Columbus marathon finisher numbers drop more than 40% in 3 years

Not knowing anything about the race at all..

How much has the cost of running the race gone up?

Same course? (Also, is it an "easy" course, as if a course gets a rep as a tough one, people will stop going)

Same RDs?

Costs haven't gone up much (I don't think that was the issue for this specific marathon), and participation was pretty stable in the ~5400 ranges from 2012-2014. So the drop is not related to pricing I believe. The course is actually very good, almost completely flat with several fast times. I think its more a part of some national trend.

TrendWatcher wrote:

Costs haven't gone up much (I don't think that was the issue for this specific marathon), and participation was pretty stable in the ~5400 ranges from 2012-2014. So the drop is not related to pricing I believe. The course is actually very good, almost completely flat with several fast times. I think its more a part of some national trend.

The trend for marathon finishers has been slightly down in the last couple years.

2014 had a record high with about 550,000 finishers and 2016 had 507,000.

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

2011

518,000

2012

487,000 (NYC Marathon cancelled)

2013

541,000

2014

550,600 (Record High)

2015

509,000

2016

507,600

Chicago has gone from 37k to 40k to 44k this year.

What are they doing right?

Bruhs,

This all has to do with the Boston marathon bombing. It suddenly became very, very cool to run a marathon after the bombing. Hence the spike in 2014. Then all the fatties and hobby joggers realized that they don't really like running and that their primary motivation was attention seeking / look at me behavior. They have since returned to whatever the hell they were doing / posting to social media to get attention. Good riddance.

It's a flat and fast course.

Living in the Columbus area myself I can say with 100% certainty the reason is a decrease in runners in races in the area. Running has peaked in our state unfortunately.

I direct some races in Texas and have seen the same thing. Our big full/half peaked in 2014 at 4800 registered. Then in 2015 we dropped to 3800 and then 3300 in 2016. This year we should stay stable around 3300. Honestly it sucks because we've put on awesome events year over year with nothing but positive feedback from our runners. There's A) just not as many people running, and B) more races which dilutes the smaller pool of runners left even more. It's tough sledding out there.

Saywhat2 wrote:

It's a flat and fast course.

Living in the Columbus area myself I can say with 100% certainty the reason is a decrease in runners in races in the area. Running has peaked in our state unfortunately.

To qualify -- perhaps peaked for post-college runners. High School running is in its heyday right now in Ohio.

For this race specifically having a larger drop off in Full Marathon finishers (note this is finishers not registered runners as the race still fills up every year) I think a lot can be explained by this being posted on their information website:

When the 1/2 Marathon sells out, can I register for the Marathon instead – but still only do the 1/2 Marathon?

We strongly discourage entrants from taking this route. Should you decide to do this, however, please note that our shirts and medals are assigned according to the event for which you are registered – not the event you actually complete. No changes to shirts or medals will be made after the event. Participants who register for the Marathon after the 1/2 Marathon has sold out and only complete the 1/2 Marathon distance will receive a marathon medal & 1/2 Marathon time.

So essentially if you want in the half after it is sold out (and it sells out much faster) you can register for the full and just run the half anyway.

The running boom is over. When I first got back into racing in the 2000s, the training group I joined was full of 20somethings. The coach once joked that they should serve mimosas after Saturday long runs because the group looked like brunch at a trendy spot in town. Ten years later, the group is overwhelmingly 35+ with fewer and fewer 20somethings. All the 20somethings have shifted to fitness classes. Yoga, spin, barre, etc. are all popping up all over the place. In the instagram era, people are now more interested in having a more sculpted body and see classes as the best way to get the results they want.

I think this is largely the result of the participatory movement in marathon training. Too many groups are dedicated to just getting people across the finish line and provide no means for people to improve times and get into shape. So, people naturally are gravitating away from slowly waddling 20 miles on Saturday and seeing no change in their appearance to classes that provide much better results. If marathon training groups and marathons want to maintain numbers, they will need to focus more on getting people the fitness results they want and less on having giant urban street waddling parades.

+1

Snarky but well-written. People want to be challenged. 6 or 7 hr marathons are ridiculous, unless you are 75 yrs old. or 300 lbs.

PatrickSebast wrote:

Participants who register for the Marathon after the 1/2 Marathon has sold out and only complete the 1/2 Marathon distance will receive a marathon medal & 1/2 Marathon time.

So essentially if you want in the half after it is sold out (and it sells out much faster) you can register for the full and just run the half anyway.[/quote]

So you can now do half the work (1/2 marathon) and be acknowledged with double the work (marathon medal)?

The virtue-signaling, IG-posting, hobby-jogger crowd are gonna love this.

Something tells me the posted results will show a bunch of out-of-shape cross-fit bros finishing 2.5 hour halfs but receiving 2:30 marathon times. Their mindless IG followers will love it.

The threat on the race's website should be that results will not be recorded for marathon entries that only complete the half. They'll be vanquished from the results.

krispy klamcakes wrote:

The threat on the race's website should be that results will not be recorded for marathon entries that only complete the half. They'll be vanquished from the results.

Not going to happen because the RDs will gladly take the $$$ but don't want to actually have "tough" policies like that, that they have to enforce. You'll get more people bitching on social media about them not getting a time/medal than the money you would have made. These same people that would complain, well, there 850 followers are all going to see that post and take the complainers side. Now you, as the RD, are the "bad guy" for having the policy in place and "it's not fair they didn't get a result when they did the distance".

I don't think its related to a specific guideline or marathon. Most of the mid-size marathons around OH, PA and MI seem to be experiencing similar trends. Cleveland (pretty flat) is down roughly 25% (avg. of 2100 from 2012-14 and now 1500), Detroit (another well organized and flat marathon) is also down 25% (2012-2014 avg of 4000 down to 3100 in 2017) and Pittsburgh, which is indeed challenging but extremely well organized and liked (at least according to reviews) is down almost 30% (4600 to 3300 for the same years). These are pretty large declines for such a short period of time.

Just spit balling here:

Is there more competition in the market?

Columbus seems like a great local marathon and maybe people are just bored with running it?

Interview with the RD: http://1609pod.libsyn.com/lap-8-darris-the-columbus-marathon-director

Seeing as how they haven't changed much the route past few years and everyone has done it more than once it gets a bit old.

My complaint always has been poor corral organization (WALKER!!! In corral A) cheap looking medals and ok post race experience.

I'd rather run the broke man marathon in Columbus for $15.

The cap city half is a much better experience imo.

Sorry, I was only speaking for local races and hobby joggers. A lot of the track/XC coaches in my area frown on their runners doing outside school races.

Many do a marathon or local race and get turned off, never to return.

45 minute port-a-loo lines indicate that the event only wants the runner's entry fee money and once they have it, do not provide a decent race experience.

bottom line: marathons need many additional port-a-loos. Spend less on the other stuff and more on loo rentals.

TheStat wrote:

Chicago has gone from 37k to 40k to 44k this year.

What are they doing right?

Nothing except raise the registration capacity... which likely siphons a few runners off of nearby marathons like Columbus