USA Marathons & Marathoners 2009

USA Marathoning: 2009 Overview
By MarathonGuide.com Staff

Each year, MarathonGuide.com puts out a report detailing the statistics of the year in USA marathoning. You will find no other report this comprehensive or this accurate and we're proud to bring this to you exclusively on MarathonGuide.com.

Sections below: Total Finishers Largest Marathons Inaugural Marathons Finishing Times Marathon Course Limits Marathon Seasonality

2009 Total Marathon Finishers and Overall Demographics The numbers coming out of our 2009 report blew us away as the year saw the greatest growth ever in marathoning setting records across the board. The percentage growth rate - a 9.9% growth in the number of marathon finishers from 2008 to 2009 - was a record and that on top of record numbers from the year before. In total, nearly 468,000 marathon finishing times were recorded in the USA in 2009 - almost 43,000 more than the number of finishers from 2008. The number of male finishers increased by 9.8%, while the number of female finishers grew by nearly 10.0%. As has been the trend in most recent years, women continued to catch up to the men and accounted for 40.4% of total finishes. In total, we know of 397 marathons that took place in the USA in 2009, which was up from an estimated 372 in 2008. The 9.9% growth in number of finishers combined with the 6.7% growth in number of events yielded a slight increase in the average marathon size (1,178 finishers) and median size (227 finishers) over the comparable numbers from 2008 (1,144 and 213 finishers respectively). Details follow.

2009 Overall Demographics   Percent Avg. Age Avg. Time* Men 59.6% 40.2 4:24:17 Women 40.4% 36.5 4:52:31 All Runners 100.0% 38.7 4:35:42 *Net Time used where available

Historical Total USA Marathon Finishers
2009 represented a watershed year for Marathoning in the USA as both the percentage annual growth in number of finishers and absolute growth in numbers reached records. The growth of nearly 43,000 finishers in the single year from 2008 to 2009 was virtually the same as the combined growth in the previous three years from 2005 to 2008. On a percentage basis, the 9.9% growth also set a record surpassing even the growth rate from 2001 to 2002 - a unique period where 2002 benefited from organic growth as well as a rebound to normal from 2001 where some Fall events were canceled and travel curtailed following the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.

Amazing to many, the 2009 growth occurred as the USA economy plunged into recession - but contrary to common sense, the marathon industry seemed not only recession proof, but to relish in the bad financial times. With a few exceptions (mentioned just below), races across the marathon distance saw growth - with nearly 70% seeing their numbers rise, another record.

Across this overall friendly environment, a few specific factors can be pointed at to explain the exceptional growth: the New York City Marathon added additional waves, opening its cap and adding 5,500 finishers; the Inaugural Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon saw 5,600 finishers which was 5,000 more than the SeaFair Marathon that it replaced; after a down year, the Marine Corps Marathon rebounded with 2,600 additional finishers; under new management, the Las Vegas Marathon saw 2,300 new finishers (including many Elvises); and a slew of good-sized inauguaral marathons - including six that saw over 1,000 finishers - introduced the distance to their towns, most notably the 3,400 finishers at the Pittsburgh Marathon. In total the ten events represented in this paragraph added nearly 30,000 finishers - and set the stage for the huge growth.

Opposing the incredible growth of the marathons mentioned above, a few races suffered declines. The Rock N Roll Marathon - the original race in the Rock N Roll series - saw a 19% decline and loss of more than 3,000 finishers as the advent of the Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon in the same time frame cannibalized the pool of runners available for the San Diego classic. The Los Angeles, under new management, was forced to change its date and lost a significant number of runners. Rock N Roll San Antonio, as is typical for a second year race, declined significantly. And one of our favorite marathons and the summer classic, Grandma's Marathon, faced competition from debut summer races and failed to fill for the first time in its history - although it still hung onto its 13th position in the list of largest marathons.

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Total Finishers	299,000	295,000	324,000	335,000	362,000	383,000	397,000	406,000	426,000	468,000
Year-to-Year Growth		-1.3%	9.6%	9.6%	8.2%	5.8%	3.8%	2.2%	4.8%	9.9%
Percent Male	62.5%	62.1%	61.5%	60.9%	60.5%	60.0%	60.1%	60.5%	59.6%	59.6%
Percent Female	37.5%	37.9%	38.5%	39.1%	39.5%	40.0%	39.9%	39.5%	40.4%	40.4%

2009 Largest USA Marathons
The marathons in the top ten remained the same from 2008 to 2009. New York, Chicago and Boston solidified their spots as the largest three marathons in the USA - with New York embarking on a growth spurt to end with nearly 5,500 more finishers than in 2008 and - at 43,250 finishers - becoming the largest marathon ever run. Marine Corps Marathon leap frogged the Honolulu Marathon to take the fourth spot on the ranks of the largest races. The Disney World Marathon became the sixth largest race in the country taking advantage of growing numbers and declining numbers at the Los Angeles and Las Vegas Marathons.

