2019 Largest 100 Races

We have attempted to put together the Largest 100 races that were timed from 2019. We have been accumulating this list for a couple of years (here is 2018). While we try, we may have missed some races, or we might not have the numbers exactly right since this is a manual process. So if you see missing or incorrect data, please let us know at info@runsignup.com.

We would also like feedback on whether we should try to create a list of largest untimed races, however the definition gets a little fuzzy, and it is difficult to prove out numbers.

Also, please refer to our Race Trends report for an in depth view of data from across thousands of races and millions of participants. And our bi-annual Registration Market Analysis.

Overall. it was a good year with modest growth of 1 – 2.3% depending on how you count it. There was a one year only race – the Tunnel to Viaduct 8K with 25,000 participants – counting that gives you 2.3%. Leaving that off and replacing it with the 101 place race on the list brings it down to 1.4%.

The total of 1,870,000 participants across the Top 100 represents about 6-10% of the total number of participants across all races, depending on which market estimate you believe.

Here is the full list:

2019 Rank	2019 Total	2019 Growth	Name
1	60,752	11%	AJC Peachtree Road Race
2	53,519	2%	TCS New York City Marathon
3	45,852	3%	Bank of America Chicago Marathon
4	42,342	-23%	Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
5	41,197	-8%	Bolder Boulder
6	35,433	16%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas
7	35,127	2%	Boston Marathon + BAA 5k
8	34,832	-9%	Lilac Bloomsday Run
9	34,565	-5%	Blue Cross Broad Street Run
10	32,362	-2%	Disney’s Princess Half Marathon
11	32,285	9%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Chicago
12	31,325	-15%	Flying Pig Marathon
13	29,287	7%	Cooper River Bridge Run
14	26,967	1%	Honolulu Marathon
15	26,818	6%	Brooklyn Half Marathon
16	26,476	-1%	Gasparilla Distance Classic Race Weekend
17	26,106	-4%	Marine Corps Marathon
18	26,096	12%	Los Angeles Marathon
19	25,729	9%	Philadelphia Marathon, Half Marathon, and Rothman Institute 8K
20	25,244		Tunnel to Viaduct 8k
21	25,168	1%	Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
22	25,107	1%	Army Ten Miler
23	24,709	7%	Chevron Houston Marathon / Aramco Half Marathon / ABB 5K
24	24,659	12%	United Airlines NYC Half
25	24,485	18%	St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville
26	23,668	-10%	Star Wars – The Dark Side Weekend
27	23,539	11%	San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon
28	23,426	-2%	Oneamerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon
29	23,060	-3%	12th Annual Pat’s Run
30	20,781	-1%	Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle
31	20,358	6%	Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile
32	20,170	-5%	Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K
33	20,140	-5%	Pittsburgh Marathon
34	19,965	10%	Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Half Marathon, and 8K
35	19,702	2%	St. Jude Memphis Marathon
36	19,535	3%	Lifetime Miami Marathon, Half Marathon & Tropical 5k
37	18,957	1%	Grandma’s Marathon – Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon
38	18,852	27%	Cowtown Marathon
39	18,806	7%	Detroit Free Press/Talmer Bank Marathon
40	18,336	-25%	Bay to Breakers
41	18,091	34%	The Great Pumpkin Run
42	17,796	-22%	Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon & Medtronic TC 10 Mile
43	17,768	0%	Mercedes Corporate Run Miami
44	17,587	0%	San Francisco Marathon
45	17,056	24%	Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon
46	17,020	-4%	Baltimore Running Festival
47	16,864	6%	Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
48	16,649	-11%	Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon and Half-Marathon
49	16,182	8%	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
50	15,990	1%	Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
51	15,569	-1%	Utica Boilermaker Road Race
52	15,382	6%	Richmond Marathon, Half Marathon, and 8K
53	14,348	-5%	Oklahoma City Marathon
54	13,942	2%	Crescent City Classic
55	13,914	19%	Austin Marathon & Half Marathon
56	13,823	5%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon
57	13,789	14%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle
58	13,510	-10%	Drumstick Dash
59	13,333	-1%	Santa Cruz to Capitola Wharf to Wharf Race
60	13,280	81%	Crazy Legs
61	13,106	-2%	Detroit Thanksgiving Parade Turkey Trot
62	13,063	-2%	Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
63	12,682	17%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – San Francisco
64	12,616	-11%	Gate River Run
65	12,604	-18%	Shamrock Run
66	12,530	2%	Columbus Marathon
67	12,414	-1%	New Balance Bronx
68	12,399	-11%	Fargo Marathon
69	11,912	8%	Buffalo YMCA TURKEY TROT 8 KILOMETER RACE
70	11,854	4%	NYRR Five-Borough Series: Queens 10K
71	11,840	-2%	California International Marathon
72	11,815	0%	Great Aloha Run
73	11,544	4%	Falmouth Road Race
74	11,396	-10%	Surf City USA Marathon and Half Marathon
75	11,314	11%	Rocky Run
76	11,273	26%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
77	11,141	-4%	Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon and Half Marathon
78	11,124	2%	Amway River Bank Run
79	11,081	30%	Rock n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon
80	10,817	8%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Dallas
81	10,750	0%	OC Marathon
82	10,600	-9%	The Giant Race
83	10,554	2%	City of Pittsburgh Great Race
84	10,497	16%	Hot Chocolate 15k/5k
85	10,403	1%	Spring Lake 5 Miler
86	10,110	-23%	The Ohio State 4 Miler
87	9,972	-13%	NYRR Staten Island Half Marathon and 5K(dropped in 2017)
88	9,956	8%	Manchester Road Race
89	9,877	2%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Seattle
90	9,848	9%	San Jose Rock n Roll
91	9,761	0%	Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
92	9,673	5%	Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, 5K, Mile & Dash
93	9,657	14%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Philly
94	9,647	-3%	Quad City Times Bix
95	9,636	8%	Crim Festival of Races
96	9,598	10%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – San Diego
97	9,518	-8%	BMW Dallas Marathon
98	9,461	-18%	Air Force Marathon
99	9,457	52%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Atlanta
100	9,456	-8%	Long Beach Marathon and Half Marathon

