Some of the key points were......
a) 46 per cent of finishers in 2000 were female. By 2015 that proportion had fallen to 30 per cent.
b) Young men doing their first marathon are the most likely ones to blow up and hit the wall! :o))
c) Marathon runners are getting older.
First off, here is one of the charts that Barry put together which highlights some of the points....
Percentage Women.....I had always assumed that the percentage of women taking part in marathons was lower in the past as more women seem to be running now than ever before. It was a bit of a suprise to see that the percentage was around 46% back in the year 2000.
Sometimes you can get strange results when the numbers are low but there were 7170 finishers that year which is hardly low. I wonder why the percentage of women was higher back then?
Finishers getting older.......This ties in a lot with the way club membership is going. The average runner now tends to be older than before. Back in the 80's, they were usually young men in their 20's and 30's. In the 2000's, they tended to be 30's and 40's and now, it is more late 30's and early 40's.
The chart above shows the percentage of finishers in the Dublin Marathon aged 40 and above is now over 50%. As you can see, the age profile really started to climb after 2012.
Links...
1) The Irish Times article can be seen HERE
2) Barry Smyth as his original article HERE. It contains a lot of other stats as well which you may find of interest.
Not being sexist in any way here but maybe the drop off in women running the marathon could tie in with the increased house prices and the need for a second income needed in most homes? Just a thought
ReplyDeleteHow about that the age profile is ever increasing because we have now a generation in their early twenties who have a sense of entitlement and not a deep rooted work ethic. Also look around and observe the amount of obese young people, further evidence that a generation of young people who do not have the will to work.
ReplyDeleteNot that I blame the young people it's the generation that raised them that are arguably more to blame. One could argue that the falling percentage of younger runners is indicitive of the sign of the general malaise in society.
Increasingly self obsessed social media junkies who don't posses the where with all to improve their lot. Apologies for the rant
What are you driving at John regards the age profile of the road races and club membership? You seem to keep mentioning it. I have noticed it myself. Are you trying to say that running will be extinct in another generation or two?
ReplyDeleteRef the age profile, it's just an observation rather than making any grand prediction. There has been a definite shift in the last few years but there is no obvious reason as to why.
ReplyDeleteRE Grumpy 40 something said...
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head, everyone (young and old) is to blame for this mess.
I think the main reason for low youth participation is mainly down to other sports.i plaued soccer up to my late twentys and struggled to find a love for running.also younger people take their health for granted amd dont see the opportunity they have with running to get active
ReplyDelete