I ran the Philadelphia Rock and Roll half marathon last month. Felt great to finish, but it was pretty painful at mile 11 and 12. There were a lot of people there, and it made me wonder how popular are half marathons? So here is what I found out at www.runningusa.org:
Largest half marathon = Goteborg, Sweden
It is held in mid-May and has 42K+ finishers. The one in 2011 was the largest one ever.
Largest US half marathon = Zappos.com Rock and Roll in Las Vegas
The race is at night in December and the course is naturally focused on the Las Vegas strip – MGM, Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Wynn, Paris etc. Great views.
The half marathon I ran in Philadelphia was crowded too; the one from last year had 16K+ finishers. Since it was one of the Rock and Roll races, there were bands every mile.
In 2011, there were 1.6M+ half marathon finishers
Even though there could be some double-counting (people running more than 1 race), that is still a lot of people.
- Assuming the US is about 330M people, 1 in 200 finished a half marathon last year
- Of the races ran last year, 1 in 8 (~ 12%) ran a half marathon
- The Salty Half: On the Puget Sound of Washington, limited to 100 entrants
- Rudi’s Organic: This one looks brutal since it is 1 mile above sea level
- Gettysburg Blue-Gray: You compete in teams of North vs. South for prizes
The half marathon format is popular
From 2004-2011, the number of half marathon runners grew by about 1 million, or a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 14.6%.
So who is running these races? Approximately 60% of the half marathon finishers are women. So guys. . . stop watching so much sports on the TV, and put on your running shoes. The women and showing us up.
Use this calendar to find a race close to your home here.
Boring? Consider the Tough Mudder
This takes the brutality of a half marathon to a different level here. The length (10-12 miles) is similar to the half-marathon, but it has 25+ different military-style obstacles in your way. It is based military courses use by the British special forces (apparently). Click on some of the obstacle names in blue, and you can see videos and photos of this crazy stuff.
- Electric Eel: Sliding under live wires that will give you a shock if you touch them
- Arctic Enema: A dumpster full of ice water
- Everest: A skateboarder’s quarter pike (slippery of course) that you have to get over
- Boa Constrictor: Long pipes that you have to wiggle through with your arms
- Mile of Mud: Like it sounds, a mile of waist-high mud
- Funky Monkey: See the photo below.
