Who Run The World? GIRLS!

Women dominate the sport of running, in terms of participation. This has long been the case.

"Females account for 10.7 million finishers nationwide and continue to represent 57% from event fields."

Here are some interesting statistics broken down by age groups:

Age Group Distribution of U.S. Timed Race Finishers 2014
Age Group	Female	Male	Overall
6-17 yrs	9%	11%	10%
18-24 yrs	10%	8%	9%
25-34 yrs	28%	23%	26%
35-44 yrs	27%	25%	26%
45-54 yrs	17%	20%	18%
55-64 yrs	7%	10%	8%
65+ yrs	2%	3%	2%

I wonder a bit whether senior women outnumber men simply because women live longer or if there are other factors at play.

Race Demographics of Timed Finishers in 2014

DISTANCE	WOMEN	MEN
5K	58%	42%
Median Time	33:43	29:47
Average Age	36.6	39.4
10K	59%	41%
Median Time	1:06:22	57:03
Average Age	36.6	39.4
Half-Marathon	61%	39%
Median Time	2:21:22	2:02:55
Average Age	36.0	39.1
Marathon	43%	57%
Median Time	4:44:18	4:19:27
Average Age	36.0	40.0

Here we see that women make up a large majority of participants in all event distances except marathon, though women frequently perform better than men at such long-distance events. Many factors contribute to the disparity: Marathon training requires a much larger time commitment than other events and women still carry unequal shares of household work and family time expectations. Equipment and coaching is notably expensive as well while the gender pay gap persists. 

And while women's participation in triathlon has surged from 27 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 2014, the sports' organization is stacked against them in regards to gender equity in Ironman competitions.

We've come a long way since women were first allowed to participate in 5 Olympic running events in 1960 and were banned from competing in all U.S. road races from 1961 to 1972.