Featured Image by Claire — CC BY 2.0
This weekend, over 50,000 runners will hit the streets of Berlin to participate in the 50th Berlin Marathon.
The race has grown a lot in those 50 years. It started as a small race with a couple hundred runners, and it is now one of the World Marathon Majors and one of the largest races in the world.
It has also been home to numerous world records set in the last twenty five years.
In anticipation of this year’s race, I collected the historical race results from 1999 to 2023, and I put together an exploration of the data. The full analysis is published in Runner’s Life on Medium, but here are some of the visuals and highlights.
If you’re not a Medium subscriber, click here to get a link emailed to you so that you can access the full analysis there.
What Questions Are We Going to Answer?
Here’s a quick list of questions that will be answered here:
- How many runners finished the Berlin Marathon each year?
- How many men / women finished the Berlin Marathon each year?
- How large are each of the individual age groups?
- What portion of the field is German and what portion of the field is international?
And here’s a list of some questions that you’ll find answers to in the full analysis on Medium:
- How have the number of finishers from individual countries changed?
- How have the finish times of the elite runners changed?
- How have the finish times of the regular runners changed?
How Many Runners Finish the Berlin Marathon Each Year?
The visual below shows the total number of finishers (the grey bar), the number of men (the blue line) and the number of women (the red line) in each year from 1999 to 2023. If you hover over a particular bar, it will also tell you the percentage of that year’s field that is made up of women.
Note that there was no 2020 edition of the Berlin Marathon due to the COVID-19 epidemic. There’s also a significant dip in 2021. Berlin, like many other large races, reduced its field size as a precaution against COVID outbreaks.
In 1999, there are about 20,000 finishers. This was typical back through 1990. Over the next few years, it increases to around 30,000. By 2017-2018, the race is approaching 40,000.
In three years, the race has exceed 40,000 finishers – 2018, 2019, and 2023. This year, almost 55,000 runners are expected to participate. This will, undoubtedly, be the biggest Berlin Marathon ever. Depending on how many of them actually start, Berlin may surpass London and New York City as the largest race in the world – at least temporarily.
When you look at the blue line, the number of men increases in the first decade. But by 2009 or so, it starts to flatten out. There’s little sustained change one way or the other – with the typical year seeing between 27,000 and 30,000 men.
Women, on the other hand, continue to increase throughout the entire time period. The share of the field made up by women is incredibly small early on. By 2023, about one third of the field is made up of women.
How Large Are the Individual Age Groups?
Below are two visuals showing the size of each individual age group. The first visual includes women and the second visual includes men. Each visual includes age groups from under 20 through 75-79, with 5 year groups in between.
Note that you can click on an age group in the legend to hide it. This makes it easier to see the smaller age groups.
Looking at the women here, each group has grown significantly over the last twenty five years.
In 1999, the biggest age groups had about 500 women. In 2023, the largest age groups had between 2000 and 2,500. Those are huge increases.
The biggest growth comes from some of the older age groups, though. Women 55-59 increase from only 80 in 1999 to 988 in 2023. Women 50-54 increased from 182 in 1999 to 1,740.
The one group that did not seem to change much at all was women 20-24. It has increased slightly, but it remains a small share of the women’s field – and the overall field. The 25-29 age group did grow, but it’s growth lagged behind some of the other age groups.
Among the men, the growth is less obvious.
The largest age groups do increase somewhat from 1999 to 2023. Although men 35-39 and 40-44 both hit a peak earlier, and then they taper off slightly. The order also changes, with men 35-39 moving from the #1 age group to #2, and the 40-44 age group moving from #3 to #1.
As with women, though, the older age groups grow much more consistently. It’s not quite the same rate, but men 50-54 do increase substantially, as do men 55-59. If you hide the younger age groups, you’ll also see that the number of runners in their 60’s and 70’s increases, as well.
Despite the growth among each of the women’s age groups, men still make up a much larger share of the field. None of the women’s age groups come close to the size of the top men’s age groups. And this explains, in part, why the overall field is still 2-1 men – despite sustained growth among women.
What Share of the Finishers Are German?
The Berlin Marathon is the largest marathon in Germany, so I was curious to see what portion of the finishers are from Germany – and how that’s changed over time.
The visual below shows the number of finishers from each country in each year. You won’t be able to make out the smaller countries, and that’s ok. The point here is to look at the relative size of the German share, as well as the next three or four countries.
If you press the play button, it will automatically progress the year. You can also drag the slider to change the year manually.
In 1999, Germans made up almost 75% of the field. The second largest country was Denmark, followed by France, the Netherlands, and Austria. Keep going down the list, and you’ll see that the race is almost exclusively European.
Sure, there are a handful of other runners from around the world. But the USA comes in 10th and Japan is 14th. Each of them make up a teensy weensy little share of the overall field.
Fast forward to 2023, and it’s an entirely different field.
Now, Germany makes up a minority – but still a plurality – of the overall field. Around one third of the runners are from Germany.
The United States is now the second largest country, with close to 15% of the overall field. England has moved up the list significantly, too.
Although some of the same European countries are in the top ten, you’ll also find Mexico, Brazil, and Canada. And if you move on to the top 20 or 30, you’ll find other countries from around the world.
What was once an almost exclusively European race has become an international race. This is surely due, in no small part, to its inclusion in the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Especially in recent years, this has likely driven up the interest among runners outside of Europe.
Want More In Depth Data on Berlin?
This is just a portion of the data and the analysis that I’ve written about the Berlin Marathon. If you want to take a deeper dive, read the full analysis on Medium or request that a special link be emailed to you.
If you’re running the Berlin Marathon tomorrow, good luck. The weather looks good, and it should be a nice day for it.
I haven’t had the opportunity to run Berlin yet, but it’s on my bucket list. I’m running Chicago this fall, and once I’ve crossed New York City off my list, I’ll be looking towards Berlin.
Check back next week for an analysis of this year’s Berlin Marathon results, and to see how this year’s race fits into the larger story.