This is another project that’s been on my to do list for too long. Back in early 2024, I built an age grade calculator that calculated actual age grades for marathon performances along with a runner’s position (percentile) within the distribution of all finish times for their age group. I updated that calculator in early … Read more
Feature image by David Lisnard on Wikimedia Commons – CC BY SA-4.0 When I started collecting and analyzing data on marathons a couple years ago, Paris was not on my radar at all. I mostly paid attention to American races, along with the international races that were part of the Majors. But Paris is a … Read more
When I was younger, I’ll admit that I was a fair weather runner. I often picked things up in the spring and tapered off in the late fall. This minimized my discomfort – and also severely limited my long term development as a runner. In the spring of 2020, I got back into running. I … Read more
Feature image from Governor Healy on Flickr. This week, the Boston Athletic Association released the entry list for the 2026 Boston Marathon. Athletes can log into Athletes’ Village to see their corral assignment, but that isn’t publicly available. The only information in the searchable entry list is a runner’s name, age, city, state, country of … Read more
Feature photo (c) Kevin Morris – Courtesy of Houston Marathon Last weekend was the 2026 Houston Marathon – a premier event that kicks off the new year in American marathoning. After a lull over the holidays, this usually marks the first large, fast event of the year – with a considerable numbers of BQs, a … Read more
For some reason, it can be hard to find solid information on the largest marathons in the United States. A few years back, I was looking for a list of the largest races in the country. What I ended up finding was a collection of listicles that mixed different methodologies for counting the field size … Read more
Feature photo by Steven Pisano on Flickr – CC BY 2.0 When I did a deep dive on the data from the 2025 New York City Marathon, I included a breakdown of where runners were from across the world and across the country. Just over 30% of runners are international. Of American runners, the biggest … Read more
Last weekend was the California International Marathon – along with the USATF Marathon Championship. It was a day for records and blazing fast times – although one record that wasn’t set was for field size. CIM is typically among the largest races in the United States. But after peaking above 9,000 finishers in 2023, this … Read more
Last weekend was the 2025 Valencia Marathon. In the last few years, it has grown to be one of the largest races in the world. It’s not a Major, but it’s on the same level, and it competes with Berlin and Chicago for the title of the fastest marathon. It hasn’t yet produced a world … Read more
Feature Photo by Steven Pisano from Brooklyn, NY, USA – 2014 New York City Marathon, CC BY 2.0 For some people, the NYC Marathon is a once in a lifetime experience. For others, it’s part of a routine that takes place year after year. New York Road Runners maintains a list of runners who have completed 15 or more … Read more