to 10,000 followers in Virev.

Samuel Fothergill (@samfoth.tri) is an Australian professional triathlete who raises money for brain cancer research in his bio. His August 24 post logs a 30.5-hour training week, three weeks before Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast. He fits bike, nutrition and recovery brands that want a pro athlete at a small account's rate.

Nick Dorn (@nick_dorn) is a Stanford PhD candidate in the US who races triathlon for the ROKA Standard team. His July post from the Trans Tahoe relay swim names his new ROKA gear. He posts about once every three weeks, so book a single post.

Dian Aceros (@dianaceros) is an ultra trail runner in Colombia. Her recent posts include a HOKA Mafate X unboxing, altitude training on the Páramo de Santurbán and a podium. She fits trail shoes and Spanish-language campaigns.

Ronald Pickens (@ronstagram247) is a US marathoner, husband and father who paces for Easton Run Club and has finished two World Marathon Majors. His posts tag local run clubs and races such as the Indianapolis Monumental. He fits run clubs, race organizers and community events.

Saheed M (@s_dot09) is a UK runner who leads RepRunners and lists a lululemon ambassador role in his bio. His August post says he is training for his fourth marathon this year, New York. He fits event sponsors and run club partnerships.

Sofiia Porokhnavets (@sofiia.porokhnavets) is a Ukrainian doctor living in Italy and a Salomon Italia trail runner, with an athlete page on salomon.com. Her typical post is 13.10%, about 240 likes and comments. Salomon already covers her shoes, so look at nutrition, watches and mountain travel.

Derrick Lytle (@derricklytle) makes ultra running films in the US. His July 30 post promotes his film on Jimmy Elam's Hardrock 100. His typical post, 20.21% on 11 posts, is the highest on this list. He fits races and brands that pay for film work, more than single posts.

Rax (@vo2_rax) is a runner in Milan with a 30:24 10K and a 1:08 half marathon in his bio, a member of the Milano Track Fanatix crew and an AI engineer. He posts about once every three weeks, so book a single post.

Rosie Clarke (@runningrozza) is a UK runner who calls herself pretty average at all the sports she loves. She posts a weekly training diary, 10.7 posts a week in our read, following a Runna plan, with a Freesoul code in her bio. Her typical post is 1.92%, below the tier median; she is here because she shows what a Runna user posts every week.

Josh Ferris (@joshferrris) is a two-time Ironman 70.3 champion from Australia with a Plasmaide code and Giant Bikes Australia in his bio. He finished fourth in Leipzig in August. He fits endurance nutrition and bikes.

Miranda Trail (@mirandatrail) is a mountain ultra runner in Colombia and a mother of two, with a 100-mile win in 2026 in her bio. Her July 29 post is from kilometer 135 of the Chicamocha race. She has a Petzl highlight on her profile and fits headlamps, trail shoes and race nutrition.

Jessica Fullagar (@jessica_fullagar) is a UK triathlete with WYN Republic and Zone3 in her bio. Her typical post is 8.80%, about 650 likes and comments at 7,400 followers. She fits women's tri suits, wetsuits and race travel.

Nur Shodiq (@shodiqn) is a road runner in Indonesia whose bio names him an ASICS Indonesia brand ambassador, with Fitbar and Le Minerale. His typical post gets about 1,300 likes and comments at 9,500 followers, 13.65%. He fits running shoes and hydration in Indonesia; ASICS already has the shoe slot.

Running influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers

The median running creator in this tier has a typical post of 1.86%, or about 397 likes and comments. 10 of the 14 creators below beat it. Search running creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers in Virev.

Levi Moger (@levimoger) is an Australian HYROX athlete with a 2:57:56 marathon in his bio. His recent posts cover the Sydney Marathon and HYROX races. His typical post is 1.63%, below the tier median.

Michael Obery (@mikeobery) is a runner, coach and run crew captain in Cape Town. His posts are funny race-week clips. His average is 16.76% against a 4.99% typical post, so price on the typical post.

