We release an annual RaceTrends Report each winter to provide a thorough assessment of the state of the endurance and fundraising events industry. Today, we have a brief update looking at 2026 midyear race trends to help event organizers better understand the current state of the industry.
Table of Contents
The Data
The data used for this report includes internal RunSignup data from 12/1/2025-5/31/2026. Data from the 2025 RaceTrends Report covered 12/1/2024-11/30/2025. The numbers represent 6.9 million registrants (paid and imported) from the first half of 2026. We estimate that our data represents around 60% of the endurance market. Note: the data for ultramarathons can be misleading because it includes many virtual races over longer time ranges. You can find better data on that cohort in our Ultramarathon Statistics report.
2026 Growth Trends for Races
Races Continue to Grow
The top-line metric to evaluate the strength of the market (instead of the strength of RunSignup) is to compare the number of participants in races that have used RunSignup for two years. This removes any impact from increased market share or new races in the market, looking only at how participation numbers have grown on a per-race basis.
Per-race growth continues to be steady, with races growing an average of 5.9% in the first half of 2026, a slight uptick from the 5% growth rate in 2025.
Race registration revenue increased faster than participation in 2026, with per-race revenue up 9.9%. This gap likely results from increases in prices (covered below), as well as revenue-raising tactics like add-on sales.
Large Races are Booming
For several post-COVID years, large races (5,000+) struggled to re-capture runners. Now, it looks like they’ve made it to the other side: large races grew 8.2%, faster than any other race cohort. This, combined with discussions about the speed of races selling out, indicates there may faster growth for the largest, most popular events.
| Race Size | % Change 2019-2023 | % Change 2023-2024 | % Change 2024-2025 | % Change 2025-2026 (Midyear) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 500 | 13.6% | 10% | 6.4% | 6.6% |
| 501-1,000 | -5.1% | 6.8% | 3.8% | 4.0% |
| 1,001-5,000 | -7.1% | 7.7% | 5.3% | 5.3% |
| 5,001+ | -15.9% | 5.1% | 3.1% | 8.2% |
Race Churn is Very Low
We manually track every race over 500 participants to see how many of them return on our platform, how many leave for another platform, and how many events cease to exist at all. So far in 2026, just 3.7% of races that had more than 500 participants in 2025 did not return in 2026. That continues a multi-year trend of very low churn; prior to the pandemic, no-race churn ranged between 5-7%.
| Year | Competitor Churn | No Race Churn |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2.6% | 5.0% |
| 2024 | 1.2% | 3.9% |
| 2025 | 0.9% | 3.1% |
| 2026 (Midyear) | 1.7% | 3.7% |
Key Takeaways:
- Growth is steady: take advantage. While the growth rate isn’t astronomical, it’s definitely strong. With whispers of a coming demographic cliff and economic headwinds, cultivate a repeat runner base now, while interest is high. First, grow your funnel with a referral rewards program curated for your event, and cultivate long-term participation with loyalty programs.
- Large races are thriving. For several post-COVID years, large races struggled to re-capture runners. Now, it looks like they’ve made it to the other side. For races just below that major-race cutoff, capitalize on the major-race enthusiasm with promotions highlighting why your race makes a (better) alternative.
- The race industry is stable. Low race churn means success for races and few newly opened gaps in the annual calendar. But, with strong per-race growth numbers, the stability may be a good thing: there are extra runners to fill new races even with low turnover races.
Pricing Trends for 2026 Races
Prices Continue to Rise
Prices have been rising since the post-pandemic years. 2026 is no different, with the largest increases for marathons (5.2%) and 10K’s (3.7% ).
