Michelle Taber of Parker raises her hands in the air as she approaches the half-marathon finish line of the 2022 Denver Colfax Marathon Race (Helen H. Richardson/Denver Post File)
Participation in U.S. running races has taken a hit during the pandemic and its aftermath, but race officials say registration numbers for Colorado's two major road races and other road races across the country have rebounded and the sport This shows that the country is thriving again.
“It seems like it's back,” said Andrea Dowdy, executive director of the Denver Colfax Marathon.
More than 24,000 people have registered for this weekend's Colfax Marathon and related events (half marathon, 10 mile, 5K, marathon relay race). The Colfax race set a record last year with 21,000 people.
Boulder The Boulder Memorial Day 10K attracted 47,250 participants in 2019, dropping to fewer than 34,000 when the race resumed in 2022. But last year he recorded more than 40,000 participants, and race director Cliff Bosley said this year's numbers were on par with his 2019 numbers.
“We are ready to host over 45,000 people,” Bosley said. “He added 13 more to his start wave to accommodate a larger field, ordered more shirts and plans to pack more than 45,000 snack bags.”
Last year's Colfax Marathon race was sold out. This year, organizers redesigned one of the courses to eliminate bottlenecks and allow more runners to take part in the race.
Colfax and Boulder What Boulder is seeing is being felt across the country. Eric Cohn of RunSignup, the nation's largest race registration platform, said he's seen 10% to 15% growth at large events like Colfax and Boulder-Boulder, and 7% to 9% growth at smaller races. He said he is seeing growth.
“We've seen a huge increase in interest in participating in a lot of major races across the country,” Dowdy said. “Running has really come back strong since the pandemic.”
The London Marathon in April broke the record for the number of runners completing the marathon with 53,000 people, 9,000 more than the record set last year. More than 840,000 people entered the lottery to enter next year's race, an increase of 45% from last year.
“There could be a third running boom,” Bosley said.
The first running boom occurred in the 1970s, with an explosion of runners and races. The second time he was in the late 1990s and he was in the early 2000s. Cohn said running could continue to grow, due in part to demographics.
He said baby boomers are getting older and are starting to stop running, and while Gen X is a small group, millennials and Gen Z are larger.
“Millennials are starting to reach the prime of their running and purchasing power, so we're going to see significant growth over the next few years as that purchasing power begins to enter the running market,” Cohn said. “We're in a pretty good position. Don't get me wrong, the last four years have been pretty tough for a lot of (operating) organizations, but I think the next five to 10 years are going to be as consistent as they were in the early 2000s. You should see a lot of growth.”
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