Marathon Name	2009 Finishers	2009 Rank	2008 Rank	Growth 2008 to 2009
New York City Marathon	43,250	1	1	14.45%
Chicago Marathon	33,475	2	2	6.80%
Boston Marathon	22,849	3	3	4.03%
Marine Corps Marathon	20,882	4	5	14.62%
Honolulu Marathon	20,321	5	4	1.31%
Disney World Marathon	14,927	6	8	15.26%
City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon)	14,061	7	6	-17.00%
Rock 'n' Roll Marathon	13,291	8	7	-18.82%
Twin Cities Marathon	8,429	9	9	5.64%
Portland Marathon	8,093	10	10	3.02%
Philadelphia Marathon	7,475	11	12	3.39%
Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon	6,440	12	14	-0.20%
Grandma's Marathon	5,890	13	13	-14.09%
Las Vegas Marathon	5,852	14	25	66.39%
California International Marathon	5,844	15	16	12.43%
Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon	5,813	16	11	-22.75%
St. George Marathon	5,618	17	17	11.69%
Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon	5,602	18	N/A
Houston Marathon	5,345	19	15	-4.42%
The San Francisco Marathon	5,036	20	22	15.66%
Dallas White Rock Marathon	4,453	21	23	14.83%
Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon	4,203	22	19	-11.05%
Austin Marathon	4,141	23	20	-10.87%
Columbus Marathon	4,076	24	24	5.27%
Country Music Marathon	3,961	25	21	-9.42%
Nike 26.2 = Nike Women's Marathon	3,910	26	18	-19.89%
Richmond Marathon	3,785	27	29	26.42%
Detroit Free Press International Marathon	3,780	28	26	7.54%
Pittsburgh Marathon	3,439	29	N/A
Long Beach International City Marathon	3,348	30	30	26.05%
Baltimore Marathon	3,118	31	28	0.52%
Big Sur International Marathon	3,058	32	27	-4.17%
Miami Marathon	2,727	33	31	3.26%
Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon	2,550	34	33	11.26%
Bataan Memorial Death March	2,500	35	37	20.77%
Memphis Marathon	2,446	36	34	10.68%
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon	2,405	37	38	22.45%
Vermont City Marathon	2,340	38	32	-1.64%
Seattle Marathon	2,229	39	36	4.75%
Hartford Marathon	2,224	40	40	17.42%
Georgia Marathon	2,089	41	35	-2.02%
Cleveland Marathon	2,078	42	41	11.30%
National Marathon	2,050	43	56	47.80%
Top of Utah Marathon	2,026	44	46	18.27%
Air Force Marathon	2,012	45	42	11.90%
Indianapolis Monumental Marathon	1,978	46	71	78.36%
Surf City USA Marathon	1,953	47	73	82.01%
Denver Marathon	1,924	48	45	12.06%
Steamtown Marathon	1,889	49	53	20.09%
Lakefront Marathon	1,884	50	39	-3.48%
Napa Valley Marathon	1,836	51	43	4.50%

2009 USA Inaugural Marathons
2009 could be classified as the year of the Inaugural Marathon, as approximately 40 new marathons emerged in the USA with more than 20,000 runners participating in the first running of these races. The largest number of marathons - six - debuted at over 1,000 finishers in a single year. Of note, Elite Racing (now Competitor Group)'s latest foray - the Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon - hosted more than 5,600 marathon finishers. The Pittsburgh Marathon - truly a debut marathon, although organizers have laid claim to the previous incarnation of the race after a five year hiatus and called it the "21st running" - attracted nearly 3,500 finishers. The Santa Barbara Marathon, Illinois Marathon, Pasadena Marathon and Minneapolis Marathons rounded out the ranks of the debut marathons with more than 1,000 finishers.

2009 Age Group Breakdown AgeGroup Avg. Time Percent of Total Percent of Sex F0-19 5:39:29 0.69% 1.71% F20-24 4:47:57 3.56% 8.82% F25-29 4:45:54 7.75% 19.17% F30-34 4:47:04 6.78% 16.76% F35-39 4:46:10 6.57% 16.25% F40-44 4:46:31 5.81% 14.36% F45-49 4:54:04 4.43% 10.96% F50-54 5:09:12 2.69% 6.65% F55-59 5:26:12 1.28% 3.17% F60-64 5:46:12 0.61% 1.51% F65-69 6:07:40 0.19% 0.47% F70+ 6:33:00 0.07% 0.16% M0-19 5:02:58 1.14% 1.91% M20-24 4:20:31 3.42% 5.74% M25-29 4:18:23 7.02% 11.79% M30-34 4:17:39 8.02% 13.47% M35-39 4:17:45 9.42% 15.81% M40-44 4:16:19 9.42% 15.82% M45-49 4:19:08 8.04% 13.49% M50-54 4:28:18 6.07% 10.20% M55-59 4:40:27 3.62% 6.08% M60-64 4:57:53 2.13% 3.58% M65-99 5:18:13 0.85% 1.43% M70+ 5:44:35 0.42% 0.70%