| Race Distance | Avg Price 2021 | Avg Price 2022 | Avg Price 2023 | Avg Price 2024 | Avg Price 2025 | Avg Price 2026 (Mid-Year | Change 2025-2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mile | $19.60 | $20.05 | $20.71 | $21.41 | $21.58 | $22.38 | 0.8% |
| 5K | $27.40 | $28.94 | $29.97 | $30.48 | $31.23 | $33.61 | 2.5% |
| 10K | $34.55 | $38.09 | $39.75 | $41.85 | $43.40 | $45.19 | 3.7% |
| Half Marathon | $53.38 | $64.29 | $66.44 | $66.56 | $67.74 | $69.08 | 1.8% |
| Marathon | $74.47 | $86.02 | $91.62 | $92.66 | $97.57 | $104.74 | 5.3% |
| Ultramarathon | $70.98 | $95.73 | $97.65 | $101.79 | $105.66 | $115.87 | 2.8% |
| Triathlon | $97.15 | $99.64 | $103.46 | $104.23 | $109.49 | $114.56 | 5.1% |
More Price Increases to Boost Revenue
Price increases are about more than just collecting more money: they motivate action and allow races to meet the pricing needs of a wider range of runners. In 2026, with races looking for ways to boost revenue without raising all prices, the average number of price increases per race increased.
| Race Distance | Avg # Price Increases 2021 | Avg # Price Increases 2022 | Avg # Price Increases 2023 | Avg # Price Increases 2024 | Avg # Price Increases 2025 | Avg # Price Increases 2026 (Mid-Year) | Change 2025-2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mile | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0% |
| 5K | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 30.0% |
| 10K | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 21.4% |
| Half Marathon | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 16.7% |
| Marathon | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 13.6 |
| Ultramarathon | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 15.4% |
| Triathlon | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 8.0% |
The average price of a race distance is only part of the story. With price increases, understanding the pricing landscape requires you to look at the low prices, high prices, and everything in between. When you do that, you can see that the price range for races is also expanding. This means events are using price increases to create a wider range of price options for participants.
Key Takeaways:
- Prices are still increasing with costs. With continued inflation and rising costs for both goods and local services, steady price increases continue. Luckily, high participation rates suggest that people are willing to pay the higher rates.
- Pricing structures are adapting. Race directors are looking for ways to boost revenue without passing down a wholesale price increase. Adding an additional increase to the race cycle, raising late registration fees by more, and promoting add-on sales are all strategies we see races using to mitigate the impact of price increases on the most price-sensitive of their customers.
When Are Runners Registering in 2026?
Are Runners Registering Earlier?
Each year when we look at registration data, we’ve seen a consistent patter: 24-26% of participants register on race week. This data looks a little different, with earlier registrations and just 17.4% of registrations on race week. Before you declare procrastination dead: we didn’t run this stat mid-year last year, but have seen a similar trend when we did in 2023 and 2022. In other words, it’s likely some of the large sellout spring races are impacting the late registration numbers, and we should expect some normalization by the winter.
Regardless, including the full-year data from 2025, we are seeing a very small, but real, shift to earlier registrations when we look at the annual data.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (Midyear) | Change 25-26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race Week | 25.2% | 25.1% | 24.8% | 23.9% | 23.7% | 17.4% | -26.6% |
| 8-14 Days | 13.3% | 12.1% | 12.1% | 11.7% | 11.4% | 9.0% | -21.2% |
| 15-30 Days | 22.0% | 20.6% | 20.3% | 20.7% | 20.1% | 17.4% | -16.0% |
| 31-60 Days | 19.3% | 19.5% | 19.8% | 20.0% | 20.3% | 20.2% | -0.3% |
| 61-90 Days | 8.2% | 9.2% | 9.7% | 9.7% | 10.2% | 12.2% | 19.3%% |
| 91-120 Days | 4.2% | 4.8% | 5.1% | 5.3% | 5.5% | 7.9% | 42.9% |
| 120+ Days | 7.7% | 8.8% | 8.3% | 8.8% | 8.9% | 16.4% | 84.2% |
To make registration data actionable, drill-down to the timelines by distance. Races of all distances follow a similar pattern of early registration excitement, mid-season spike, and late rush, but understanding the timing of each of those is key for building out a marketing plan for your race.
