Which Runners are the Most Obssessed?

As a follow up to its State of Ultra Running 2020 study, Run Repeat wanted to look at what kind of runners are most likely to run multiple races a year, to gain an understanding of which distance has the most “obsessed” runners.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was ultra runners!

This stats page (https://runrepeat.com/most-obssessed-runners-stats-page) is a simple look at the participation patterns of runners in the 5 most common distances: 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon and Ultra.

Key findings:

  • Ultrarunning has the most obsessed runners. 41.02% of ultra runners participated in more than one race in 2018 compared to 33.31% (5K), 16.53% (10K), 22.62% (Half Marathon), and 17.60% (Marathon).
  • 10K is the least sticky distance with only 16.53% of runners participating in more than one 10K per year.
  • 24.89% of ultra racers participated in 2 races in 2018, and 9.53% in 3 races. This is higher than any other distance for % of those that ran 2 or 3 races in a single year.
  • Over the years 10K and Marathon distances races have consistently seen the lowest % of repeat participation.

Read more here: https://runrepeat.com/most-obssessed-runners-stats-page