Running USA: Marathon Finishers See Rare Decline

Running USA said the number of U.S. marathon finishers declined for the first time with the special exception of 2012- when the New York City Marathon was canceled. In 2015, there were a total of 509,000 finishers in the marathon in the U.S., down from the record high of 550,600 finishers in 2014, seeing a net loss of 8% year-over-year. There were 1,100 U.S. Marathon events, similar to 2014.

The TCS New York City Marathon once again retained it’s title as the largest marathon with over 49,000 runners completing the race. Similarly, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon finished second and third overall, while the Marine Corps Marathon jumped up two places to fourth overall with over 23,000 finishers.

Top U.S. Marathon

The TCS New York City Marathon retains its #1 spot as the U.S.’s largest marathon with 49,365 finishers. The top 15 marathons in the U.S. remained fairly consistent. In 2015, there were 90 marathons with 1,000+ finishers, down from a record high of 98 marathons in 2014.

Gender & Age Composition

Females continue to represent a higher composition of U.S. marathon finishers, up to a record high of 44% in 2015. The median age of finishers has remained fairly constant: 36 for females and 40 for males in 2015. 49% of finishers were masters (40 and older), a record high percentage.