New York Road Runners Look at 2008 (By The Numbers)

A Look Back at the 2008 NYRR Season

Number of events: 69
Number of total entrants: 334,855                            
Number of total finishers: 238,104
Three largest races:
1.    ING New York City Marathon 2008 (38,096 finishers)
2.    NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE (10,506 finishers)
3.    Scotland Run 10K (6,964 finishers)
Three smallest races:
1.    USA 8K Championships (71 finishers)
2.    NYRR Knickerbocker 60K (78 finishers)
3.    More Magazine Marathon (140 finishers)

Month with the highest number of people who ran: November
with 61,319 finishers, clearly because of the ING New York City
Marathon. However, if you take that race out of the equation, May wins
the award with 21,384 finishers. July takes third place with 19,405
finishers.

Race that grew the most in 2008: The New York Junior
League Mother‰Ûªs Day four-mile race had 3,319 finishers, which is 1,917
more than in 2007‰ÛÓwell over twice as many.

Race with most finishers in the NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines series: Brooklyn (5,832 finishers)

Empire State Building Style

Who Will Rise to the Top?

A signature event of New York Road Runners and one the world‰Ûªs premier
tower races, the 32nd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up tests
the limit of physical ability. More than 250 competitors from around
the world will bypass the elevators and climb 86 floors (1,576 steps)
to reach the finish line on the iconic observation deck. The
invitational event is known as the granddaddy of worldwide stair-climb
competitions, a sport that has grown in popularity.

Defending champions Thomas Dold of Germany and Suzy Walsham of
Australia will return to New York City for this year‰Ûªs race. Dold, 24,
will be climbing the stairs in search of his fourth consecutive victory
and Walsham, 35, will be looking for a hat trick.

Journalists
interested in covering the event, particularly photographers and camera
crews, should RSVP to the NYRR media staff ASAP, as space is limited.
Journalists who would like to cover this race from a first-person point
of view should contact Sara Hunninghake (shunninghake@nyrr.org).

The
ING New York City Marathon is not the only time NYRR takes the show out
to all five boroughs of New York. The annual NYRR Half-Marathon Grand
Prix Presented by Continental Airlines continues to welcome runners of
all abilities to race the popular half-marathon (13.1-mile) distance in
each of New York City‰Ûªs scenic five boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx,
Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Every runner who completes at
least four of the five races earns a commemorative patch, and those who
run all five receive a certificate and a special gift.

Did You Know?
In 2008, there were a total of 20,782 finishers in the series, with 509 runners finishing all five races and another 458 completing four of the five.

Content written by Meghan Chisholm