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Running USA 2010 Marathon Report

Running USA 2010 Marathon Report

Running USA 2010 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 everCOLORADO 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)

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