Posted: July 15, 2005

Athletics: State of the Sport: Part III, U.S. Running Event Growth Trends

Top 100 Running Festivals Top Record 2 Million

As evidenced by the latest numbers reported by the Road Running Information Center, the biggest road races and fun runs are here to stay. In 2004, more than 2 million people participated in the largest 100 running festivals in the U.S. Official finishers in that group totaled 1,791,000 - up from 1,684,000 in 2003. Ninety-one 2004 festivals had at least 10,000 participants while 194 had 5,000 or more. In 2004, 58.8% of the finishers were timed, up from 43.6% the previous year.

When comparing the 2000 and 2004 Largest Festivals lists, the most striking characteristic is how many events are common to both. Very few events such as the short-lived Washington DC Marathon have disappeared completely. Others like the Bay to Breakers 12K have moved down a little (from #1 in 2000 with 52,474 finishers to #11 in 2004 with 33,293 finishers) or up a little like Race for the Cure Denver (#3 in 2000 with 47,500 estimated finishers and #1 in 2004 with 50,700 finishers), but generally the same largest races continue to grow and stay on the list. Since 2000, Nike (Run Hit Wonder 5Ks and 10Ks) and Elite Racing (Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach and P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half-Marathon and Marathon) have added the most members to the list.

Good growth rates were not limited to the largest events in 2004. In fact, the same events with fewer than 500 finishers had the highest percent change (7%) of all size categories compared to 2003. The other categories and growth rates were Mega Events (10,000+ finishers) up 5%, Large Events (4,000 to 9,999 finishers) up 5%, Medium Events (1,500 to 3,999 finishers) up 3% and Small Medium Events (500 to 1,499 finishers) up 1%.

As reported in Part II of this series, road races of all standard distances grew in 2004. The chart below summarizes the percent change in finishers for the same events collected by the RRIC and the estimated totals and percent growth for all events of the distance (which take into account new and discontinued events).

Estimated Number of 2004 Finishers in U.S. Events by Distance

		% change in same events	% change in all events
Distance	2004 Totals
1 mile	450,000	6%	5%
5 km	3,049,000	3%	3%
4 mile	203,000	1%	1%
8 km/5mi	615,000	6%	5%
10 km	1,030,000	0%	1%
12 km	108,000	1%	1%
15 km	215,000	3%	3%
Half-Mar	496,000	7%	7%
20/25/30 km	125,000	3%	3%
Marathon	423,000	4%	6%
Others	1,232,000	4%	4%
OVERALL	7,946,000

The most impressive growth in recent years has come from half-marathon events. Existing half-marathons that added more than 1,000 finishers in 2004 included Indianapolis Life, Country Music, Harrisdirect Seattle, Walt Disney World, Toyota Prius Miami Tropical, Orange County and Spirit of St. Louis. New larger half-marathons included P.F. Chang's (13,835 finishers), Nike 26.2 (4,966 women), Detroit Free Press/Flagstar (2,278 finishers), Marathon of the Palm Beaches (1,959 finishers), Motive Bison Stampede Austin (1,719 finishers), More Half-Marathon (1,637 women), Colon Cancer Challenge (1,186 men) and Outback Outreach (1,135 finishers).

Whereas marathons are still "king" for many sponsors and runner prestige, half-marathons are likely to attract more participants when both distances are offered. For example, the marathon counterparts for P.F. Chang's (9,621 finishers), Nike 26.2 (2,372 female finishers) and Marathon of the Palm Beaches (877 finishers) were considerably smaller than their respective halfs.

Another distance experiencing good growth in 2004 was the 8K. Much of that increase came from the LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle (19,438 finishers) - up 26%, Crazy Leggs (6,962 finishers) - up 35% and the new Marine Corps Marathon 8K (938 finishers).

The 5K and 10K once again accounted for more than half of the total estimated race finishers. The 10K remained flat for the same events for both years with the notable exceptions of Nike Run Hit Wonder Hollywood (up 60% with 8,345 total finishers) and Ukrop's Monument Avenue (up 52% to 11,345 finishers). The inaugural Nike Run Hit Wonder 10Ks in Portland (5,214), New York (4,854) and Chicago (3,804) also helped the distance hold its own.

The new Nike Run Hit Wonder 5Ks in Chicago, New York and Portland also gave the most popular distance a 2004 boost. Significant 5K gains in existing events included the Race for the Cure DC (up 4,608 finishers), Nike Run Hit Wonder Hollywood (up 123%), Niketown Honolulu (up 79%) and San Diego Cares Thanksgiving (up 71% for a total of 3,088 finishers).

The Race for the Cure Series which began in 1983 with one race and 800 participants remains a major phenomenon in the running world. In 2003 and 2004, there were 110 Race for the Cure events in the U.S. with more than a million total participants and 75,000 volunteers. These events also accounted for 39 of the 100 largest U.S. running festivals in 2004.

The RRIC's largest races lists - for timed events, by distance, festivals by state, women-only races, kids runs and the world - are now posted at the Running USA website. CLICK here to see who's #1 in the different categories and where your favorite road race stacks up.