RUNNING USA – 2011 Marathon, Half-Marathon, and State of the Sport Reports – Running USA’s Annual Marathon Report

U.S. finisher total surpasses 1/2 million mark for the first time; more all-time records for the classic distance; ING New York City Marathon sets another world record as largest ever

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – (March 16, 2011) – Despite the lingering recession, "marathon mania" continued in the U.S. with another record year of growth as U.S. marathons in 2010 had an estimated 507,000 finishers, an 8.6% increase from 2009, the second largest increase in the past 25 years (U.S. marathons grew 9.9% in 2009).

Last year, across the country, the majority of large marathons reported sold-out or record fields, and 2011 looks to continue this growth trend as the following U.S. marathons have sold-out in record time: Boston (8 hours!), Marine Corps (28 hours) and Bank of America Chicago (31 days), while other marathons such as Chevron Houston, Big Sur, LIVESTRONG Austin and Cowtown also filled their fields.

In past annual marathon reports, Running USA has summarized why this impressive and historic growth has happened, namely training programs (charity and non-charity), the challenge of 26.2 miles, bucket list appeal, women's growth and fun, well-organized community events.

 

The following tables and lists provide a summary of the demographics and interesting stats and trends for U.S. marathons.

 

Table 1: Gender, Age, and Median Times	1980	1995	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Women	10%	26%	41%	40%	40%	41%	41%	41%
Men	90%	74%	59%	60%	60%	59%	59%	59%
Masters (40 yrs+)	26%	41%	44%	46%	46%	45%	46%	46%
Open (20 to 39 yrs)	69%	57%	54%	52%	52%	53%	52%	52%
Juniors (under 20)	5%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%
2010 Age Distribution	Female	Male
6-17 yrs	1%	1%
18-24 yrs	9%	7%
25-34 yrs	36%	25%
35-44 yrs	31%	32%
45-54 yrs	18%	24%
55-64 yrs	4%	9%
65+ yrs	1%	2%
Median Age	1980	1995	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	(2010 Mean)
Males	34	38	40	40	40	39	40	40	(39.6 yrs)
Females	31	35	35	35	36	35	35	35	(36.1 yrs)
Overall			38	38	38	38	36	37	(37.0 yrs)
Median Times for U.S. Marathon Finishers	1980	1995	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Males	3:32:17	3:54:00	4:20:29	4:19:31	4:20:04	4:20:04	4:13:54	4:16:14
Females	4:03:39	4:15:00	4:51:19	4:49:57	4:49:48	4:43:31	4:41:29	4:42:10

2010 Marathon Snapshot

In the U.S., there was a solid 7.7% increase in finishers from the same 316 marathons for 2009 and 2010 (460,345 vs. 495,577). Overall, there were 40,000 more marathon finishers in 2010 then there were in 2009.

Since 1980, there has been a 255% increase in the number of U.S. marathon finishers (143,000 to 507,000). In addition, there were more than 625 marathons in the U.S. last year, another record, compared to approximately 200 in 1985 (a three-fold increase since then).

Last year, there was also a record of more than 35 inaugural marathons in the U.S. Most of them had less than 200 finishers with the debut Oakland Running Festival Marathon (CA) the largest with 1,081 finishers.

Year Estimated U.S. Marathon Finisher Total

1976	25,000
1980	143,000
1990	224,000
1995	293,000
2000	353,000
2004	386,000
2005	395,000
2006	410,000
2007	412,000
2008	425,000
2009	467,000
2010	507,000 (new high)

National Runner Survey

In 2009, Running USA surveyed more than 11,000 core runners nationwide and found that more than half of them were interested in entering a marathon in 2010. In addition, those runners who had participated in the marathon in the last two years ran approximately 5 days per week and trained over 30 miles per week. They also purchased approximately 4 pairs of running shoes each year.

Marathons with more than 1,000 finishers grew too

Last year, there were 89 U.S. marathons reporting greater than 1,000 finishers, compared with 88, the previous record, in 2009; there were 77 in 2008. Since 1999, the number of U.S. marathons with greater than 1,000 finishers in a single year has nearly doubled (45 in 1999 vs. 89 in 2010).

Table 2: 2010 U.S. Marathons (>1,000 finishers) with the…

 