Celia Toussi (@celiatoussi) is a student and marathoner in Parma, Italy. Two of her posts this year carry the paid label, one of them for On. Her typical post is 5.45%, about 600 likes and comments. She fits women's running apparel in Italy.

Debbie Martin-Consani (@ultrarundmc) is an ultra runner in Glasgow and co-founder of Wild Heart Runners. Her posts cover Badwater 135 and race travel. She fits women's ultra gear and UK races.

Troy Croxdale (@hikewithpunisher) is a US thru-hiker and trail runner whose bio counts the Appalachian, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest trails and 10,323 miles in 2025. Three of his posts this year carry the paid label for Nike ACG. He fits outdoor gear, packs and van life brands.

Luis Otavio (@luisotaviolima) is a Brazilian marathoner and Comrades runner, with 85.7 km in 8:49 in his bio. His typical post is 6.94%, almost four times the tier median. He fits running shoes and races in Brazil.

Milán Agnew (@milanagnew) is an Australian triathlete supported by WYN Republic, ASICS Australia, ROKA and Mnstry Nutrition. The posts are race and training photos with brand credits. Several categories are taken, so read the bio before you send an offer.

Mike Foppen (@mikefoppen) is a Dutch Nike athlete, two-time Olympian and Dutch record holder. His July post on a 1500m bronze at the Dutch championships got 1,657 likes. One code post this year was for Etixx sports nutrition.

Bimo Anindya (@bimoanindya) is an ultra runner in Indonesia who runs with ASICS Indonesia, COROS Indonesia and SiS. He posts 6.2 times a week, mostly group trail runs and race days. He fits watches, nutrition and Indonesian race organizers.

Domonique Bazil (@astoldbydomm) is a marathoner in Washington DC and New York who also reviews coffee shops, 130 and counting. Her bio carries a Runna code, and this year she posted labeled ads for Icy Hot and Nike Running. Her typical post is 0.78%, below the tier median; she is the live example in the Runna case below.

Emily Rose (@emily_rose.runs) is a UK Ironman finisher (Copenhagen, 10:07:39) with Lios bikes, Zone3 and Runna in her bio. She posts 4.7 times a week, including a Week with Runna highlight. She fits triathlon gear and posts about mental health and training.

Sophie Evans (@sophiecoldwell) is a GB triathlete and a mother. She posts less than once a week, but a typical post gets about 1,550 likes and comments, 4.06%. She fits family and recovery brands.

Julien (@julinho.fit) is a Swiss running and triathlon coach who writes in French and tells the story of going from anorexia to Ironman in his bio. He posts 7.8 times a week. One code post this year was for Impulse Nutrition.

Hunter Pauley (@hunter_pauley) is a YouTube creator and ultra runner in Whitefish, Montana. His posts mix running, camping and Glacier National Park, and his bio links to discounts. His typical post is 1.86%, at the tier median.

Running influencers with 50,000 to 250,000 followers

The median running creator in this tier has a typical post of 1.38%, or about 1,381 likes and comments. 9 of the 12 creators below beat it. Search running creators with 50,000 to 250,000 followers in Virev.

Matthew Hauser (@matt_hauser) is an Australian triathlete and 2025 world champion with Specialized, Oakley, ASICS and Maurten in his bio. Two posts this year carry the paid label for MyWhoosh. His typical post is 10.56%, the highest in this tier.

Rhiannon Cloud (@rhicloud) is a hybrid athlete in Maui, Hawaii, training for the Kodiak Ultra. All four of her labeled posts this year are for MacroFactor, the nutrition app. She fits swim, nutrition and Hawaii brands.

Marjolaine Pierré (@marjooolaiine) is a French pro triathlete and two-time long distance world champion with Salomon, Canyon and DT Swiss. Five of her posts this year carry the paid label. She fits swim and recovery brands outside her current deals.

Iwan Thomas (@iwanrunner) is a former 400m world champion and Olympic silver medalist from the UK. He appears at events such as the National Running Show, and most of his posts are humor. He fits brands that want a known UK name at a mid-size price.

