COLORADO 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

Next week: 1/2 Marathon Report