| 5K | 10K | Half Marathon | Marathon | Ultramarathon | Triathlon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race Week | 20% | 13.8% | 6.4% | 3.9% | 17.5% | 4.2% |
| 8-14 Days | 10.8% | 7.6% | 4.1% | 2.8% | 5.7% | 3.3% |
| 15-30 Days | 20% | 14.3% | 8.3% | 5.8% | 10.4% | 7.6% |
| 31-60 Days | 22.7% | 20.6% | 14.6% | 10.3% | 11.6% | 14.1% |
| 61-90 Days | 11.6% | 14.0% | 14.4% | 10.6% | 10.9% | 15.2% |
| 91-120 Days | 5.6% | 10.0% | 12.7% | 11.2% | 8.3% | 14.1% |
| 120+ Days | 9.3% | 19.7% | 39.6% | 55.4% | 35.6% | 41.5% |
Key Takeaway:
- Get registration open earlier (and with more enthusiasm): While the real shift is likely small, it does appear that runners are planning ahead and getting excited early. Consider moving up your registration opening to get on runners’ calendars. Regardless of the registration open-date, capitalize on early excitement with a coordinated launch between your email, social media, and local partners.
The Demographics of Running in 2026
Women Still Lead the Way
Gender identity has remained relatively steady throughout the years (aside from virtual races during the COVID years). We have been seeing a very slight closure of the gap between men & women, but in 2026 53.2% of participants identified as women.
Younger Runners Are Back
The participation decline of 18-29 year-olds was a hot topic even before COVID and accelerated with the loss of even more young participation during (and coming out of) the virtual years. In the two years, that trend seems to have reversed, with slow increases in young adult participation. In the first half of 2026 21.8% of participants were between 18-29.
Of note: youth (under 18) participation is typically lower in the Spring than in the Fall because of cross country; we expect this year’s age data to look closer to last year’s by the end of the year. Still, there are solid indicators that young adult participation has rebounded.
Key Takeaways
- Include women in your marketing. Women still make up a majority of the running industry. Make sure they feel welcome and represented in your marketing materials and giveaway items.
- Don’t forget about young adults, now. Yes, young adult runners are coming back to racing, but that doesn’t you should get complacent. Continue to incorporate new marketing and communications strategies such as video content, TikTok, and micro-influencers to build your base of young fans..
Mobile Payments and Races
Payments Should Be Easy
Since implementing Apple Pay in July 2023, adoption of the option has been rapid. In May of 2026, 31.9% of all registrations were paid by Apple Pay. With the majority of transactions (63%) being made from a mobile device, the speed and ease of registration and payment is more important than ever.
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Key Takeaway:
- Make registration easier. What’s better than automated incomplete registration emails? No incomplete registrations. Review your entire registration process for pitfalls that take too much time, from excessive questions to the payment processing. Apple Pay and saved credit cards simplify checkout and reduce cart drop-offs.
Photos Impact The Race Day Experience
Runners Love Race Photos
Free race day photos are one of the easiest ways to improve the runner experience (at a low overhead). While there’s a clear benefit to professional photography for re-usable, FOMO-inducing images, bulk photos are easier than ever to come by and serve a different purpose. The RaceDay Mobile App’s photo uploading capabilities makes it easy to capture some photo of virtually every runner, while the RunSignup Photo Platform auto-tags photos by bib to make it easy for runners to find themselves. Less than a year after release, 84,000+ photos were uploaded from the RaceDay Mobile App in May 2026.
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Key Takeaway:
- Photos = added value to for participants. Providing participants with easy-to-find photos keeps the race day going and gives them a visual reminder of the fun. High quantity photos aren’t a substitute for high quality photos, but they are an exciting addition for runners.
Quick Tips
It can be hard to keep up with all the latest technology options. Your race website is a great way to control how people see your event, communicate key information with participants, and get noticed by Google & AI Search options. Websites V2 is the default for new races; whether you already have a V2 site or are looking to transition, our internal Website Wizards have some quick tips for you (all in under
Showcasing
Testimonials
4:13
Customizable
Banner Images
2:56
Highlight Special Elements of Your Event
1:40
Add External Links to Website Navigation
2:01
Custom Image
Sign Up Button
3:58
Hidden Information for Your AI Chatbot
3:34
Using the AI Chatbot with a Custom FAQ
2:41
Adding Sponsors Without an Official Logo
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