Anne-Lise Rousset Séguret (@anneliserousset) is a French trail runner and veterinarian with Scott Running, Overstims and Garmin France. Her July post on a day from Val d'Isère to the Grand Paradis summit got 2,292 likes. She posts less than once a week.

Preethi (@chief_preeth) is a runner in New York who hosts the Sprint and Sip run club meetups. One labeled post this year was for Degree at Walmart. Her typical post is 0.46%, below the tier median; she is here for New York run club reach.

Miguel Hidalgo (@miguellhidalgo) is a Brazilian Olympic triathlete with Red Bull, Bianchi and Mizuno. He finished 11th at WTCS London in July. His typical post is 4.76%, about 5,100 likes and comments.

Nathalie Lennon (@nathalielennon_) is an Irish runner, Polar athlete and podcast host. Her labeled posts this year were for Lipton Ice Tea and Polar. She fits training, wellness and women's running brands in Ireland and the UK.

Tom Evans (@tomevansultra) is a UK ultra runner who has won Western States 100 and UTMB. In August he announced his YouTube channel is back. His typical post is 1.00%, below the tier median, and he posts less than once a week.

Mitsuhiro Ueyama (@mitsuhiroueyama) is a Japanese father who trains his two teenage runners for national titles. Eight of his posts this year carry the paid label, including Puma Japan and Vantelin. He posts 9.7 times a week.

Sufiya Sufi (@sufiyasufirunner) is an Indian ultra distance runner with five Guinness World Records, backed by Hindustan Zinc and Under Armour India. Her July posts follow a run across Ladakh toward the Karakoram. She posts 6.3 times a week.

Lilian Jeane Schiffer (@lilianschiffer) is a Brazilian trail ultra runner, veterinarian and skydiver with UTMB and 160 km races in her highlights. Her July post from Camp UTMB Paraty got 4,092 likes. She fits trail shoes and outdoor brands in Brazil.

Running influencers with 250,000+ followers

The median running creator in this tier has a typical post of 0.73%, or about 3,213 likes and comments. 9 of the 12 creators below beat it. Search running creators with 250,000+ followers in Virev. At this size the rate is low, but the count is not: Olympic and world champions such as Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Jimmy Gressier get more than 20,000 likes and comments on a typical post.

Josef Wittibschlager (@josefwittibschlager) is an Austrian trail runner and ambassador for Mammut, Skywalk paragliders, Hagan Ski and Leki trail running. His posts are alpine runs and campsites. His typical post is 0.67%, close to the tier median.

Eilish McColgan (@eilishmccolgan) is a Scottish four-time Olympian and British and European record holder. She posted 2.2 times a week in our read, with no labeled posts. Her typical post is 1.09%, about 3,000 likes and comments.

Juliana Aguiar Coelho (@juaguiarcoelho) is a Brazilian three-time marathoner with a coupons highlight and shoe reviews. Her typical post is 2.19%, three times the tier median. She fits running shoes and races in Brazil.

Kim (@trackclubbabe) is a US running coach who sells training plans and lists a 6:08 to 3:11 marathon in her bio. She posts 9.6 times a week. Her typical post is 0.50%, below the tier median, but her August tips post got 3,199 likes and 66 comments.

Jimmy Gressier (@jimmy_gressier) is a French distance runner, 10,000m world champion and Kiprun athlete. His typical post is 5.37%, about 20,000 likes and comments. His shoe deal is taken.

Suguru Osako (@suguru_osako) is a Japanese marathoner who posts training clips and diary posts in Japanese. His typical post is 3.98%, about 16,000 likes and comments. He fits brands that want reach in Japan.

Kristian Blummenfelt (@kristianblu) is a Norwegian triathlete, Olympic, WTCS, Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champion, with Maurten and On in his bio. One post this year carries #ad, for Plasmaide. His typical post is 5.58%.

Pedro Paulo (@treinadorpp) is a Brazilian physical education teacher and running coach who runs the Corre Leve community and is an ASICS Brasil ambassador. Three posts this year carry an ad mark, one for Powerade. He fits running events and sports drinks in Brazil.

