Athletics: USATF RRIC Marathon Report, Part II - U.S. Marathon Count, Estimates, Growth Rate and Largest Marathons

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - (April 15, 2004) - Since the USATF Road Running Information Center began compiling running data in 1987, we are often asked: "How many marathons are there in the U.S.?" Currently, with the widespread use of the Internet for running calendars and a reasonable stability for most events of the distance, we are much closer to having a complete list of marathons. As a start, there were 348 different U.S. marathons included in the RRIC database and/or found on the top 10 online calendar sites over a 12 month period. If you add an estimated 25 events that are more local and not on a national or regional radar, a reasonable minimum estimate is 375 U.S. marathons.

Another way to approach the marathon count is to examine the certified course list. There was a time in the mid-1990s when the total number of U.S. certified marathon courses was around 650. Now some courses have expired (after a 10 year life) and the current total as of March 7, 2004 was 444 "active" marathon courses. On closer examination, approximately 114 of those were duplicates. Then remove another 15 which are probably no longer used such as "1996 Olympic Marathon" and the canceled "DC Marathon." After adding an estimated 55 for uncertified courses, trail marathons and courses used more than once a year, we get the same estimate of 375.

Due to this revision of event numbers, the historical estimated finisher totals have also been revised as follows:

Year  Estimated U.S. Marathon Finisher Total
1976   25,000
1980  120,000
1990  236,000
1995  312,000
1996  340,000
1997  340,000
1998  360,000
1999  374,000
2000  389,000
2001  366,000
2002  388,000
2003  400,000

In the U.S., marathons in 2003 grew by 3% compared to 2002, while outside the U.S., there was another year of solid growth with a 4.9% increase for the same 62 marathons (301,747 finishers in 2002 vs. 316,470 in 2003).

For the first time in history, four marathons - New York City, Chicago, London and Berlin - reported over 30,000 finishers in the same year (2003). The 2003 ING New York City Marathon supplanted the Flora London Marathon as the world's largest with a race record 34,729 finishers and #2 all-time ranking (only the 100th Boston Marathon in 1996 with 35,868 finishers is larger), while the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon continued its growth spurt as it also jumped over London for the #2 world-wide position in 2003 with 32,362 finishers. Like 2002, the U.S. again had 7 of the 15 largest marathons in the world.

For largest marathon lists, see the below.

2003
World's Largest Marathons (finishers):

 1) ING New York City, NY    34,729
 2) LaSalle Bank Chicago, IL      32,362
 3) Flora London, GBR       32,174
 4) real Berlin, GER       30,709
 5) Paris, FRA               28,991
 6) Honolulu, HI                  22,139
 7) City of Los Angeles, CA    17,097
 8) Boston, MA                17,030
 9) Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll, CA      16,798
10) Chosun Ilbo Chunchon, KOR   16,276
11) Marine Corps, DC         15,973
12) Olympus Hamburg, GER      15,588
13) Ford Cologne, GER            14,652
14) Stockholm, SWE         12,076
15) Naha, JPN               11,442

2003
U.S. Largest Marathons (finishers):

 1) ING New York City, NY    34,729
 2) LaSalle Bank Chicago, IL      32,362
 3) Honolulu, HI                  22,139
 4) City of Los Angeles, CA    17,097
 5) Boston, MA                17,030
 6) Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll, CA      16,798
 7) Marine Corps, DC         15,973
 8) Walt Disney World, FL   9,422
 9) Twin Cities, MN        7,085
10) Portland, OR                   7,016
11) Grandma's, MN                 6,868
12) hp houston, TX       5,735
13) Philadelphia, PA        5,354
14) Motorola Austin, TX        5,315
15) St. George, UT        4,437

Source: USA Track & Field Road Running Information Center - www.usatf.org and www.runningusa.org.