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.

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

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…

*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):

U.S. Largest Marathons (finishers):

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