Was the mid 1980s the peak of road racing and distance running in US in terms of being popular

Didn't see a lot of this in the late-70s and early-80s.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/DCB3/production/_119299465_mediaitem119299464.jpg

Actually - there are way more events now then there was in the 1980's and 1990's. Some 17K in 2017 and has been stated before way more population (best source I found(

https://runrepeat.com/state-of-running

) has it peaking in 2016 at 9 million results globally) other figures differ

But things are getting slower but for a lot of different reasons:

1) demographics - the average participant is older

2) sport maturity - as a sport matures, esp one like running which is more a participation sport, you will get many more slower people as it reaches for new participants

3) Reason for running - Elite competition is not the emphasis of many of these new road races

4) Change in sponsorship - in the 80's there was a some money/shoes going to a lot of people - now its much more money going to very few people

Nobody can look at the college or high school running scene and say competitive runners have gotten slower. The depth of both suffered in the 90's but is now deeper and more competitive then it has ever been. (for example in 1980/81 in the NCAA - there were 5K women runners in XC and 9K in men's XC by 86/87 that way 7K and 10K by 97/98 that was 10.4k and 10.5K by 08/09 that was 14K and 13K by 17/18 it was 15.6K and 14.2K - so despite the loss of programs and scholarships - you have 300% growth in the women and ~50% in the men. High school participation has grown- number wise not % wise - even more than that, increasing competition for those spots and driving competition. (for example in 1980 HS XC for girls was 82K and for boys was 163 - in the latest year 18/19 it was 219K for girls and 269K for boys) - more numbers doesn't always = better times but it it def the way to bet.

It does seem that far fewer are continuing to run competitively after college or Hs though. But anyone who reads these boards could see, why - any effort by just about any one who isn't a WR holder is mocked by "hobby jogger" chants. What would be the point of working toward being a 30 min 10K guy just to be told "congrat's your nearly 4 mins away from the WR" Yet that is where all that fabulous depth came from in the 80's road races. So maybe a little of that blame has to be on us the "fans" of the sport.

HRE wrote:

I think you need to define popularity before you answer this. There are way more people running and entering races today than there were in the '80s but races have become less competitive in many cases and there is very little media interest in them, In the '80s there was more media coverage, you could occasionally find a road race covered by Sports Illustrated The New York and Boston Marathons had national TV coverage. That interest really faded once Africans started winning everything. But people entering races don't seem to care much about who wins those races.

HRE, people running during the 70s and 80s were running because they loved running first and foremost. Also when they raced they wanted to see how fast they could run over whatever distance, almost all had no dream of winning a race, it was all about personal performance.

Thousands of runners were willing to run/train over 100 miles per week for personal satisfaction, not for any monetary gain (as there was none), and also not to boast on social media because there was no social media.

Just plenty of ordinary runners training hard and getting good results. As another poster on this thread stated there were 1000+ runners breaking 2:30 in the Marathon.

I could not crack the top 100 in the big marathons running in the low to middle 2:20s on many occasions. There were just so many runners in that 2:15-2;30 range at that time.

I ran competively in high school and college (including 10k xc) and I despise the 10k.

To train for a 10k you need true long runs, lots of tempo runs and long intervals. Race pacing is tricky and 6.2 miles is just a long way to be splitting the difference between VO2 max and lactate threshhold. Road miles and 5ks are fun and you can hit quality times (sub 5/16) on moderate mileage without being obsessive. At ten miles you start to feel like finishing is an accomplishment and pacing ten miles is just a half-marathon's controlled effort wiith an early fast finish kick.

From a race organizer's standpoint a 10k requires a lot of support without the draw of a half marathon or marathon.

I'd vote for getting eliminating the 10k at all levels and replacing it with 8k cross crountry. To me, both NCAA (10k) and World xc (12k) are too long for good drama. The 8k distance would make it more exciting and open up competition to milers and steeplers.

All to say, good riddance to the 10k.

Barabbas wrote:

Well, a race was a RACE back then, not a community charity fitness event. You showed up to compete, from the winner to the last place finisher. That’s a broad generalization, but mostly true.

You're very close, but:

Road races were BOTH. The top runners (many Americans) ran week after week and were often at the post race "party" mingling with the other runners.

Look at the top runners now:

They rarely race, they're not in the public eye enough to be well known.

In the mid-eighties I usually ran my races at about 5:55 pace and was lucky to finish in the top 15% of the field. In 2016-2017 I could only manage 9:30 pace and still finished in the top 20%. At a 10 mile race in Stockton, Ca in 1983 I ran 5:58 pace and finished around 380th of 800. It was a flat, Nor Cal championship race that attracted 'serious' runners. Serious, not exactly elite. Most people ran 40-80 miles a week with a speed workout or two. Even us mediocre runners "trained." It was exciting in the '70s and '80s to be a "runner." I think it's great though that so many people are out there, even if they're not competitive. My competition was always trying to set a new PR. Looking for flat, fast courses. Speed work on the local track with the guys was almost as satisfying as racing.

I know. I was there and if you're defining the height of popularity as a time when running as fast as you could manage I agree with you. But if you're defining the height of popularity in terms of sheer numbers, numbers of people entering races or number of races taking place I've got to think running is more popular now than it's ever been. Whether that makes the sport better now than then is an opinion.

I think 1975 to the late 80's, was very popular, races had massive crowds and there were very popular runners like Rodgers and Shorter.