In 2010, Running USA published its first annual Half-Marathon Report because of the impressive growth in the 13.1 mile distance in the United States, and because of the explosive growth in another sector of the sport, they created a Non-Traditional Running Events Special Report.
In just five years, the number of estimated finishers in U.S. non-traditional events has grown from low six figures in 2009 to a staggering 4 million in 2013, a nearly hard-to-believe 40-fold increase. In addition, a handful of mass participation adventure series in 2009 has rapidly expanded to more than 35 non-traditional or themed running series that included mud, color, foam, electric, zombie and even ugly sweater runs by 2013.
To read the full article published on April 27, 2014 and link to the Report, click here.