2003 Total USA Marathon Finishers
Total finishers increases by 3.2%, women continue to close gender gap.
In 2003, there was a 3.4% increase in the number of marathon finishers from 2002, with a total of nearly 334,000 people completing a marathon in the USA in 2003 - up from approximately 323,000 in 2002. The number of male finishers increased by 2.3%, while the number of female finishers grew by 4.8%, narrowing the gender gap to 60.9% men and 39.1% women. In total, 270 marathons took place in the USA in 2003.
2003 Largest USA Marathons
New York maintained its status as the largest U.S. marathon, holding off a continued challenge from the Chicago Marathon to try to take that title. In general, most of the largest marathons in this country maintained their size-ranked position with just a little reshuffling of those rankings. The country's 25 largest marathons (shown below), accounted for more than 70% of total marathon finishers in the USA. |
|
Overall Demographics
| |
Percent |
Age |
Time |
| Men |
60.9% |
40.2 |
4:27:27 |
| Women |
39.1% |
35.7 |
5:04:35 |
| All Runners |
100% |
38.5 |
4:41:59 |
Fastest Age Groups
The fastest times, on average, run by men in 2003 came from runners between the ages of 20-24, with a mean finishing time of 4:17:19, just beating out the men 35-39 (4:19:19)
The women's fastest times were also posted by 20-24-year olds, who averaged a time of 4:49:33 for their finishes. |
|
Largest Age Groups
Men aged 40-44 represented the largest single age group for marathon runners in 2003, more than 10% of all marathoners and nearly 17% of male marathoners.
For women, the largest group was females between ages 25-29 representing 7.7% of all marathon finishers, and nearly 20% of all female finishers.. |
|
Name
|
2003 Finishers
|
2003 Rank
|
2002 Rank
|
Growth Since 2002
|
|
New York City Marathon
|
34,729 |
1 |
1 |
9.13% |
| Chicago Marathon |
32,395 |
2 |
2 |
4.19% |
| Honolulu Marathon |
22,136
|
3
|
3
|
-16.09%
|
| Boston Marathon |
17,046
|
4 |
6 |
18.38% |
| City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) |
16,788 |
5 |
4 |
-9.49% |
| Rock 'n' Roll Marathon |
16,185 |
6 |
5 |
4.91% |
| Marine Corps Marathon |
15,957 |
7 |
7 |
13.28% |
| Disney World Marathon |
9,404 |
8 |
8 |
18.29% |
| Twin Cities Marathon |
7,084 |
9 |
11 |
8.45% |
| Portland Marathon |
7,031 |
10 |
9 |
-0.85% |
| Grandma's Marathon |
6,868 |
11 |
10 |
0.47% |
| Motorola Austin Marathon |
5,360 |
12 |
13 |
21.16% |
| Philadelphia Marathon |
5,354 |
13 |
12 |
18.06% |
| Houston Marathon |
4,699 |
14 |
14 |
6.94% |
| St. George Marathon |
4,433 |
15 |
16 |
4.90% |
| Columbus Marathon |
3,993 |
16 |
20 |
22.56% |
| Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon |
3,825 |
17 |
17 |
-1.54% |
| Dallas White Rock Marathon |
3,370 |
18 |
19 |
0.36% |
| Country Music Marathon |
3,125 |
19 |
18 |
-9.81% |
| California International Marathon |
2,930 |
20 |
21 |
12.22% |
| Big Sur International Marathon |
2,820 |
21 |
24 |
20.36% |
| Richmond Marathon |
2,780 |
22 |
22 |
8.55% |
| Detroit Free Press International Marathon |
2,778 |
23 |
26 |
18.97% |
| Las Vegas International Marathon |
2,533 |
24 |
25 |
8.20% |
| Pittsburgh Marathon |
2,208 |
25 |
23 |
-13.65% |
2003 Largest Inaugural USA Marathons
There were nearly 20 inaugural marathons in 2003, most of them small affairs. Of the first-time events, only one, The Miami Tropical Marathon (1,455 finishers in the marathon), broke the bar of 1,000 finishers in its inaugural race. Next on the size list of new marathons were the Akron Marathon (855 finishers) and the Little Rock Marathon (842 finishers).
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