Chicago Marathon - Runner Statistics

Runner Statistics

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon has grown significantly from its beginnings. In 1905, 20 runners registered for the first Chicago Marathon, 15 actually started the race, and 7 finished. For the first "modern" marathon race in 1977, just over 1,000 people signed up for the race, with expected numbers of just 200–300. In 1995, 9,000 people registered, and in 1999, over 29,000 people registered. The 2001 marathon run on October 7 reached its cap of 37,500, which was instituted after the 2000 race drew 33,171 runners, just prior to the entry deadline on September 19. In 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 it reached its cap of 40,000. The October 10, 2004, October 9, 2005 and October 22, 2006 races reached their 40,000 entrant caps on August 16, July 14, and May 26 respectively. On April 18, 2007, the 2007 race run on October 7 reached its cap of 45,000 entrants. There was a late registration exemption whereby elite runners (marathon times of less than 2:31/3:01 or half marathon times of 1:11/1:21 for (men/women)) could register until September 1 even though the race had reached its registration cap in the spring. The 40,000 registrants and 33,000 finishers in 2003 made the Chicago Marathon the third or fourth largest marathon depending on which metric (registrants or finishers) is used.

The Chicago Marathon is entered by predominantly Caucasian entrants from middle- to upper-middle-class affluence with a wide range in age and near equality in the sexes. The Chicago Marathon has never excluded women. Historically, however, the women's field has been smaller than the men's. This seems to be the result of older age categories having large multiples of men to women, but the women are beginning to outnumber the men in the 20s age group of the field.