| Running USA Wire 29, April 15, 2004 |
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Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ryan Lamppa, (805) 696-6232; ryan.lamppa@usatf.org USATF RRIC MARATHON REPORT, PART I SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - (April 15, 2004) - With the Flora London and Boston Marathons this weekend and the spring marathon season in full stride, it is time again for USATF Road Running Information Center's annual marathon report. Monday's 108th Boston Marathon illustrates how much marathon demographics have evolved since the 1970s Running Boom era. In 1975, female finishers were only 1.5% of the field (28 of 1,846 overall finishers). The female percentage continued to increase impressively to 11.7% in 1985, 35% in 2000 and 37% in 2003 as the absolute finisher totals grew respectively (3,930, 15,668 and 17,030). Boston has also experienced a gradual increase in the age of marathoners, although its very large masters pool (53% - up from 48% in 2000) is affected by the qualifying entry process. A more general look at all 2003 marathons that provided results to USATF RRIC shows consistency over the last 6 years (see charts below). The median age for marathon finishers (39 for men, 34 for women) has not changed since 1998 and the overall median age has only increased by 1 year to 38. Also, the percent of women (40%), masters (43%) and juniors (2%) has not varied by more than one percentage point. Younger women are still the majority of runners under-30 (55%) while men comprise 69% of the masters group (40 and over). Of course from city-to-city and year-to-year, marathon fields vary more significantly. The 2000 New York City Marathon, for example, had the lowest percent of female finishers (28.4) of the larger U.S. marathons tracked that year but in the 2003 ING-sponsored edition, 34% of the finishers were women. Another large marathon with significant increases in female participation was Honolulu which increased from 42% in 2000 to 48% in 2003. The highest female percent for both 2000 and 2003 occurred at Portland with 58% and 57% respectively. The large marathon with the smallest percent of masters was LaSalle Bank Chicago (33% both years) and the largest number of juniors (19 and under) can be found at the City of Los Angeles Marathon (8.5% in 2000 and 11% in 2003) which has the successful "Students Run L.A." training program. As the Median Times chart below illustrates, marathoners were a little faster in 2003 (4:19:52 for men, 4:52:55 for women) compared to 2002, but still significantly slower than in the 1980s and 90s. The data also shows that there is a much bigger difference between men and women's times than between older and younger runners. An average male masters runner could expect to run about 7 minutes slower than an under-30 male, whereas the typical female masters runner might run 15 minutes slower than her under-30 counterpart. DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN 1980-2003 MEDIAN TIMES MEDIAN AGE USATF RRIC MARATHON REPORT, PART II SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - (April 15, 2004) - Since the USATF Road Running Information Center began compiling running data in 1987, we are often asked: "How many marathons are there in the U.S.?" Currently, with the widespread use of the Internet for running calendars and a reasonable stability for most events of the distance, we are much closer to having a complete list of marathons. As a start, there were 348 different U.S. marathons included in the RRIC database and/or found on the top 10 online calendar sites over a 12 month period. If you add an estimated 25 events that are more local and not on a national or regional radar, a reasonable minimum estimate is 375 U.S. marathons. Another way to approach the marathon count is to examine the certified course list. There was a time in the mid-1990s when the total number of U.S. certified marathon courses was around 650. Now some courses have expired (after a 10 year life) and the current total as of March 7, 2004 was 444 "active" marathon courses. On closer examination, approximately 114 of those were duplicates. Then remove another 15 which are probably no longer used such as "1996 Olympic Marathon" and the canceled "DC Marathon." After adding an estimated 55 for uncertified courses, trail marathons and courses used more than once a year, we get the same estimate of 375. Due to this revision of event numbers, the historical estimated finisher totals have also been revised as follows: Year Estimated U.S. Marathon Finisher Total In the U.S., marathons in 2003 grew by 3% compared to 2002, while outside the U.S., there was another year of solid growth