We have had a great
response to our marathon survey. Following is an in-depth look at the
results and some of the key reasons people gave for running a
successful, or not-so-successful, race.
Overall results:
Over 1500 marathoners have completed our survey so far. Here
are the results of our analysis of the survey responses.
This bar chart shows the
percentage of marathon finishers compared to minutes over/under their target
times.
Summary:
31% of runners
were on target within + 5 minutes of their goal. (A bulls-eye in
marathon terms!)
41% were quite close, coming within 15 minutes over their target
27% met or beat their time goal.
73% did not meet their target.
Are women more realistic
than men in predicting their finish time?
Yes, slightly; 31% of
women met or exceeded their marathon finish time compared to 25% of men
Which survey group was clearly
better at meeting their time goal?
This turned out to be quite
close between two different groups.
53%
of the group who predicted times
under 3 hours
finished within plus or minus 5 minutes of their target, compared to the
average for all runners of
30%.
Almost
50%
of the runners in the
40-44 age group also
finished within plus or minus 5 minutes of their goal.
The younger age groups from
18 - 39
were the least accurate in predicting their finish times.
Top five reasons for
not meeting your marathon goal
As our survey indicates, most
marathon runners do not achieve their time goal. The marathon is a very
tough event and this is not altogether surprising. However, we all train
hard for the race and most of us expect to do reasonably well. Here are the
top five reasons stated for not meeting the target time.
Adverse
Conditions: fully 32%
of the people who didn't meet their goal gave this as the main reason.
Specific reasons included the heat (this affected a lot of runners),
hilly course, and headwinds.
Insufficient Training:
18% said that they should have done more training. The most common
reasons given were insufficient weekly mileage and long runs.
Started
Too Fast: 11% went
out too quickly and ran out of energy during the second half.
Hit the
Wall: Although almost
10% gave this as a reason. it is usually a result of one or more of the
above such as insufficient training or starting to quickly for the
conditions.
Injury or
sickness: 6% stated
they had a problem with previous injury or sickness prior to the race.
Top reasons for meeting your marathon goal
People who met their marathon
time goal attributed the following different reasons to their success:
Proper
Training: this
accounted for 37% of the people who finished under their target time.
Responses included things like, sticking to the training plan, training
harder and getting help from a coach.
Right
Strategy: 23% gave
this reason, referring to things like setting a realistic goal, and not
starting out to fast.
Previous
experience: 12% cited
previous marathon experience as the main reason they were able to meet
their target
The marathon survey is still on-going, if you've completed a marathon
recently, fill out our simple survey form below.
Did you meet your
marathon goal? Help us to measure the overall performance of
marathon participants by completing our I minute survey below. We
will compile the data and publish updated results every week. The goal is to find out whether people generally achieve their
target time or not and if not - why not?
Marathon
Results: Quick Survey
Name of your last marathon
Marathon Date
Month:
Day: Year:
Select male or female
& Age Category
Male:
Female:
Age
Category
Number of weeks training -
# of marathons
Weeks Training
Previous Marathons
Actual
vs. Target
time
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Enter your
Target time
Enter your
Actual time
Enter the
reason you feel that you met/did not meet your time goal
