2023 Top 100 Largest Races

We assembled a preliminary list of the 2023 top 100 largest races that were timed. We have been accumulating this list for a couple of years (see 2018, 2019, and 2022). This year, we also added data around the largest individual distances. There is no single aggregator of timing data, and while we try to be thorough, we may have missed some races or found incomplete data. If you see missing or incorrect data, please let us know at eric@runsignup.com.

A few notes:

• This data is total finishers based on public results data for all events for each race weekend (eg. total of 5K, 10K, Half and Full).
• This data does not include untimed events. Many large P2P events and untimed Turkey Trots are not included.
• We likely missed some races! This report is very manual and we expect to make additional updates. Please email eric@runsignup.com with any corrections or additions (and thanks to Eric Cone for collecting and collating the data!).The mot recent updates were made on 1/29 at 2:30pm ET.

2023 Top 100 Largest Races List

The finisher totals for this list look significantly better than a year ago, but the impact of the pandemic on the largest races lingers. Consistently, large races (over 5,000 participants) have lagged behind 2019 registration, even as small races exceed pre-pandemic participation.

While many of the individual races in the top 100 have seen growth, you can see the shrinking of large races overall through a few stats:

• In 2023, the top 100 list had 1,613,108 participants. That’s more than the 1,389,528 participants in the top 100 2022 races, but trails the 1,874,586 from the 2019 list. That’s a decline of 14%.
• In 2019, the 100th largest race had 9,456 participants. In 2023, it was just 7,233.
• In 2019, 33 races exceeded 20,000 participants. In 2023, 26 races exceeded 20,000 participants.
• 88 of the 98 races that also had a 2022 event grew their attendance over the last year.
• 33 of the 93 races that also had a 2019 event grew their attendance compared to 2019.

2023 Top 100 Largest Races

Registration Platforms and the Top 100

Two thirds of all the races in the top 100 use one of four major registration platform.

• RunSignup leads with the most races in the top 100 list. This is in line with RunSignup’s overall endurance market share of ~40%, with more than 9 million participants in 28,000 races in 2023.
• Haku heavily targets larger races with a strategy that includes building custom solutions and providing on-site personnel. This is a less scalable, higher cost model that some large races believe they need.
• Active retains a foothold in the large race industry through their Rock ‘n’ Roll series, despite discontinuing a number of races in the past few years (see “What’s Changed Since 2019“).
• Race Roster made an aggressive pricing push over the last few years in attempt to grow their business. While they did win several large races, their total in the top 100 (14) remains the same as it was in 2022, and they have recently increased their pricing structure for most races.
• Additionally, 15 races used some type of custom, in-house software.

As Bob discussed in his blog on Company Strategy for 2024, RunSignup’s focus is on remaining the clear technology leader through software for timers, next-generation race websites, free email with flexible list creation and management, and more. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers with a “No Contracts” philosophy that ensures customers can always choose the technology that’s best for their event.

What’s Changed Since 2022

There are 11 new races in the top 100. These include:

• 9 races that were still limited by COVID restrictions or unease in 2022
• 1 new race in the Hot Chocolate Series
• A corporate run that was cancelled for several years before re-emerging with a new title sponsor in 2023.

New Races to The Top 100 List (Compared to 2022)

Most races that were replaced in the top 100 were lower-ranked 2022 events that fell slightly below the 2023 threshold. In many cases, with relatively stable registration in 2022 and 2023 still dropped off the list because of growth to other events. Additionally, one dropped race was a discontinued Rock ‘n’ Roll Race – the only permanently cancelled event from the 2022 top 100. The highest ranked event to drop off the list was the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon & Medtronic TC 10 Mile. Twin Cities was forced to cancel their 2023 event due to weather.

Races from the 2022 Top 100 List That Dropped Off in 2023

What’s Changed Since 2019

Looking at the 2023 list compared to 2019 gives an indication of market shifts over the last years. Races that dropped off the list include:

• 1 weather cancellation (same one from the 2022 list) & 1 race that was always intended to be one year only.
• 6 discontinued races from large race organizations, including 5 in the Rock ‘n’ Roll series and one from Disney.
• 11 races that continued in 2023, but are not as big as they were in 2019.
• 1 race was virtual; we stopped including virtual after 2020.

Races from the 2019 Top 100 List That Dropped Off by 2023

Largest Single Events in 2023

This is a new section of this report, looking for at the largest single distances across the country. For example, we review just the 10K of race weekends instead of all distances. As with the main report, we attempt to be thorough, but likely have missed some events. Please send any corrections.

Top 25 Largest Single Distances

Top 10 5K’s

Top 10 10K’s

Top 5 10 Milers

Top 10 Half Marathons

Top 10 Marathons

Summary

Most races are small. In our upcoming 2023 Trends Report, we found:

• 95% of all event distances have fewer than 500 participants
• The majority of participants (58%) take part in a race with fewer than 1,000 registrants.
• The 1,633,244 total participants is likely only 6% of total participants. For example RunSignup’s total 8,496,591 registrations is 5X the whole Top 100.
• Another stat to show the broad, distributed nature of the endurance community is that the 1,664,940 of the Top 100 is less than twice the 920,000 runners across 833 races just on the RunSignup platform on Thanksgiving 2023.

Regardless, large events have an outsized impact on the perception of the running industry and hold a unique cultural position.

While much of the endurance industry has seen a full recovery from the pandemic, large events on average have struggled to regrow to 2019 levels. Of the races on this list that also held an event in 2019, participation still lags behind by 8%. Continued concerns about travel costs, disruptions to racing traditions, and reduced budgets for large races are likely still contributing to the decline in numbers. However, it does appear that big races are still on the upswing – races on this list that also held a 2022 event saw an average participation increase of 22%.

Looking ahead, races need to continue to rebuild personal connections with runners – a challenge, when you have tens of thousands of runners. Extend your race experience with local training groups, repeat interactions with existing running clubs, and beginner outreach. Then, look to new forms of social media, email with personalization, easy distribution of photographic and video media from your events, and automated marketing programs to help increase your reach with limited manpower. We will continue to support your events through free and easy technology, with many upgrades to come in 2024.