Results of the number of Marathons poll...

This was another poll that finished a few weeks ago. The poll question was "How many full Marathons (26.2 miles) have you done?". The poll got 82 votes and thanks to everyone who took the time to select an option.

The results were...

None, no interest in doing one = 13% , None but planning to do one = 17% , 1 = 28% , 2 to 3 = 19% , 4 to 5 = 9% , 6 to 9 = 4% , 10+ = 7%

So, lets have a closer look. First of all, 7% have done 10+ Marathons!! I think that's pretty amazing. Most runners aspire to complete one Marathon but 10!! Well done to whoever you are.

As for the rest of the results, as you would expect, the higher the number of Marathons, the lower the number of people who have completed them. Here are some points...

a) 39% of all runners completed more than one Marathon. So, after all of the effort in completing their first Marathon, they came back and did a 2nd one. I'm a bit suprised that it is as high as 39%. I would have thought that once most people had done one, it might be a case of 'been there, done that ' i.e. The Marathon was their challenge and goal and they had achieved it. I guess that for a lot of people, once they have one under their belt, they might want to do the 2nd one faster? Or perhaps, once they know they can do one, they elect to do one overseas like London / Berlin / New York, etc?

b) An encouraging 17% are planning to do their 1st Marathon. This to me would suggest that a lot of people still think of the Marathon as the ultimate distance. I wonder how many of that 17% are runners who completed the Relay last year and are thinking about doing a full Marathon this year? Whatever the reason, the fact that one in six runners are thinking of doing their first Marathon means that these type of races have a bright future.

c) And 13% have no interest in doing one....we'll have to work on them ;o)

Agree or Disagree? Comments...