Running USA Inaugural Half-Marathon Report

Running USA wire
U.S. half-marathons grew more than 20% in 2009; overall, 13.1 mile finishers surpass 1 million mark for the first time and other half-marathon records set last year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - (May 5, 2010) - With its astounding growth over the past decade, the half-marathon merits its own annual report like Running USA's popular annual marathon report. Since 2003, the half-marathon has been the fastest growing road race distance in the U.S., and for four consecutive years (2006-09), the number of 13.1 mile finishers in this country has grown by 10% or more each year. Moreover, from 2008 to 2009, the distance grew an incredible 24%, from 900,000 finishers to more than 1.1 million finishers, a record annual increase for the distance. In the U.S., there was an impressive 18% increase in finishers for the same 626 half-marathons compared for 2008 and 2009 (808,668 vs. 953,292).

And barring the unforeseen, 2010 should be another up year as evidenced by record or sold-out half-marathon fields across the country at Walt Disney World, Aramco Houston, ING Miami, Surf City USA, Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras, Rock 'n' Roll Dallas, NYC, ING Georgia, Go! St. Louis and the upcoming sold-out for the 9th consecutive year OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, the country's largest half with 35,000 entrants and more than 30,000 finishers.

Other half-marathon "boom" facts:
* In the past decade (2000-09), U.S. half-marathon finishers have grown from 482,000 to 1,113,000, a 131% increase; the 5K is a distant second with a solid 40% growth over the same period.
* Since 2002, more than 20 U.S. half-marathons annually had their inaugural running.
* Twenty of the top 30 largest U.S. half-marathons (greater than 8,000 finishers) are less than 10 years old or rebranded.
* In 2009, there were a record 17 U.S. half-marathons with 10,000 finishers or more; in 2000, there was one.
* The half currently has the largest female percent (57%) of any U.S. road distance; the percent flipped to a female majority in 2005, and by contrast, in 1985, the female percent was less than 20% in 13.1 mile races.

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