There is a disagreement over whether the fact we’re getting slower is a good or bad thing. The reason is different than you might think – it has little to do with the belly size of Americans and more to do with the psyche of the runners. They’re running for fun, instead of for a trophy.
When I first read about this trend in the Wall Street Journal, I was less surprised by the slower times than the amount by which they’ve grown. In 1980, the median time for male U.S. marathon finishers was 3:32:17 – by 2012 it was 4:17:43. Over that same time period women’s times increased from 4:03:39 to 4:42:58, according to Running USA, a nonprofit organization that tracks trends in distance running.
Breaking down the numbers further during those years, the men’s minute-per-mile pace has increased from 8:05 to 9:50 and women 9:18 to 10:48. Anyone who runs at all understands the vast difference between those times and the difference in training it takes to attain them.
Our staff is full of runners with varying abilities and about a half-dozen of them participated in the Run Through History event in Kalispell this past weekend. A few won their age groups, others were far slower and one jogged in an inflatable sumo-wrestling suit.
What has happened over the past several years is that more races have sold themselves as events rather than competitions. For example, the largest 5K series in the country is The Color Run, according to Running USA. Similarly themed events, such as Color Me Rad, where participants throw cornstarch “color bombs” in the air during the race, is not timed and happily declares, “We don’t even wear a watch.” The Missoula event this last summer drew thousands.
Another trend among runners are so-called adventure races, such as the Tough Mudder and Spartan Race, which is on tap to return to the Flathead Valley next year. These two events are drawing more couch potatoes into the woods to run through dirt and maneuver obstacle courses. But that’s where the similarities end.
The Tough Mudder doesn’t post finishing times, whereas Spartan Race founder Joe Desena told the Wall Street Journal that reminds him of communism. “How well is that everybody-gets-a-trophy mentality working in our schools?” he asked.
He makes a fair point, as do annoyed hard-core runners who have watched as marathons become less about competition and more about getting a T-shirt or medal, whether participants run, walk, or skip.
This trend has grown for some time. Before the 2009 New York City Marathon, which touts itself as the largest in the world, one runner told the The New York Times, “There used to be a pride saying that you ran a marathon, but not anymore. Now it’s, ‘How low is the bar?’”
But the number of runners who annually finish a marathon in the U.S. continues to grow, from 143,000 in 1980 and peaking at 518,000 in 2011 before falling slightly last year.
I ran in a handful of races during the spring and summer, but perhaps none was as rewarding as the Montana Spartan Race, which had nothing to do with my performance. My older brother, who had rarely run over the previous decade, trained hard for the event and posted a respectable time.
Isn’t it a good thing that U.S. running events saw another record number of finishers in 2012, even if many of them use gimmicks to attract participants? There are merits to keeping score – and I wouldn’t enter a race that didn’t – but the popularity of events (including marathons) that attract more novice runners is a good thing. Even for those wearing sumo suits.