marathoner. strange but true. i am a marathoner. i've run 14 now, and although it's not as many as the guy i met a couple weeks ago -- he was on his 1011th! -- it's nothing to sneeze at. the vast majority of people in the world do 0.
according to findmymarathon.com (and who could doubt them? ) -
There are 746 marathons scheduled in the United States and Canada in 2014. 680 of these are in the U.S. and 66 in Canada. In 2013, 721 were held, 677 in 2012, and 641 were held in 2011.
746-721-677-641. that's 105 more marathons in 2014 than in 2011. that's a growth rate of 16.4% over the four years. (did i do that math right??)
In 2012 the median number of finishers per marathon was 166 (166 in 2011). The 10 largest marathons accounted for 31% of the total number of marathon finishers in the U.S. and Canada in 2012.
How many people finish a marathon each year?
2009 - 493,161 finishers
2010 - 534,846 finishers
2011 - 554,258 finishers
2012 - 529,474 finishers
2013 - 583,564 finishers
october has the most marathons, with 116 in 2014. it's the only month in triple digits. the day in 2014 with the most marathons was sunday, 12 october 2014, when there were 26 marathons scheduled.
the median entry fee is $75. i am doing my part to bend that curve, as i'd consider $75 a bargain. i am more concerned about time and place than money, and that explains everything you need to know about my personal finances.
look at this little tidbit:
In 2013 50,304 people finished the New York City Marathon. Canada's largest marathon was the Ottawa Marathon with 4,803.
the NY marathon is the USA's largest, so this tells us more about the USA-canada dichotomy than it does about marathoning, but still - fascinating, amirite?
2013 marathons in order of number of finishers...
New York City Marathon -- 50,304
Chicago Marathon -- 38,883
Marine Corps Marathon -- 23,382
Los Angeles Marathon -- 23,006
Honolulu Marathon -- 22,089
Walt Disney World Marathon 20,734
Boston Marathon -- 17,580
Philadelphia Marathon -- 10,913
Twin Cities Marathon -- 8,856
Portland Marathon -- 6,958
here's a question: why do they repeat "Marathon" on every row? i mean, it's a website about marathons and the setup to the chart indicates that it is about marathons. are people going to think, suddenly, that the population of boston is 17,580? that 17,580 people in boston purchased eggs last week? i mean, durr.
The Newfoundland Provincial Marathon in St. Johns, NL is the farthest east and the Kauai Marathon in Poipu, HI is the farthest west. The Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks, AK is the northernmost and the Kona Marathon in Kailua-Kona, HI is the southernmost.
hawaii is the southernmost and westernmost state, so having marathons there at all is going to sort of favor their placement.
The coldest marathon in the United States is Willow Winter Solstice Marathon in Willow, AK with an average race day temperature of only 15F/-9C.
yikes. 15F?? i used findmymarathon.com's search tool to locate marathons in the USA with average temperatures between 45F and 55F. there are 254! so, i split the difference and chose 50F. there are 20 marathons whose average temp is 50F.
Bass Pro Shops Marathon -- Springfield MO -- November
Eisenhower Marathon -- Abilene KS -- April
Little Rock Marathon -- Little Rock AR -- March
Dawn of the Dunes Marathon Gary IN -- October
Wisconsin Marathon -- Kenosha WI -- May
Porcupine Mountains Trail Marathon Silver City MI -- September
Virginia Creeper Marathon Abingdon VA -- March
Pilot Mountain Pay Back Marathon Pilot Mountain NC -- February
Salt Lake City Marathon -- Salt Lake City UT -- April
Huntsville Marathon -- Huntsville UT -- September
Richmond Marathon -- Richmond VA -- November
Empire State Marathon -- Syracuse NY -- October
Hambletonian Marathon -- Goshen NY -- October
Lake Lowell Marathon -- Nampa ID -- April
Downtown River Run Marathon Reno NV -- April
Earth Rock Run Marathon -- North Andover MA -- April
Bizz Johnson Trail Marathon Susanville CA -- October
Maine Coast Marathon -- Biddeford ME -- May
Golden Gate Trail Run -- Rodeo Beach CA -- February
Blooms to Brews Marathon Woodland WA -- April
blooms to brews will be new in 2015, but of the existing ones, lake lowell had the least average number of finishers at 46. this website only lists certified marathons, and that's a pretty low count for a certified race. isn't it? maybe certification is meaningless.
let's say, for the sake of argument, that i could get to nampa, idaho, in april. what would i find? according to findmymarathon.com a loop of rolling hills. well. that's hellish. entry fee is below average at $69, and stunningly, they offer no pace groups! in 2012, they had 63 finishers, in 2013, 47, and in 2014, 44. hmm... fewer and fewer, smaller and smaller.
i searched findmymarathon.com for one of my personal favourites, the lansing marathon. the mean race day day temp is listed as 48F, which sounds great, but in my experience isn't realistic. the early reg is listed as $100, and in my experience, that is correct. damn expensive marathon and, in my experience, damn cheap medal.
according to the site, in 2012, lansing had 406 finishers. in 2013, 363, and in 2014, 246. i guess that explains a bit about why there won't be a 2015, but in my experience, there wasn't a perceivable course-crowding difference from 2013 to 2014. in my experience, part of the appeal of lansing is the elevation -- the elevation chart looks like a graph of a pancake.
The typical weather for race day, coupled with a mostly flat course with few turns, can be conducive for a PR or Boston Qualifier (BQ).
this, in my experience, is false.
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