2004 Total USA Marathon Finishers
Wow! There was an 8.1% growth in the number of marathon finishers from 2003 to 2004, with a total of over 361,000 people completing a marathon in the USA in 2004 - up from approximately 334,000 in 2003. The number of male finishers increased by 7.3%, while the number of female finishers grew by 9%, narrowing the gender gap to 60.5% men and 39.5% women. In total, we know of 302 marathons that took place in the USA in 2004, up from an estimated 282 in 2003.
2004 Largest USA Marathons
New York further solidified its status as the largest U.S. marathon, adding nearly 1,800 additional finishers in 2004 (as many finishers as the 35th largest marathon had in total!) and fending off any and all competitors for that title. In general, most of the largest marathons in this country maintained their size-ranked position with some small shuffling of position. Of special note was the addition of the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon, an inaugural event, to the top 10. The country's 25 largest marathons (shown below), accounted for more than 65% of total marathon finishers in the USA, but... in 2003 the top 25 marathons accounted for more than 70% of total finishers, so we're seeing more finishers, more races and more finishers in more races... |
|
Overall Demographics
| |
Percent |
Age |
Time |
| Men |
60.5% |
40.5 |
4:31:46 |
| Women |
39.5% |
36.1 |
5:06:46 |
| All Runners |
100% |
38.8 |
4:45:22 |
Fastest Age Groups
The fastest times, on average, run by men in 2004 came from runners between the ages of 40-44, with a mean finishing time of 4:21:46, just beating out the men 35-39 (4:22:04).
The women's fastest times were posted by 20-24-year olds, who averaged a time of 4:51:50 for their finishes. |
|
Largest Age Groups
Men aged 40-44 also represented the largest single age group for marathon runners in 2004, more than 10% of all marathoners and nearly 17% of male marathoners.
For women, the largest group was females between ages 25-29 representing over 7.25% of all marathon finishers, and over 18.25% of all female finishers. |
| Marathon Name
| 2004
Finishers
| 2004
Rank
| 2003
Rank
| Growth
2003
to 2004
|
| New York City Marathon |
36513 |
1 |
1 |
5.14% |
| Chicago Marathon |
33033 |
2 |
2 |
1.97% |
| Honolulu Marathon |
22407 |
3 |
3 |
1.22% |
| City of Los Angeles Marathon |
17306 |
4 |
5 |
3.09% |
| Boston Marathon |
16743 |
5 |
4 |
-1.78% |
| Marine Corps Marathon |
16379 |
6 |
7 |
2.64% |
| Rock 'n' Roll Marathon |
16369 |
7 |
6 |
1.14% |
| Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon |
9482 |
8 |
N/A 2004 inaugural |
| Disney World Marathon |
9371 |
9 |
8 |
-0.35% |
| Twin Cities Marathon |
7304 |
10 |
9 |
3.11% |
| Grandma's Marathon |
6750 |
11 |
11 |
-1.72% |
| Philadelphia Marathon |
6193 |
12 |
13 |
15.67% |
| Portland Marathon |
5838 |
13 |
10 |
-16.97% |
| Houston Marathon |
5383 |
14 |
14 |
14.56% |
| Freescale Austin Marathon |
5238 |
15 |
12 |
-2.28% |
| St. George Marathon |
4587 |
16 |
15 |
3.47% |
| Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon |
4348 |
17 |
17 |
13.67% |
| Columbus Marathon |
4310 |
18 |
16 |
7.94% |
| Country Music Marathon |
4033 |
19 |
19 |
29.06% |
| Detroit Free Press Marathon |
3514 |
20 |
23 |
26.49% |
| Richmond Marathon |
3211 |
21 |
22 |
15.50% |
| Dallas White Rock Marathon |
3171 |
22 |
18 |
-5.91% |
| California International Marathon |
2963 |
23 |
20 |
1.13% |
| Big Sur International Marathon |
2858 |
24 |
21 |
1.35% |
| San Francisco Chronicle Marathon |
2665 |
25 |
30 |
40.93% |
2004 Largest Inaugural USA Marathons
There were approximately 23 inaugural marathons in 2004, most small, but there were some notable exceptions. Inaugural marathons of note for 2004 included the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon which handily led the pack of newcomers, with almost 9,500 finishers; the Salt Lake City Marathon with 2,622 finishers; and the predominantly female Nike 26.2 with 2,372 finishers. The inuagurals, by themselves accounted for about 50% of the growth in finishers, helping to attract new runners to the sport!
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