Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Half Marathons Reach a Milestone & Surpass 2000 total mark in 2012



The year 2012 has been a year of tremendous growth for half marathons and marks a new milestone of surpassing over 2000 half marathons across the United States.  Half Marathons are being formed as fast as we can add them to the online calendar directories.  Halfmarathonsearch.com analyzed, searched, and compared the top half marathon directory listings across the United States and came to a total of 2005 half marathons for all US States totaled, reported on August 26, 2012.  California leads the way with the top number of half marathons, surpassing the 250 mark this year and new half marathons being added almost weekly, with Florida following as second with a total of 105 half marathons reached in 2012.  Not too far behind Florida follows Utah, Texas, and the state of Washington for most half marathons in the United States.  Both Florida and Texas hit their 100 milestone this year in 2012.

As events grow, the importance for Race Directors and Event Management companies to understand their audience, not only from a race day perspective, but also an online perspective in presenting the event website is critical.  A past article Event Websites in our Changing World of Technology, Social Media, and Accommodating the Traveling Athlete written by Nicole Blomgren, Founder and President of Fifty States HALF Marathon Club and Halfmarathonsearch.com, provides good insight into what events should be cognizant of in presenting their information for runners, to make finding an event so much easier.

The rate of half marathon additions does not seem to be slowing as we approach this last quarter of 2012, predicting half marathon totals to likely grow to between 2300 to 2500 by the end of 2013.  Half Marathon clubs and training organizations have also seen growth in 2012, such as the national running club Fifty States HALF Marathon Club www.halfmarathonclub.com , which has more than doubled over the past year, and the training organization  PRSFIT Nation www.prsfit.com which also continues to grow, training runners and triathletes, of all levels, globally.

Furthermore, the half marathon 13.1 mile distance event is a nice event to travel on the weekends to. Runners can typically experience a quick recovery after finishing a half marathon, one may not encounter when participating in a full marathon, presenting the half marathon experience to be very enjoyable running distance event for runners.

 ~ Copyright 2012 - Nicole Blomgren