2008 State of the Sport Part III

The half-marathon's growth and popularity are more impressive than ever as sport reaches new heights

A review of running events data compiled by Running USA's Road Running Information Center shows that the Second Running Boom which began circa 1994 continues. In 2007, there was an estimated 8.9 million finishers in U.S. road races, a record number and a 4% increase from 2006 in spite of significant weather related decreases in fall marathon fields. By comparison, according to RRIC data, there were just over 3.7 million finishers in U.S. road races in 1987. (See Table 1 below)

Table 1: 2007 U.S. Road Running Event Finishers

Source: Running USA RRIC

Fueling this steady road race growth in recent years, along with the 5K, women, charity promotions and training programs, has been the half-marathon. Since 2003, the half-marathon has been the fastest growing road race distance in the U.S. and for two consecutive years, the total number of 13.1 mile finishers has grown by 10% in this country. In addition, from 1998 to 2007, the number of estimated half-marathon finishers in the U.S. has increased by 74% (373,000 vs. 650,000), while the number of half-marathons, over that same decade, grew by approximately 180 events (450 to 630).

Like past years, inaugural half-marathons added to the popularity of the distance as a number of relatively large half-marathons (>1,000 finishers) debuted in 2007 with the ING Georgia event leading the way with 9,135 finishers. For the same U.S. half-marathons, growth averaged 14% from 2006 to 2007.

The first 3 tables of total finishers, events and certified courses give a 2007 overview of the standard road race distances. The 5K, as it has been since 1994, is still the "king" in all three categories. The distance that comprises more than half of all road running events and certified courses also had a solid year with an increase of 7% finishers in the same events. It should be noted that the results that the RRIC does not receive are smaller and / or less established events so that's why the same event calculations differ from the estimated overall increase shown in Table 1.

Table 2: 2007 U.S. Running Events Summary

Source: Running USA RRIC

Table 3: USATF Certified Courses as of June 2008

Source: USA Track & Field

Women Match the Men
As mentioned earlier, women have been a driving force during the Second Running Boom, and the bar graph below clearly illustrates this twenty year trend. In 1987, 21% of all finishers in U.S. road races were women. By 2007, their percent hovered around 50%, but the more telling stat is the absolute number total which grew from just over 791,000 female finishers in 1987 to nearly 4.4 million in 2007 - a five-fold plus increase. There are fewer women-only events than a decade ago, but the same events averaged a 4% increase from 2006 to 2007. Most of the women-only events that appeared to be missing in recent years were part of the Komen Race for the Cure Series and evolved into coed 5Ks. In 2007, the successful series had 1.5 million participants, 120 events worldwide and raised more than $150 million for breast cancer research.

It is important to note that there are also more men finishing U.S. road races than ever before as their numbers grew from 2.97 million to 4.48 million for a nice 50% increase during the same time span.

Chart 1: Increase of Females and Total Participants in U.S. Road Running Events 1987 - 2007

Source: Running USA RRIC

Age Group Distribution Stays Consistent
Since the end of the nineties the percent of masters (40 years and over) in the overall running population has declined slowly from 43% to 40%. The extra percent or two decrease has come from small increases in the youth between 6 and 17 years (9% of males and 8% of females in 2007) and the college age 18 to 24 years (7% of males and 11% of the females). As the table below illustrates, there is a significant difference between the percent of males who are masters (46.1%) and the percent of females (34.6%).

Table 4: Age Group Distribution of Road Running Events

Source: Running USA RRIC

Event Preference Results from National Runner Survey
In Running USA's National Runner Survey which was featured in Part II of this report, not surprisingly, the half-marathon was selected as each gender's first choice as the event "most interested in entering next year". The second choice for women was the 5K and for men, it was the 10K. The half-marathon was also each gender's "favorite race distance". The second race choice for men was the marathon, while for women, it was the 5K.

When asked what factors will determine event participation in the future, "Distance" was number 2, behind "convenient location" and ahead of "It sounds fun". See pie charts and tables below.

Table 5: Events Most Interested in Entering Next Year

Source: Running USA National Runner Survey

Chart 2: Favorite Race Distance

Table 6: Factors Affecting Event Participation in Next 12 Months

Source: National Runner Survey

Running USA would like to thank event organizers, timers and Active.com for contributing to the results collection effort which is used for the annual trends reports as well as the Runner Rankings. The Runner Rankings can be found on www.runningusa.org and www.active.com/rankings.

Sources for Part III
RRIC = Running USA's Road Running Information Center. State of the Sport reports, many types of running data and lists of the Largest Races from past years can be found on RunningUSA.org in the Statistics section. For other questions about running trends and demographics, contact Ryan Lamppa [ryan@runningusa.org] or Linda Honikman [rric@runningusa.org].

National Runner Survey = An on-line survey conducted by Running USA and RRCA with more than 8,000 participants from running events, clubs and stores.

USATF = USA Track & Field is the governing body for track and field, race walking and long distance running in the U.S. For information on certified courses, go to: www.usatf.org/events/courses/search