2015 U.S. Marathon Statistics

Really illustrates the difference between Boston and the other marathons. also D.C just 7 sub 2:30s crazy

This is only major marathons. Include all marathons and it will probably double to triple. Also why would Honolulu, Twin Cities, and Cal International not make your list?

br0ski wrote:

Really illustrates the difference between Boston and the other marathons. also D.C just 7 sub 2:30s crazy

Why is that crazy? MCM is not that large or competitive.

I think limiting the statistics to "major" races limits the data significantly. Vermont City had 7 under 2:30 and 92 under 3:00. Baystate had 52 under 3 hr. St George @140 under 3. And so on. You could probably more than double the amount at the "major" races by including another 20-30 decent sized races. Also, a lot of good runners are priced out of some of the big races. NY and Boston are outrageous for hotels. Chicago is not cheap if you stay downtown near the start. I have not been to a big race in years due to the rapidly rising costs.

Definitely agree should include twin cities, CIM, Philadelphia etc

That puts 115 between 3:00 and 2:30. I think that it is surprising that many are in that range but only 7 under 2:30.

Precious Roy wrote:

I think limiting the statistics to "major" races limits the data significantly. Vermont City had 7 under 2:30 and 92 under 3:00. Baystate had 52 under 3 hr. St George @140 under 3. And so on. You could probably more than double the amount at the "major" races by including another 20-30 decent sized races. Also, a lot of good runners are priced out of some of the big races. NY and Boston are outrageous for hotels. Chicago is not cheap if you stay downtown near the start. I have not been to a big race in years due to the rapidly rising costs.

I just used major marathons that popped into my head to get rough population. CIM had 280 sub 3 and 35 sub 2:30. Twin cities had 180 and 14. Honolulu's sub 3 pack is primarily Japanese.

Bay state and st. George are about as competitive as small marathons get in the us upfront.

But even if there were twenty more mid size u.s. marathons with an average of 100 sub 3 performances and 10 sub 2:30 that only adds 2000 sub 3 performances and 200 sub 2:30 performances.

Even without accounting for duplicates and foreigners, that still leaves a four digit sub 3 club and a three digit sub 2:30 club.

I'm surprised there isn't a database tracking stuff like this already. Or is there?

Indianapolis Monumental:

119 sub-3

9 sub-2:30

USARunning database...

br0ski wrote:

That puts 115 between 3:00 and 2:30. I think that it is surprising that many are in that range but only 7 under 2:30.

No there is nothing surprising about it. Completely normal ratio.

303/4862 = 6.23%

7/122 = 5.74%

extreme runner Dane Rauschenberg had a marathon performance under 3:00.

Philadelphia- 286-sub 3; 15-sub2:30

Is this just men? Or is it all results under 3 hours, for both men and women combined?

It might be interesting to redo it with men under 3 hours and women under 3:20, or something along those lines.

Or men under 2:45, women under 3. Then you're getting more into the "real" runner times.

Also interesting that the number of marathon finishers in the U.S. was down across the board in 2015.

It must be because almost every marathon has a half marathon and the half always has many more entrants.

quote]runnerdnerd wrote:

Is this just men? Or is it all results under 3 hours, for both men and women combined?

It might be interesting to redo it with men under 3 hours and women under 3:20, or something along those lines.

Or men under 2:45, women under 3. Then you're getting more into the "real" runner times.[/quote]

Lists are just men. Here is more extensive list of 2015 3 HR/ 2:30 results from 30 U.S. marathons.

Sub 3 Marathon

Boston 2492

Chicago 941

New York 784

Grandma's 272

Houston 146

D.C. 122

L.A. 105

C.I.M. 283

Twin Cities 180

St. George 140

Bay State 52

Philadelphia 265

Indianapolis 119

Phoenix 51

Austin 45

Charlotte TR 18

Seattle 14

Atlanta 11

Honolulu 46

Dallas 20

New Orleans 20

St. Louis 25

Pittsburgh 81

Walt Disney 59

Portland 67

San Diego 29

San Francisco 55

Tulsa 18

Vermont City 92

Cleveland 26

Total 6578

Sub 2:30 marathon

Boston 74

Chicago 70

New York 65

Grandma's 42

Houston 25

D.C. 7

L.A. 20

C.I.M. 35

Twin Cities 14

St. George 6

Bay State 1

Philadelphia 25

Indianapolis 9

Phoenix 3

Austin 1

Charlotte TR 2

Seattle 1

Atlanta 0

Honolulu 10

Dallas 1

New Orleans 1

St. Louis 0

Pittsburgh 9

Walt Disney 4

Portland 1

San Diego 0

San Francisco 3

Tulsa 0

Vermont City 7

Cleveland 5

Total 441

Some observations.

Big marathons are fast marathons. There were nearly twice as many sub 3 performances at Boston, Chicago, and NY than at the other 27 marathons on this list combined.

Sub 2:30 marathons are rare. (Removing foreign performances from the sub 2:30 list would probably cut it down by at least third if not more)

getting under 2:30 is moving.

anybody doing this has the right to feel pretty good about their effort and dedication to the sport.

This is cool. Philly #s wrong (I posted wrong too)- should be- 265 sub3, but only 15 sub 2:30