with a 4.9% increase for the same 62 marathons (301,747 finishers in 2002 vs. 316,470 in 2003). For the first time in history, four marathons - New York City, Chicago, London and Berlin - reported over 30,000 finishers in the same year (2003). The 2003 ING New York City Marathon supplanted the Flora London Marathon as the world's largest with a race record 34,729 finishers and #2 all-time ranking (only the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996 with 35,868 finishers is larger), while the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon continued its growth spurt as it also jumped over London for the #2 world-wide position in 2003 with 32,362 finishers. Like 2002, the U.S. again had 7 of the 15 largest marathons in the world. For largest marathon lists, see the below. 2003 1) ING New York City, NY 34,729 2003 1) ING New York City, NY 34,729 Source: USA Track & Field Road Running Information Center - www.usatf.org and www.runningusa.org Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Get in Gear 10K/2K Supports Team USA Minnesota with
Contribution MINNEAPOLIS - (April 14, 2004) - The Get in Gear 10K/2K announced this week that it would contribute $1,000 to Team USA Minnesota to help the team's distance runners with travel expenses for competitions leading up to the U.S. Olympic Trials in July. In turn, Team USA Minnesota athletes are assisting Get in Gear with the Fit for Fun 2K training program which has trained over 35,000 children to run since 1988. The 27th annual Get in Gear 10K will be held April 24, along with its companion 2K (1-1/4 mile) Fun Run. Both races start and end at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Known as the "Annual Rite of Spring," the Get in Gear 10K attracts over 5,000 runners and is Minnesota's largest 10K race. The 2004 Fit for Fun program, coordinated by teacher Paul Vogel, is a seven-week training program designed to introduce children in grades 3-5 to the fun of recreational running and to the health benefits of aerobic fitness activities. There are 33 metropolitan-area grade schools participating this year. Team USA Minnesota athletes Katie McGregor and Johanna Olson have given talks and run with children at two schools with some of the largest sign-ups - Hastings Elementary and the Ramsey Fine Arts School. Team USA Minnesota athletes will also help with the start and finish of the Get in Gear 2K where the Fit for Fun children will run. In 2003, over 2,400 children completed the seven week training program and more than 1,100 children participated in the 2K Fun Run. "We are proud to help support Team USA Minnesota
in its mission to provide training opportunities for promising distance
runners," said Paulette Odenthal, executive director of the Get
in Gear 10K and 2K. "We are also honored to have the opportunity
to showcase Team USA athletes as role models to our youth that participate
in our long-standing Fit for Fun program." The Minnesota training center's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness (www.lifetimefitness.com) and its silver sponsor is the Twin Cities Marathon. For more information about Team USA Minnesota, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org. Contact: Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bolder Boulder Announces New Charity Team Challenge BOULDER, Colo. - (April 14, 2004) - The Bolder Boulder - a Memorial Day tradition - has teamed up with Roche Colorado Corporation to offer the inaugural Bolder Boulder Charity Team Challenge. This is a new team division for 2004 offered within the Bolder Boulder Citizen's Team Competition. The winning team in this division will receive a donation to their charity of $2,000, second place will receive $750 and third place will receive $250. Each charity can enter only one team of four runners, with at least one female required. All team members must either be on staff with the charity or a board member. The winning team will be determined by adding up the finish times of all four team members, with the lowest total time deciding the winner. This new division is only open to Boulder County charities. All Boulder Charity Challenge team entries must be accompanied with letterhead from the non-profit and a list of current staff and board members. Charities can make this event even more fun and profitable by looking for a sponsor to match their "win" or by having their runners collect pledges toward their run by mile or by finish time. Register for the Charity Team Challenge online at: http://www.bolderboulder.com/info_teams.cfm For more information, call (303) 444-RACE. About Bolder Boulder The 26th Bolder Boulder will be held on Memorial
Day, May 31, 2004. |
| Ryan Lamppa, |