Jake Dearden (@jakedearden_) is a UK HYROX master trainer with Red Bull, WHOOP and Puma, and codes for 247 Represent and BPN. He posts 5.6 times a week, mostly HYROX technique and interviews.

Sergio Turull (@pitufollow) is a Spanish runner with adidas and Rocket Athletics in his bio, and a Forbes top 100 content creator. Two posts this year carry the paid label for Nutribullet. His typical post is 1.51%, about 11,000 likes and comments.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (@jakobing) is a Norwegian Olympic champion at 1500m and 5000m with Nike Running and COROS. His typical post gets about 45,700 likes and comments, 5.29%. We found no labeled posts in the 71 posts we read.

Mafra (@mafrangolino) is a Brazilian running comedian with 1.2 million followers, a Runna ambassador and a Centauro partner, with a Growth Supplements coupon in his bio. Eight of his posts this year carry the paid label or #publi. His average is 6.68% against a 1.11% typical post, so price on the typical post.

Road, trail, triathlon and HYROX compared

We sorted the 438 creators into five groups by their Virev creator profile. Fitness creators who run are accounts whose main niche is general fitness, with running as a second topic.

* fewer than 20 creators in that cell. A dash means fewer than 5. Shares are of creators who posted at least once that way between January 1 and September 27, 2026.

• Trail and ultra runners take the fewest labeled deals: 12% of 101 posted a labeled or #ad post this year, against 35% of road runners.
• Triathletes have the highest typical post in the two smaller tiers, 5.35% and 3.24%, on 14 and 11 creators.
• Road runners hold their rate best at the top: 1.42% above 250,000 followers, on 15 creators.
• In our data, 9 of the 10 running creators in Japan posted with the paid label or #PR this year, and none of the 18 in Colombia did; both groups are small.

How runners get paid: labeled ads lose more than codes

We found 334 labeled or #ad posts and 219 code posts on running accounts between January 1 and September 27, 2026. A labeled or #ad post has Instagram's paid partnership label or an ad tag such as #ad, #publi or #PR, the same rule as our study of 175,104 sponsored posts. A code post has a discount code or affiliate link and no label. For each we compared likes and comments with the median of the same account's posts that carry no ad marker, code or giveaway.

• The median labeled or #ad post on a running account got 0.56 times the usual likes and comments, and 78% of them got less than usual.
• Small runners lose the least: labeled posts got 0.88 times the usual under 10,000 followers, 0.51 at 10,000 to 50,000, 0.60 at 50,000 to 250,000 and 0.39 above 250,000.
• Code posts lose less than labeled ones, 0.73 times the usual, but more than code posts from other fitness creators, which get 0.86.
• A hand check of 25 code posts found 25 real offers, for brands, apps and race entries.

Price a runner on the lower figure. If a creator with 20,000 followers gets about 540 likes and comments on a typical post, plan for about 300 on a labeled post and about 390 on a code post.

Case: Runna, the training plan app

Runna is a running app that builds a training plan and adjusts it to the runner's paces. Mafra's caption calls it Strava's official partner app. It shows up in running posts in a way most brands do not: as the plan the runner is following.

We found 46 posts that name Runna, by 13 of the 438 running creators, between January and September 2026. Only one carried Instagram's paid partnership label. Five of the 438 list Runna in their bio, including Domonique Bazil, Emily Rose and Mafra from this list; Mafra calls himself a Runna ambassador.

What the posts show:

• Posts that name Runna as the plan, with no code, got 0.87 times the usual likes and comments, on 25 posts by 11 creators, and most are race recaps and weekly training diaries.
• Posts with a Runna code got 0.76 times the usual, close to the 0.73 of all running code posts, on 15 posts by 5 creators.
• Posts with the paid label, #publi or an ambassador line got 0.48 times the usual, on 6 posts by 2 creators: Mafra in Brazil and a UK runner with 245,000 followers.
• Runna codes come in many forms: "code", "dc", "Cupom" in Portuguese, or "2 weeks free with code".

One example: Domonique Bazil's July 20 post starts a 21-week fall training block and lists codes for Skratch Labs, Wolaco and Runna. When we opened it on October 10, it had 299 likes and 29 comments, about the same as her usual post of 320.

