Skip to content
Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Marathons are in for the long run

Marathons are going the distance. In 2014, the number of marathon finishers rose to 550,637 - up from 541,000 in 2013, according to the annual marathon report from Running USA, which was issued last week. The number of marathons hit another record too: in 2014, the U.S. had over 1,200 26.2-mile races.

Marathons are going the distance.

In 2014, the number of marathon finishers rose to 550,637 - up from 541,000 in 2013, according to the annual marathon report from Running USA, which was issued last week. The number of marathons hit another record too: in 2014, the U.S. had over 1,200 26.2-mile races.

"It's encouraging that marathon participation continues to grow and more races than ever are being organized," said Scott Bush, Running USA director of communications. "Race directors are improving their own races, offering more value to runners, which is the biggest reason the marathon continues to grow."

It's been a steep 15-year climb. In 2000, U.S. marathons had 353,000 finishers. By 2010, that number had leapt to 507,000, and is now at that 550,637 mark (the only significant drop in finishers since 2000 was in 2012 due to the cancellation of the New York City Marathon - the largest marathon in the world - after Superstorm Sandy). The number of marathons is a jump from 2000 too - there were only about 300 marathons in the U.S. then.

The gender split remained the same in 2014 as in 2013: 57 percent of marathon finishers were male and 43 perecent were female. That's not a complete picture about women in running, though. In 2013, women made up 61 percent of finishers in half marathons - a race distance that was more than three times as popular as the marathon last year. Also in 2013, women made up 57 percent of finishers in all U.S. road races (Running USA's 2014 report for the half marathon will be published next week).

Another 2014 marathon trend: slower finishing times, the slowest on average since 2005. Men finished with an average time of four hours, 19 minutes and 27 seconds. Women finished and average of four hours, 44 minutes and 19 seconds.

"The marathon population is slowing aging, which is part of the reason times are slowing down," Bush said. "The marathon is also becoming less intimidating to the general public." That means more people are giving the marathon a go, which "generally leads to slower overall averages," he said.

The top three largest U.S. marathons for 2014 were the usual suspects: New York City Marathon (50,386 finishers), Chicago Marathon (40,595 finishers), and Boston Marathon (31,932 finishers). The Philadelphia Marathon ranked eighth (10,358 finishers).

The New York City and Chicago marathons are also the two largest marathons in the world, followed by those in Paris (38,757 finishers), London (35,878) and Tokyo (34,087).

Locally ... Allentown's Via Marathon ranked third in terms of fastest median finishing times of U.S. marathons (three hours, 54 minutes, 24 seconds), coming in behind the Boston (three hours, 52 minutes, nine seconds) and Baystate (three hours, 53 minutes, five seconds) marathons.