Age Demographics Between 2008 and 2009, the average age of marathon finishers dipped from 38.8 to 38.7 years old - with the decrease coming on the men's side. Fastest Age Groups When we started reporting these statistics, we expected that the fastest age groups might change from year to year, but the trend has been remarkably consistent over the years... As usual, the fastest average age-group belonged to men aged 40-44, this year with a mean finishing time of 4:16:19 - a testament most likely to the fact that this group consists of seasoned and committed runners who have yet to slow considerably with age. On the women's side, the fastest times were posted by women aged 35-39 with similar times for both the 40-44 and 25-29 crowds. Largest Age Groups The largest groups of runners has been men aged 40-44 or men aged 35-39. That trend continued through 2009. Similarly, the largest group of women runners remained the 25-29 group.

2009 Marathon Finishing Times Posted marathon times in the USA in 2009 ranged from 2:05:41 (Sammy Wanjiru running the fastest time ever in North America at the Chicago Marathon) to about 14 hours (at Honolulu and the Bataan Memorial Death Marathons). The chart at the right shows the breakdown of times from the fastest to the slowest. Fastest Marathoners As we keep repeating, 2009 was a year of records. One of our favorite numbers is the number of finishes that broke three hours: and 2009 saw this number explode to a record of nearly 9,000 (1.9% of finishes) from the nearly 8,000 (1.8% of finishes) of 2008. Marathoners in the Middle Apparently runners across the board were faster in 2009 than 2008, with women in general leading the charge. Median times dropped from 4:28:20 to 4:25:47 across all runners from 2008 to 2009; from 4:45:11 to 4:41:50 for women; and from 4:16:40 to 4:14:22 for men. The average finish times decreased, as did the standard deviations, indicating both both faster finishes and fewer very-back-of-the-packers. For all runners, average time improved to 4:35:41 (1:02:27 std. deviation) from 4:38:53 (1:04:37 std. deviation); while the average time for men decreased to 4:24:17 (1:00:02 std. dev.) from 4:26:49 (1:01:27 std. dev.); and for women average finish time decreased to 4:52:31 (std. dev. 1:02:09) from 4:56:44 (1:05:04 std. dev.) in 2008. For those needing a statistics refresher, the "median" is the middle result - half of all finish times slower and half faster; the "average" or "mean" is the sum of all times divided by the number of finishers - slower than median as the biggest times will have an influence on average but not on median; and standard deviation is a measure of how tightly grouped the data is around the mean and statistically, 68.3% of results will be between 1 standard deviation of the mean and 95.4% of results will be within 2 standard deviations of the mean on a normal curve.

2009 Finishing Times by Half Hour Finish Time* Total % Female % Male % 2:05:41-2:29:59 599 0.1% 22 0.0% 577 0.2% 2:30:01-2:59:59 8,369 1.8% 653 0.3% 7,716 2.8% 3:00:00-3:30:00 42,689 9.1% 6,496 3.4% 36,193 13.0% 3:30:00-4:00:00 96,465 20.6% 30,099 15.9% 66,366 23.8% 4:00:00-4:30:00 100,611 21.5% 41,048 21.7% 59,563 21.4% 4:30:00-5:00:00 86,972 18.6% 39,823 21.1% 47,149 16.9% 5:00:00-5:29:59 54,380 11.6% 27,432 14.5% 26,948 9.7% 5:30:00-5:59:59 35,246 7.5% 18,748 9.9% 16,498 5.9% 6:00:00-6:30:00 18,180 3.9% 10,345 5.5% 7,835 2.8% 6:30:00-6:59:59 11,634 2.5% 7,037 3.7% 4,597 1.6% 7:00:00-7:29:59 5,280 1.1% 3,283 1.7% 1,997 0.7% 7:30:01-7:59:59 3,020 0.6% 1,788 0.9% 1,232 0.4% 8:00:00-8:29:58 1,579 0.3% 878 0.5% 701 0.3% 8:30:00-9:00:00 978 0.2% 518 0.3% 460 0.2% 9:00:03-14:44:04 1,559 0.3% 711 0.4% 848 0.3% Total 467,561 100% 188,881 100% 278,680 100% *based on chip time, when available

Marathon Seasonality
2009 marked the first major shift in the seasonality of marathoning we have seen in a while - but it was an anomaly that will not repeat. The general trend of Fall versus Spring remained the same: the fourth quarter of the year again accounted for nearly one-third of all events and more than 50% of total marathon finishes. But for the first time, May took the spot as the month with the most marathon events (many quite small, but there were many) and, for what we expect to be a one year abberration, May took over the spot as the month with the third most marathon finishes. May 2009 - with nearly 66,000 finishes - benefited from new events such as the Pittsburgh Marathon; but two major marathons moved to May for 2009 only: the Rock N Roll Marathon was held on May 31 instead of its usual perch in the first week of June and the LA Marathon was held in May following a change in ownership and direction to do so by the city (a decision which was later regretted and the LA Marathon moved back to March for 2010 and presumably all future years).