26 Crazy Facts about Running!

In honor of the upcoming spring marathons I thought I would share some crazy, fun, and interesting facts about running! For some reason these types of things interest me so I decided to share them with you!  Some of them are actually kind of shocking yet cool.  So here you go…

1. Over a billion pairs of running shoes are sold worldwide every year.
2. Less than 1% of the U.S. population has completed a marathon. (Around 0.5%)
3. Just 15 competitors ran the Boston Marathon in its inaugural year, 1897.
4. In 1972 the Boston Marathon was the first marathon competition to allow women to enter. However, in 1966 Roberta Gibbs hid behind a bush and competed in the Boston Marathon anyway, she was the first woman to complete the course. (With an unofficial time 0f 3:21:25, heck yea!)
5. The fastest marathon time for a woman is a 2:15:25 set by Paula Radcliffe in the 2003 London marathon. 11 years later her record still stands!
6. “Runner’s High” is a real phenomenon, not just an expression…and yes it is addicting 🙂
7. The oldest person to complete a marathon was 100 years old at the time (born in 1911), an Indian man named Fauja Singh. (And he didn’t even start running until he was 89, talk about never too late to start!)
8. The record for the most marathons run on consecutive days is 365. It was set in 2011 by Stefan Engels….aka the “Marathon Man” at the age of 49.
9. The fastest mile ever ran was in 1999 by Hitcham El Guerrouj. He ran a mile in 3:43:13. (WOW!)
10. The fastest mile for a woman was set by Svetlana Masterkova in 1996. She ran a mile in 4:12:56!
11. Running with music can boost your performance by 15%.
12. It takes 200 muscles to take a step when you run.
13. The human heart creates enough pressure when you run that it could squirt blood 30 feet! (My kids loved that one!)
14. 104.3 calories are burned every mile when running a 10 minute per mile pace.
15. In order to burn off a Big Mac (540 calories), a 140 pound woman would have to run at a 10 min per mile pace for 52 minutes!
16. Running burns about 50% more calories than walking.
17. In 1990 only 25% of road race finishers were women, now women make up more than half of competitors.
18. The average men’s finishing time in U.S. Marathons is 4:26.
19. The average women’s finishing time in U.S. Marathons is 4:52.
20. Human feet can produce up to a pint of sweat per day.
21. The Bay to Breakers in San Francisco is the largest U.S. running race with over 100,000 participants annually.
22. The world record for the fastest marathon is 2:03:23 set by Wilson Kipsanf of Kenya at the Berlin marathon in 2013.
23. Since 2003 the half marathon has been the fastest growing road distance in the U.S. and it continues to have double digit growth each year. It has become the most popular distance by every metric…debut racers, finisher totals, and by general interest. There are over 1500 active U.S. half marathons.
24. The fastest human foot speed on record was set by Usain Bolt during a 100 meter sprint with a speed of 44.72km/h (27.79 mph!!)
25. Runners can store about 2000 calories worth of glycogen in their bodies, which is enough to fuel about 18-20 miles of a run.
26. At regular points during a run, both feet are off the ground.  Check out the pictures below and you will see what I mean!

“Every day is a good day when you run, so keep running!”