…Fastest Median Times	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Boston	3:44:47	3:48:40	3:46:13	3:44:04	3:44:17
Baystate				3:48:42	3:47:42
Steamtown	3:54:24	4:03:05	3:56:13	3:55:48	3:55:41
Wineglass					3:59:32
Grand Rapids		4:07:30	3:58:15	3:58:31	3:59:33
…Slowest Median Times	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Bataan Memorial March	7:45:52	7:38:57	7:47:50	7:37:50	7:29:29
Honolulu	5:43:29	5:50:11	5:49:00	5:44:46	5:50:52
Honda LA	5:23:45	5:36:57	5:31:57	5:23:30	5:17:29
Walt Disney World					5:08:39
Maui				5:12:32	5:07:40
…Most <4 Hour Finishers	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Boston	13,341 (68%)	12,996 (64%)	14,547 (66%)	15,691 (69%)	15,424 (68%)
ING New York City	12,168 (32%)	11,959 (31%)	13,106 (35%)	15,275 (35%)	14,724 (33%)
Bank of America Chicago	11,608 (35%)	3,643 (14%)	6,382 (21%)	11,226 (33%)	8,294 (23%)
Marine Corps				4,771 (22%)	4,622 (21%)
Philadelphia	2,770 (45%)	3,149 (47%)	3,193 (44%)	3,221 (46%)	3,891 (43%)
…Most >6 Hour Finishers	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Honolulu	10,428 (42%)	9,450 (45%)	8,761 (44%)	7,788 (38%)	8,155 (40%)
Honda LA	6,764 (33%)	7,881 (39%)	6,420 (37%)	4,373 (31%)	6,313 (28%)
Walt Disney World		2,572 (23%)	3,217 (25%)	3,165 (21%)	4,044 (24%)
Bank of America Chicago					3,465 (10%)
ING New York City				2,194 (5%)	2,490 (6%)

 

…Most Finishers in Age Groups	EVENT	2010 Subtotals
Female Juniors	Honolulu	1,189
Male Juniors	Honda LA	1,672
Females 20-29	Bank of America Chicago	5,090
Males 20-29	Bank of America Chicago	4,050
Females 30-39	ING New York City	5,677
Males 30-39	ING New York City	8,748
Females 40-49	ING New York City	4,830
Males 40-49	ING New York City	9,998
Females 50-59	ING New York City	1,954
Males 50-59	ING New York City	5,122
Females 60+	Honolulu	723
Males 60+	Honolulu	1,642
Overall 40+	ING New York City	23,879
Overall 50+	ING New York City	9,038
Overall 60+	Honolulu	2,366

 

…Highest Percent Women*	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Nike Women's	94%	93%	93%	93%	91%
26.2 With Donna					61%
Portland	57%	54%	52%	53%	56%
…Highest Percent Men*	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
United States Air Force				74%	71%
Bataan Memorial March		69%	75%		66%
Road Runner Akron					66%
…Highest Percent Masters (40 + yrs)*	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Boston	55%	55%	56%	56%	56%
Steamtown	55%	57%	56%	55%	56%
ING New York				52%	53%

*Based upon events with >1,000 finishers in each representative category.

New York City adds to all-time title, six marathons had more than 30,000 finishers in 2010

The 2010 ING New York City Marathon nearly cracked the 45,000 finisher level, but its 44,977 finishers did surpass its 43,660 finisher total from 2009 to become the largest marathon of all-time. In addition, for the first time, six marathons – New York City, London, Chicago, Berlin, Paris and Tokyo – had more than 30,000 finishers in the same year, while the U.S. again had 7 of the 15 largest marathons in the world.

In 2010, there were 10 U.S. marathons that had more than 8,000 finishers and 26 U.S. marathons that had more than 4,000 finishers – both tied records set in 2009. See the listings below.

2010

World's Largest Marathons (finishers):

1)	ING New York City, NY	44,977 (largest all-time)
2)	Virgin London, GBR	36,632
3)	Bank of America Chicago, IL	36,088
4)	real, – Berlin, GER	34,002
5)	Paris, FRA	30,976
6)	Tokyo International, JPN	30,170
7)	Boston, MA	22,672
8)	25th Honda LA, CA	22,580
9)	Marines Corps, DC	21,944
10)	Honolulu, HI	20,180
11)	Walt Disney World, FL	16,923
12)	Naha, JPN	16,845
13)	Standard Chartered Singapore, SIN	14,862
14)	Stockholm, SWE	14,715
15)	Möbel Kraft Hamburg, GER	14,170

U.S. Largest Marathons (finishers):

1)	ING New York City, NY	44,977 (largest all-time)
2)	Bank of America Chicago, IL	36,088
3)	Boston, MA	22,672
4)	25th Honda LA, CA	22,580
5)	Marines Corps, DC	21,944
6)	Honolulu, HI	20,180
7)	Walt Disney World, FL	16,923
8)	Rock ‘n' Roll San Diego, CA	10,650
9)	Philadelphia, PA	8,956
10)	Medtronic Twin Cities, MN	8,197
11)	Portland, OR	7,850
12)	Chevron Houston, TX	6,287
13)	San Francisco, CA	5,992
14)	California International, CA	5,887
15)	P.F. Chang's Rock ‘n' Roll Arizona, AZ	5,741
16)	St. George, UT	5,702
17)	Grandma's, MN	5,611
18)	Rock ‘n' Roll Las Vegas, NV	5,180
19)	Nike Women's, CA	5,091
20)	Rock ‘n' Roll San Antonio, TX	4,675

SOURCE: Running USA with Athlinks (2009-10) and Active.com (2005-08)

Contact: Ryan Lamppa, (805) 696-6232 or ryan@runningusa.org