Half-marathon, the country's most popular distance, again delivers record numbers; Göteborg keeps largest 13.1 mile crown

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - (March 31, 2013) - Over the past decade, the half-marathon has become America's most popular distance by virtually any metric: by finisher growth, by debut half-marathons, by "buzz" and by survey, and the following numbers and tables compiled by Running USA for its annual report further reinforce the 13.1 mile's impact and influence. In short, it is the Usain Bolt of the U.S. road race world.

Last year, U.S. half-marathons had an estimated 1.85 million finishers (a new high), an impressive 14.9% increase from 2011 (1,610,000 to 1,850,000), but lower than the historic 24% rise in both 2009 and 2010. Also, in the same 1,136 U.S. half-marathons for 2011 vs. 2012, there was a 5.1% finisher increase (1,522,637 vs. 1,599,838).

More half-marathon fun facts reflecting its dynamic growth:

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Running USA Annual Half-Marathon Report

America’s fastest growing distance reaches record levels again; Göteborg regains world’s largest 13.1 mile road race title

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – (March 21, 2012) – Running USA’s third annual Half-Marathon Report shows that the 13.1 mile distance had another year of impressive growth, but like U.S. marathons in 2011, the growth rate wasn’t as large as recent years. Last year, U.S. half-marathons had an estimated 1.6 million finishers (a new high), an impressive 16.2% increase from 2010 (1,385,000 to 1,610,000), but lower than the historic 24% rise in both 2009 and 2010. Also, in the same 870 U.S. half-marathons for 2010 vs. 2011, there was a 6.4% finisher increase (1,264,907 vs. 1,346,280).

The half-marathon is the juggernaut distance in the sport as evidenced by its recent growth trend, and according to Running USA’s 2011 National Runner Survey, the half-marathon is also the favorite distance to run for both genders (35% men and 39% women) and overwhelmingly, the road race distance – by both genders again (70% men and 77% women) – that runners are most interested in entering this year (2012) so the half-marathon should maintain its title as the most popular distance in America.

More half-marathon fun facts:

• Since 2003, the half-marathon has been the fastest growing road race distance in the United States, and for six consecutive years (2006–11), the number of 13.1 mile finishers has grown by 10% or more each year. No other U.S. road distance comes close to this growth rate during the Second Running Boom (circa 1994).
• Since 2000, the number of half-marathon finishers in this country has more than tripled (482,000 to 1,610,000), an increase of 234%.
• 59% of half-marathon finishers were females (approximately 950,000, a record).
• In 2011, there were a record number of 30 U.S. half-marathons with 10,000 or more finishers. This has nearly doubled since 2009 when there were 17 with 10,000-plus finishers; in 2000, there was only one.
• There were a total of 43 half-marathons that make up the Top 100 U.S. timed road race list for 2011 with 16 of them from the nationwide Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series.
• Like the past 5 years, there were more than 30 inaugural half-marathons in the U.S. last year, and 2011 produced the largest debut annual half-marathon ever, Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah, with 14,163 finishers (previous record, 13,835, P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona 2004).

The following tables and lists illustrate the depth, breadth, demographics and dynamic growth of the half-marathon:

TABLE 1

Year     Estimated U.S. Half-Marathon Finisher Total

TABLE 2

2011 U.S. Half-Marathons (>2,000 finishers) with the...

Göteborg recaptures #1 spot; record 8 half-marathons with >20,000 finishers
In 2011, Göteborg regained the #1 ranking as the world’s largest half-marathon with 42,904 finishers vs. 2010’s top half the Bupa Great North Run who slipped to #2 with 37,512 finishers. Over the past decade, the Great North Run has held the #1 position 8 out of 10 years. Göteborg 2011 also became the largest annual half-marathon ever (previous record, 40,523, Göteborg 2009).

For the first time, there were four half-marathons worldwide that had more than 30,000 finishers (Göteborg, Bupa Great North Run, Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas and OneAmerica 500 Festival), and Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas impressively added more than 14,000 finishers from the previous year, a total that would have placed it in the top 20 half-marathons in the world last year.

In addition, in 2011, there were a record 8 half-marathons with more than 20,000 finishers (previous record, 7 in 2009 and 2010). Last year, the United States had 14 of the top 20 half-marathons in the world, and just to make the U.S. top 30, a half-marathon needed more than 10,000 finishers (another record).

2011
World’s Largest Half-Marathons (finishers):

U.S. Largest Half-Marathons (finishers):

SOURCE: Running USA with Athlinks (2009-11) and Active.com (2005-08)

Contact: Ryan Lamppa, (805) 966-7747 or ryan@runningusa.org