Half Marathon: The Stats

Good Morning World Wide Web

Let me start by saying I went to both Tuesday and Thursday group runs at 6:30 this week. 

 A small success in the eyes of many. 

 Big success in mine.

Can I get a WHAT WHAT.

I was also super late for work and ended up drinking my Iced Coffee in the shower.... People do this right? I am not the only one?

Not sure how this saves any time, but it made sense at the time 

Tuesday's three miler felt great and today's four miler didn't feel too shabby.    And it turned out to be a hilly (and dark) run that I was miserably over dressed for.  I went from shorts and a t shirt Tuesday to fleece lined LuLu pants long sleeve and gloves Thursday.  Brain function is low at 6:00 am.  

Seven miles this week.... watch out elite runners... I am coming for you.   Speaking of super awesome runners, my uncle is running his first marathon SATURDAY!  The Hartford Marathon.  I am super excited for him, yet I am really jealous/envious and bitter.  You can read about my marathon training fail/injury here.  I am going to tuck my bitterness away for now and remind myself I will get my own marathon... one day. The guy is amazing and has run a few halfs  while PUSHING KIDS in a team.

"  The New Bedford Half partners up with the Schwartz Center, a Dartmouth-based school for the developmentally disabled. Nine children from the school, ranging in age from 2-year-old Molly Menard to 18-year-old Trey Rivet, will be lining up to race alongside all of the other runners Sunday.

In partnership with Citizens-Union Savings Bank, the center assembled 80 volunteers from the community to push the children around the course in jogging carriages."

Read more about it HERE

We can no longer complain during our 13.1's.  

Sunday two of my good friends - two members of the neon running crew (Vanessa and Chelsea)  are running their FIRST Half Marathon-  the Newport Half Marathon.   Two girls that had never run more than 6 or 7 miles are after their 13.1  I am so excited for these two and am hoping to make it to Newport to watch them and play cheerleader (big signs and black dog included).  When I met them for our run this morning they were wearing their ADORABLE purple and green matching outfits to try them out for race day-  What cuties!  I highly recommended and pleaded that they try their new outfits before their race so this made me happy. 

It is really fun to watch your friends and family develop into Marathoners and Half Marathoners.  

Girls, welcome to the club of the (only) Half Crazy Runners.   Because the ranks are growing quickly,  I figured it would be super fun to share some statistics about the increase in half marathon runners.  If you don't think you can do it, maybe these stats will help motivate you- because guess what- You Sure Can. 

All of the following information was obtained from RunningUSA.org  

You can find the full article HERE

Last year, U.S. half-marathons had an estimated 1.85 million finishers (a new high), an impressive 14.9% increase from 2011 (1,610,000 to 1,850,000), but lower than the historic 24% rise in both 2009 and 2010. Also, in the same 1,136 U.S. half-marathons for 2011 vs. 2012, there was a 5.1% finisher increase (1,522,637 vs. 1,599,838).

More half-marathon fun facts

• Since 2003, the half-marathon has been the fastest growing road race distance in the United States, and for seven consecutive years (2006-12), the number of 13.1 mile finishers has grown by 10% or more each year. No other U.S. road distance comes close to this growth rate during the Second Running Boom (circa 1994).
• Since 2000, the number of half-marathon finishers in this country has nearly quadrupled (482,000 to 1,850,000), an impressive increase of 284%.
• For the first time in history, 60% of U.S. half-marathon finishers were females (approximately 1,110,000, a record). ( YEAH LADIES! )
• Although the male U.S. half-marathon percent has declined to 40%, in absolute terms, last year, there were a record 740,000 male finishers in U.S. 13.1 mile races.
• Also, in 2012, there were a record number of 36 U.S. half-marathons with 10,000 or more finishers. This data point has more than doubled since 2009 when there were 17 with 10,000-plus finishers; in 2000, there was only one.
• For the year, there were a total of 43 half-marathons that make up the Top 100 U.S. timed road race list for 2012 with 16 of them from the nationwide Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series.
• Like the past 6 years, there were more than 30 inaugural half-marathons in the U.S. last year and the largest debut half was Rock 'n' Roll Portland (OR) with 11,038 finishers. Overall, there were six debut 
  half-marathons with more than 5,000 finishers (also, Tinkerbell, Rock 'n' Roll St. Pete, Hollywood, Rock 'n' Roll Pasadena and San Diego), a record (previous record was four in 2010).
• Last year, there were more than 1,500 active U.S. half-marathons (final road race numbers to be released in an upcoming State of the Sport Report).

According to Running USA's 2013 National Runner Survey, the half-marathon is also the favorite distance to run for both genders (38% men and 43% women) and overwhelmingly, the road race distance that runners (77% overall) are most interested in entering this year (2013), so the half-marathon should maintain its title as the most popular distance in America.