And this isn’t just a fleeting online trend: According to New York Road Runners, the nonprofit organization that hosts the New York City Marathon, more than 12,000 20-somethings signed up for the race in 2024—a notable jump from 9,987 in 2023 and 8,039 in 2022. Running a marathon is less about fitness and more about the optics of effort: the matching, $300 race-day set; the Strava screenshot uploaded with a humblebrag caption; the notes-app Instagram caption you’ve had mapped out in your head announcing that, yep, you’re a marathon finisher. The allure of bragging rights is hard to ignore or downplay—and 25-year-old Arianna Pollack, who lives in New York City, would be lying if she said it didn’t play a role in why she signed up for her first-ever marathon this year.