Washington, DC/Baltimore and Virginia Beach Areas in Top 5
Every year, the USATF Road Running Information Center reports on the large number of runners that have been estimated by American Sports Data, Inc. (35,866,000 U.S. residents 6 years or older running once in 2002) and the National Sporting Goods Association (24,700,000 U.S. residents 7 years or older running six or more times in 2002). Some years those figures are down a little and some years, like this one, they are a little higher, but the overall word to describe the running population is consistency. Evidence of running's staying power is the American Sports Data (ASD) estimate that 11,161,000 runners have been in the sport for 10 or more years.

Another snapshot of the running population comes from the core group of 10,485,000 "frequent runners" who ran at least 100 days in 2002 (from ASD's Superstudy of Sports Participation). This group was comprised of 44.6% women and the average age (mean) was 28.9 years. The mean age has hovered around 28 and 29 since American Sports Data began including that stat in 1997.

The National Sporting Goods (NSGA) "frequent runners" run at least 110 days a year, were 44.2% female in 2002 and were older (male mean is 34, female mean is 32.3) than their ASD counterparts. The road race population tracked by the USATF Road Running Information Center is older still (average age of 37 - male mean of 38.6 and female mean of 35.4) and the male/female ratio is approximately 50/50.

Where are the strongest running markets? American Sports Data provides statistics on sports participation in all states and metropolitan statistical areas (MSA's) in the U.S. Listed below are the top 5 by overall runner numbers and the top 5 with the highest per capita numbers.

Metropolitan Areas with Most Runners (average 2000-2002)
Metropolitan Area/Total Population/Population of Runners/% of MSA

1. NY/NJ/PA -- 21,199,865; 2,162,000; 13.4%


2. L.A./Riverside/Orange County -- 16,373,645; 1,912,000; 15.4%


3. Washington DC/Baltimore -- 7,608,070; 1,027,000; 10.9%


4. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose -- 7,039,362; 983,000; 13.8%


5. Chicago/Gary/Lake County -- 9,157,540; 942,000; 13.7%

Metropolitan Areas with Most Runners Per Capita (average 2000-2002)
Metropolitan Area/Total Population/Population of Runners/% of MSA

1. San Antonio -- 1,592,383; 408,000; 24.1%


2. Indianapolis -- 1,607,486; 242,000; 21.8%


3. Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Newport News -- 1,569,541; 354,000; 21.3%


4. Milwaukee/Racine -- 1,689,572; 370,000; 18.8%


5. Minneapolis/St. Paul -- 2,968,806; 524,000; 16.9%

To obtain information on sports demographic products and services offered by American Sports Data, contact Harvey Lauer at American Sports Data, Inc., 234 N Central Avenue, Hartsdale, NY 10530 or visit americansportsdata.com.

Running Shoe Industry Also Exhibits Stability and Strength
According to a recent press release from SGMA International, "athletic footwear sales rose 2.5% in 2002. Total sales were $9.34 billion, compared with $9.11 billion in 2001. Three athletic footwear categories exceeded the billion dollar mark - running/jogging ($2.71 billion); basketball ($1.95 billion) and cross-training/fitness ($1.20 billion)." [source: 2003 Recreation Market Report, www.SGMA.com. Figures are U.S. wholesale shipment values, not retail sales.]

The NSGA "Sporting Goods Market in 2003" study reports steady growth for running shoes. In 2002, the report estimates that 34 million units of jogging/running shoes with a retail value of $1.7325 billion (and average price of $50.99) were purchased by U.S. residents. This is a 4% increase from $1.6702 billion value in 2001. Some of the categories with comparable percentile gains such as basketball (4% increase to 788.8 billion in 2002) have been recovering from dips in recent years. Of the 23 athletic and footwear categories tracked by NSGA in the report, running/jogging shoes and skateboarding shoes (the latter with 190 million sales in 2002) were the only two that did NOT decline in value at least one of the last four years. [source: "Sporting Goods Market in 2003" is an 87 page statistical study of retail sales for representative categories of sporting goods and recreational equipment. It also includes demographic distribution data for each consumer purchase category. More National Sporting Goods Association information can be found at www.nsga.org.]

Read part two of this article, State of the Sport Report - Road Race Snapshot, and learn more about the breakdown of age, sex and median running times.