Latest running articles

Some 20 - 25 minutes of running can transform your mind, body, and soul. This is not an exaggeration. All these exericise benefits are backed by various scientific studies. When you read about just one or two benefits, it is easy to overlook and continue with your sedentary routine. We wanted to create something more powerful. Something that is hard to ignore. So, we reviewed and compiled hundreds of studies to present the incredible, almost life-changing effects of runn[…]

This analysis covers 29,190 results achieved by 354 Russian athletes, dispersed over 4,691 events, during the 1993-2019 period.  Given the current controversy regarding doping at the Olympic Games, with a specific focus on Russian athletes, we decided to see what the actual numbers have to say. For this purpose, we focused only on athletics (track and field) and analysed the results of Russian athletes who competed at the Summer Olympic Games during the 1993-2019 period.[…]

The world is in crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between government lockdowns, layoffs, furloughs, work from home mandates, school closures, and sports facility shutdowns, we wanted to understand how this virus is affecting the exercise habits of people around the globe.  We surveyed 12,913 participants from 139 countries between March 24th and March 30th to gather data on how Coronavirus has changed their physical activity routines. Surprisingly, people are exer[…]

For this study, we analysed 19.6 million results from over 16 thousand marathon races. We recently published our mega-study on the state of running, where we found that the world, and in particular, the marathoners from the US are getting slower. We became curious to see how the 50 individual states +D.C. are performing. Feel free to use any material from this page, as long as you refer to this original source. We've also created a tool that can help you compare your rac[…]

This stats page is a simple look at the participation patterns of runners in the 5 most common distances - 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon and Ultra. In the next tables, we show what % of the runners run 1, 2, 3, etc. or more races in a particular distance, per year, to see which distance has the most insatiable participants that keep coming back for more. We've decided to call this metric Obsession.  Key Findings  Ultrarunning has the most obsessed runners. 41.02% of u[…]

In this study, we explore the trends in ultra running over the last 23 years. We have analysed 5,010,730 results from 15,451 ultra running events, making this the largest study ever done on the sport.  Key results Female ultra runners are faster than male ultra runners at distances over 195 miles. The longer the distance the shorter the gender pace gap. In 5Ks men run 17.9% faster than women, at marathon distance the difference is just 11.1%, 100-mile races see the diffe[…]

The purpose of this page is to provide detailed stats about the 5Ks in the US. Feel free to use this information as long as you link to the original source.  The data for this statistics page is a result of the collaboration between the IAAF and RunRepeat.com. The stats about the 5-kilometre runs has been compiled and presented by Vania Nikolova, Ph.D. in Mathematical analysis.  If you want to read more running statistics and compare your finish time with the rest of you[…]

The number of obese children may rise to 70 million by 2025. That’s more than double the 32 million figure recorded in 1990. It’s not just about weight. Obesity is linked to major health problems like diabetes, heart and joint problems, disability, and even some cancers. The World Health Organisation recommends at least 60 minutes or more of physical activity for school going kids but only 21% of 6 to 19 years old get to the bare minimum mark. Rather, a Kaiser Family Fou[…]

We’ve analysed 19.6 million marathon results from over 30,000 marathons. In our new study, we concluded that the world is getting slower. In this article, we look at how the slow down is affected by increasing temperatures and the weather in general. What our analysis shows is that: The average runner adds 1 minute 25 seconds to his/her marathon finish time for every additional degree F The average runner adds 6 seconds a year due to the general temperature trend. Global[…]

This is the first mapping of Global running participation. The analysis covers 107.9 million race results from more than 70 thousand events from 1986 to 2018. This is by far the largest study of race results in history.  You may use material from this report as long as you refer to this original report. For special requests, or questions, email lead researcher Jens Jakob Andersen at jens@runrepeat.com. Key conclusions Event participation has declined by 13% since 2016, w[…]