Analyzing the Changing Demographics of Marathon Finishers from 2010 to 2019

🌈 Abstract

The article analyzes the changing demographics of marathon runners in the United States over the past decade, using data from the New York City Marathon and a broader dataset of marathons across the country. The key findings include:

🙋 Q&A

[01] Gender and Age Trends

1. What is the overall gender breakdown of marathon finishers from 2010 to 2019?

• The gender breakdown shifts towards greater parity, with the percentage of female finishers increasing from around 41-42% in 2010-2011 to 44-45% in the remaining years.
• This is a smaller gender gap compared to the New York City Marathon, which has a 60-40 split in favor of men.

2. How do the age group trends differ between men and women?

• Women make up a larger share of runners in their 20s throughout the decade.
• The older the age group, the heavier the tilt towards men. However, this disparity shrinks from 2010 to 2019 across all age groups except for those in their 80s.

[02] Largest Age Groups

1. What are the largest age groups for male marathon finishers?

• The biggest groups throughout the decade are men aged 40-44 and 35-39, followed by 30-34 and 45-49.
• This is consistent with the trends seen in the New York City Marathon data.

2. What are the largest age groups for female marathon finishers?

• The top two age groups are 25-29 and 30-34, followed by 35-39 and 40-44.
• While the 25-29 age group was considerably larger than the others at the start of the decade, the groups have converged to roughly the same size by 2019.

[03] Changes in Age Group Participation

1. How do the changes in participation differ between younger and older age groups?

• For both men and women, the younger age groups (under 45) show no growth or a decline in participation from 2010-2019.
• In contrast, the older age groups (45 and above) show increasing participation, with the growth rate accelerating as the age groups get older.

2. How do the trends differ between men and women in the middle age groups?

• For men, the 35-44 age groups decline by around 17-20%.
• For women, these same age groups only decline by 7-8%, and the 45-54 age groups actually increase by 5-10%.