HEALTHY GAINS IN USA ROAD RACE PARTICIPATION FOR 2009
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (29-Dec) -- Participation in American road races grew by a
healthy 11% in 2009, according to a detailed analysis prepared by Race
Results Weekly, the wire service of distance running.
The analysis, which looked at the results of 200 well-established road
races in 38 states and the District of Columbia, found that 168 of the
races, or 84%, showed growth in the number of official finishers
compared to 2008. A total of 1,365,981 finishers were recorded by the
group of events analyzed, up 133,706 from 2008. Year-over-year changes
ranged from a gain of 10,199 for the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas
Half-Marathon (+132%), to a loss of 3,119 for the City of Los Angeles
Marathon (-18%). The median event had 4,372 finishers.
"There are many good reasons for the continued growth of our sport,
which have been voiced by race directors all over the world," commented
Tracy Sundlun, Vice-President of the Competitor Group which owns and
operates the Rock 'n' Roll series of marathons and half-marathons, in
an e-mail. "I believe virtually all of them are valid." Sundlun,
whose events stress on-course entertainment added: "In today's world
people want more than just a race; they want an event."
Races held over the 5-kilometer, 10-mile, and half-marathon distances
showed the biggest increases, with each of those groups topping 15%
growth. In the 10-mile group, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile,
held each April in Washington, D.C., was up a hefty 21% to 14,883
finishers.
"I believe it is the 38-year, history of the event, Washington, D.C.,
cherry blossoms, and a flat and fast course that passes by the
monuments and blossoms," wrote Cherry Blossom race director Phil
Stewart in an e-mail when asked what was behind the growth in his race.
"I think there is a certain amount of collective thinking in the
sport; once an event earns a reputation as 'the event you have to run'
it feeds on itself."
Stewart's event uses a lottery to determine it's field, and interest is
up again for the 2010 edition. "We had 27,000 apply for the lottery
for 2010, so that is an indicator of the demand for the event," Stewart
said. "Since we cleared the streets on time the (National) Park
Service allowed us 15,000 for 2010."
The results of 44 marathons from 28 states were included in the
analysis, representing 297,683 finishers, up 5% from 2008. The ING New
York City Marathon raised its number of allowed entrants this year to
accommodate record demand and recorded a world record 43,660 finishers,
up 5,564 or 15% from last year.
"Amidst doom and gloom in sports and entertainment, running was a
shining star," wrote Mary Wittenberg, the president and CEO of the New
York Road Runners which organized the ING New York City Marathon and
dozens of other events in 2009, via e-mail. She added: "Our theory
that not only is running good for people, but it makes them feel
better, was tested in these tough times and the proof is in the
pudding, as they say."
The record growth in New York was offset somewhat by declines in
finishers at the marathons in Los Angeles (-3,119 or -18%) and San
Diego (-3,045 or -19%). Nonetheless, the five largest American
marathons --New York, Chicago, Boston, Marine Corps (Washington, D.C.)
and Honolulu-- recorded a total of 141,241 finishers, up 9%.
[A separate and larger study of ALL American marathons by
MarathonGuide.com showed a more robust 9% increase in the number of
marathon finishers. "That's the largest year-to-year growth in
finisher numbers since the 9.8% year-to-year growth seen in the
abnormal years of 2001/2002 when travel and finisher numbers were down
in 2001 after 9/11," wrote MarathonGuide.com owner John Elliott in an
e-mail.]
The ten largest events of any distance had a total of 328,115
finishers, up 6% from 2008. The largest event in the analysis was the
Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 10-K with 49,757 finishers. (The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10-K, the largest
fully timed race in the United States in 2009 with 49,997 finishers,
could not be included in the analysis because the event did not time
all finishers in 2008.)
The industry's traditional sweet spot, the 10-K, showed 10% growth for
the 29 events of that distance analyzed. Only five of the 10-K races
showed a decline in finishers.
The 47 races with under 2000 finishers included in the analysis showed
more growth on average than larger events, perhaps because many of the
larger races have hit capacity constraints. Races with under 2000
finishers showed nearly 14% growth, suggesting that the industry has a
lot of headroom to grow participation, further.
"The challenge of 2010 and this next decade is to continue to grow the
base from the fitness runners to the stars, while developing a broader
and stronger fan base around this compelling sport of ours," concluded
the New York Road Runners' Wittenberg.
HOW THE ANALYSIS WAS DONE
In order to be included in the analysis, events had to be staged for at
least three years, have at least 1000 finishers in 2009 for the primary
event for multi-race festivals, and have all of their finishers timed
for both 2008 and 2009. A minimum of ten events for each month of the
year were included to reduce any seasonal bias. Multi-race festivals
had their races counted individually. Most, but not all, race
festivals included in the analysis had all of their individual races
counted, but relay finishers were not counted due to inconsistencies in
how relays are staged and scored.
There were more eligible events than could be included in the analysis;
there are thousands of road races in the United States each year.
The analysis used official finishers --as opposed to race entrants--
because it is a better measure of participation. A finisher must
complete the entire sequence of registering for a race, putting in
adequate training, traveling to an event (if necessary), and actually
completing it. A race entrant may just sign-up and never run at all,
not even in training. However, bad weather can depress the number of
race finishers even if the number of registrants has grown from
year-to-year.
Events which shifted dates from 2008 to 2009 were categorized by their 2009 month of competition.
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