© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This study is to develop a conceptual model linking motivation, involvement, and changes in travel style to the selection of destinations and choice of events among amateur participants involved in small-scale sports events. Partial least squares and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis were implemented to test this model, based on the responses collected during a local athletic event in Greece. A longitudinal study was conducted to better establish the effectiveness of the proposed model utilising two data sets of the same 99 non-professional athletes, representing the vast majority of participants in the Sfendami small-scale running events held in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The results showed that the influences of destination and event choice factors on involvement were not significant while the effect from changes in travel style were significant for both 2014 and 2016 cases. Two of the four hypotheses were verified and useful managerial insights for small-scale event managers are suggested for supporting the viability of small-scale local sport events.