While the overall growth was about 2%, there were 20 races who grew at least 10%:

2019 Rank	2019 Total	2019 Growth	Name
1	13,280	81%	Crazy Legs
2	9,457	52%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Atlanta
3	18,091	34%	The Great Pumpkin Run
4	11,081	30%	Rock n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon
5	18,852	27%	Cowtown Marathon
6	11,273	26%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
7	17,056	24%	Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon
8	13,914	19%	Austin Marathon & Half Marathon
9	24,485	18%	St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville
10	12,682	17%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – San Francisco
11	10,497	16%	Hot Chocolate 15k/5k
12	35,433	16%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas
13	9,657	14%	Hot Chocolate 15K/5K – Philly
14	13,789	14%	Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle
15	24,659	12%	United Airlines NYC Half
16	26,096	12%	Los Angeles Marathon
17	60,752	11%	AJC Peachtree Road Race
18	11,314	11%	Rocky Run
19	23,539	11%	San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon
20	19,965	10%	Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Half Marathon, and 8K

Some random notes on the above:

• Cowtown had weather issues in 2018 so they bounced back in 2019
• We believe Hot Chocolate Atlanta had a weather issue in 2018

Consolidation

While there has been some industry consolidation over the past couple of years, with WTC acquiring Rock & Roll, and Gannet/New Media/Gatehouse/Rugged acquiring Hot Chocolate/RamRacing/Enmotive/imATHLETE, there is still fairly limited scale in the business.

Here are the top owners of races. None have reached even 1% market share in the US, proving it is difficult to scale. WTC grew the 12 Rock & Roll races by just over 10% by adding a 5K to their events. Gannett/Hot Chocolate grew by 13%.

2019	# Races	# of Participants
WTC – Rock & Roll	12	206,029
New York Road Runners	6	149,590
Disney	4	123,540
Gannett/Hot Chocolate	10	136,075
Atlanta Track Club	2	70,425
Chicago Event Management	2	66,633
Philadelphia Parks & Rec	2	60,294
Motiv	3	33,456

Registration Providers

The registration providers continues to evolve and change. RaceIt and Race Partner were top providers just a couple of years ago, and now are both out of business. The combination of GetMeRegistered and RaceWire seems to be running into difficulty with key leaders in each company departing Stack Sports. ChronoTrack has announced their partnership with RunSignup and the 5 races who use them have already started migrating with Pat’s Run open on RunSignup already. The combination of Enmotive and imATHLETE was announced recently, but they have not yet announced their plans for either migrating users to one platform or the other or creating a “best of” integration.

There is a fair mount of change that will happen on this list over the next 2 years as the old method of doing multi-year contracts expires and more races insist on non-exclusive agreements that RunSignup has made popular.

Registration Provider	Number of organizations	Number of races	2019 Finishers
Active	6	19	322,830
RunSignUp	13	14	208,883
RaceRoster	11	12	183,920
Haku	6	10	278,721
Enmotive	3	10	143,624
in-house	2	7	184,717
imAthlete	4	5	89,959
CTL	4	5	127,368
local	4	4	84,861
MarathonGuide	4	4	92,560
GetMeRegistered	2	3	38,228
RaceCentral	2	2	28,337
EventDog	1	1	13,914
Configio	1	1	41,197
SignMeUp	1	1	12,616
Blackbaud	1	1	19,702
events.com	1	1	11,815
Total	66	100	1,883,252

Again, if you see any errors of omissions, please let us know.