50,000 Runners, Moving in Waves

With 50,000 runners in 2014, there were far too many participants to begin the race all at once.  As runners were sent off in waves, some moved faster and some slowed down, causing the field to mix and even out over time.  At the front, elite runners break away and get far ahead of the pack. 

The first year the New York marathon used waves was in 2008, when the field was divided in three.  Until then, the average time it took for a runner to run from the start line to the finish line, known as the net time or chip time, tracked closely with the gun time, which is the time from the first start signal until a runner crosses the finish line. 

Since the marathon started setting off in waves, average net time has remained steady while average gun time has gotten longer, meaning more people are on the course later in the day. 

More Women Are Participating

% 40 30 20 10 0 40% 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014 % 40 30 20 10 0 40 % 1970 1980 1990 2000 2014

In the first New York City Marathon, there were only 55 finishers, and none were women.  Since then, the participation rate for women has steadily climbed to about 40 percent. 

Connie Brown, 71, has run in 36 of the marathons, the most of any woman in New York City Marathon history.  She has not missed one since her start in 1978, when fewer than 10 percent of finishers were women. 

That was also the year the Olympian Grete Waitz ran her first New York City Marathon.  She came in first, and went on to win eight more times after that, taking home more wins than anyone else and setting three world records in the process. 

An International Marathon

Brazil Canada United States 2.7% Venez.  48 percent of all runners in last 10 marathons Arg.  Peru Col.  Mexico 1.8% Japan 1.4% Spain Ireland Germany Italy France China 5.4% 7% 6.7% Australia Denmark Switzer- land Britain Norway Netherlands Sweden 5.9% 3.9% South Africa Belgium France United States 7% 48 percent of all runners in last 10 marathons Italy 6.7% Britain 5.9% Germany 5.4% Netherlands 3.9% Switzerland Spain Sweden Ireland Norway Mexico Canada Denmark Belgium 1.8% 2.7% Brazil Arg.  Col.  Japan Australia South Africa China 1.4% Chile Venezuela Peru

The United States has had, by far, the most participants in the marathon.  But the race is also a big draw internationally: In the past 10 marathons, about half of finishers ran for another country. 

France, Italy and the United Kingdom have had the most finishers outside the United States.  Canadians, who have the shortest commute, are down at No.  6.  Europe and North America account for 92 percent of all runners. 

International Winners

Top countries by wins since 1970, with year of last win United States Kenya Norway Britain Italy Britain Ethiopia Brazil Latvia South Africa New Zealand 21 20 10 6 5 5 4 2 2 2 2 2009 2014 1992 2008 2001 1999 2011 2008 2006 2004 1983 Top countries by wins since 1970, with year of last win United States Kenya Norway Britain Italy Britain Ethiopia Brazil Latvia South Africa New Zealand 21 20 10 6 5 5 4 2 2 2 2 2009 2014 1992 2008 2001 1999 2011 2008 2006 2004 1983

An American has not won the marathon since 2009, when Meb Keflezighi, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist who was born in Eritrea, finished in 2 hours 9 minutes 15 seconds.  The last winner born in the United States was 30 years before that, when Bill Rodgers won in 1979. 

Keflezighi is a Californian; the last time a New Yorker even cracked the top 10 was when Gordon Bloch took sixth place in the 1992 marathon. 

A Race for All Ages, Especially Round Ones

finishers 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 20 40 60 80 Ages of all New York marathon finishers since 1971.  years finishers 40,000 20,000 0 20 40 60 80 Ages of all New York Marathon runners since 1971 years

Participants in the marathon have run the gamut from 8-year-old Wesley Paul, who ran the marathon in 1977 in 3 hours and 31 seconds, to 93-year-old Josef Galia.  In 1981 the official minimum age was set to 16.  It increased to 18 in 1988. 

While most runners are ages 20 to 50, there are big spikes at milestone ages like 40 and 50. 

Elites vs. Everyone Else

Gary Muhrcke won the first running of the New York City marathon in 1970.  Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times

Most of the racers you see in the marathon are not the elite runners.  The fastest pack in the New York City Marathon starts earlier, runs faster and rocks coveted low-number bibs. 

The elite runners are closer in age to 30 than to 40, largely from another country and run about two hours faster on average than everyone else. 

The great mass of runners behind them are closer to 40 than to 30, mostly men and mostly from the United States.  Every once in a while, though, someone in that pack beats their lower-bibbed cohorts, like the Brazilian Jovadir Acedo, who took 18th place in 2013. 

Not in It for a Record

The New York City Marathon is not the race you want to run to set a world record.  In contrast to other marathons, like Berlin’s, the course in New York City has not changed significantly since 1976.  No men’s world record has been set on this course, and the last women’s world record was set by Grete Waitz in 1980.