The sample is small, 46 posts. The pattern matches the rest of the data: a product that is part of the training reads as training, and a labeled ad reads as an ad. If your product is something a runner uses every day, an ongoing deal that lets the runner name it in normal posts keeps most of the response. A one-off labeled post loses about half.

How to choose running creators

1. Start with the tier table, and compare a runner's typical post with the median for their size, not with a general fitness figure.
2. Check the gap between average and typical post, because Mafra and Michael Obery have viral posts that lift the average far above the typical post.
3. Read the bio for brand deals, since many pro runners already list a shoe, a watch and a nutrition brand; read how to check a creator's sponsorship history before you send an offer.
4. Offer a code or an ongoing deal before a one-off labeled post, and disclose the deal either way, because the FTC's guide for influencers covers codes and free gear too.
5. Plan around race season, since runners post in bursts around a race and go quiet in a training block, so ask for race dates before you book.
6. Use small runners for local reach, because run club leads such as Saheed M, Ronald Pickens and Preethi reach the runners who show up to their meetups.

How we built this list

1. We started from every public Instagram account with 1,000 or more followers that Virev read between August 25 and September 30, 2026, whose Virev creator profile names a fitness niche, and kept 2,001 individual creators with six or more recent posts.
2. A creator is a running creator if their main niche, sub-niches or content tags name running, marathon, runner or triathlon, which gave 438 running creators and left 1,563 other fitness creators for comparison.
3. For each account we used up to 12 recent posts from its own feed, at least three days old when read and not pinned.
4. We favored creators who posted in the last ten weeks and gave a spread across tiers, sub-niches and countries, and we did not repeat creators from our lists of 40 fitness influencers and 55 micro fitness influencers.
5. On October 10, 2026 we opened 71 profiles on Instagram, read the bio and recent posts, and kept 51: we removed 14 that were off-niche or unclear, such as a track cyclist, a voice-over artist, an actor and a lifestyle account, and left 6 out for balance.
6. We re-read one post per creator on Instagram on October 10, and the likes in the tables are from that day.

40 of the 51 creators beat the median typical post of their tier. The others are here for a group or a place that is hard to fill, such as run club leads in New York and the UK.

Sponsored posts: we read every post from January 1 to September 27, 2026 on the 2,001 accounts, 21,007 of them on running accounts, and kept posts at least three days old with like counts shown. A post's usual response is the median likes plus comments of the same account's posts without a paid label, ad tag, gifted tag, code, affiliate link or giveaway; accounts needed four such posts. The Runna case counts posts whose caption names @runna or Runna, and we read each of the 46 by hand to sort it as a plain mention, a code, or a labeled or ambassador post.

Limits: Instagram does not show saves, shares or story views, so they are not in these rates. The creators are the accounts Virev crawls, which lean toward accounts brands search for, not a random sample of Instagram. 79 of the 438 have no country in their profile. Only 60 are in the US, so this is a global list. Our crawl did not read every post of every account, so the code and label counts per creator are counts of the posts we read. We list only public business details. Contact creators through the channels on their profiles.

Data for journalists

Sample: 438 public Instagram running creators and 1,563 other fitness creators with 1,000+ followers, read by Virev's crawler between August 25 and September 30, 2026, and 21,007 running creator posts dated January 1 to September 27, 2026. Download the list and the tables: running-influencers-2026.csv. Cite as: Virev, "Running influencers on Instagram", October 2026, virev.ai/blog/running-influencers.

Find more running creators

Virev creator search for "running" lists every running creator we track, with the same engagement numbers, and lets you set the follower range and country for the tier you want. Try marathon, trail running or triathlon the same way. The fitness influencer marketing page shows how brands run fitness campaigns in Virev.

For gym, yoga and general fitness creators, see our 40 fitness influencers by tier. For US gym owners, bodybuilders and CrossFit athletes, see the 46 gym and bodybuilding influencers. For creators under 50,000 followers, see the 55 micro fitness influencers. The numbers behind the comparisons are in the sponsored post study and the Instagram engagement rate benchmarks.