It might be in the water. It may be in the air. Or it may just be a re-awakening of some long dormant genetic code that whispers back to our ancestry…but whatever it is, it’s taking a hold of my community and probably yours too! It’s the quiet, steady, and true uprising of new runners being born each and every day around the world….the Running Millennium Movement! And I venture to say, that women are leading this movement!
According to Running USA, in 1988, 78% of runners entering a race were male and only 22% were female. In their 2008 statistics report, women made up 49% percent of the population of runners entering races, and men made up 51%! The amazing fact is that within a time frame of 20 years, overall women runners increased by 27 percentage points while the overall men decreased 27 percentage points! Based on this data, women runners have been gaining ground rapidly!
Overall, runners on the WHOLE have been rising in large numbers. In 1988 there were approximately 4 million runners entering races and that number has exploded into over 9 MILLION!! In 20 years, the amount of runners racing has more than doubled in size!
Based on statistics published on Running USA, the profile of the average American female runner is as follows:
Average age: 39.4 years old
Married Female Runners: 64%
Married with 2 or more children: only 27.5%
(A complete look at this profile can be found at Running USA)
The latest look at the 2009 Road Race Demographics as posted on Running USA is also quite interesting! If my graph reading skills are accurate, then this graph says that women outnumber men in EVERY race event from the 5K to the Marathon!!!
What does all this data mean? In my mind it means several things:
#1 The number of runners in the United States is INCREASING quickly!
#2 The number of women runners is INCREASING by leaps and bounds!
#3 Women are going to be a bargaining matter for those in the running industry!
Wow! I don’t know about you, but I am super excited! The New Running Millennium is here and I AM PART OF IT!! Hope you will register here at RunningMoms.org and see what’s next for the world of running moms!!
