For the second time in history – with the exception of 2012 when the New York City Marathon was cancelled – the number of U.S. marathon finishers declined, but only slightly in the most recent year-over-year comparison, according to Running USA.
In 2016, there were a total of 507,600 finishers over the marathon distance in the U.S., down slightly from 509,000 in 2015. In addition, there were 1,100 marathons held in the United States, similar to 2015.
The TCS New York City Marathon maintained its number one ranking as the U.S.’s largest marathon with 51,267 finishers, up from 49,365 finishers last year. The top 15 marathons in the U.S. remained fairly consistent. In 2016, there were 86 marathons with 1,000+ finishers, down from a record high of 98 marathons in 2014 and 90 in 2015.
Photo courtesy Running USA
