What is up with the 10K in Germany? There is so much potential for development for the German organisers!

Berlin tops the charts for the 10K with the race on the famous "Kurfürstendamm" ©camera 4

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For years, German Road Races (GRR) has been publishing a monthly “Running Market” (“Laufmarkt”) by Dr. Roland Döhrn, with the current evaluations of the German running scene and his interpretations of the trends in the world of running. The top 10 German races for each of the categories 10K, half marathon and marathon are published on the front page of the GRR website, along with the largest running events, and at the link “GRR Statistics” we have provided a full overview of the 100 events for each of the disciplines from the “Laufmarkt” (as we have done for the past several years).

We greatly appreciate the immense amount of voluntary work that Dr. Roland Döhrn* has provided out of his interest for the sport of running; he is a member of TUSEM Essen, the organiser of the RWE Essen Marathon “Rund um den Baldeneysee” (Around Baldeney Lake), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

His successful statistical work can only be compared with “RUNNING USA” (Ryan Lamppa - Media Director), a special department of the US Track and Field Association, which evaluates and records the entire realm of running in the USA professionally and officially – there is no such service provided by the German athletics association, DLV, for Germany.

For the many DLV public races, there are no verifiable numbers available.

In the following, we are presenting the top 20 or 30 events from the 2011 statistics, with brief commentaries, and then an overview of the top 100 races for each discipline.

The statistics only include the data from 10K, half marathon and marathon events; the relays, ultra races, youth races, etc. are not the subject of this report.

For his statistics, Dr. Roland Döhrn uses ONLY the pure numbers of finishers of the races, and he does not include the additional races and competitions, which the organisers provide on the periphery. His numbers are thus a true representation of the event, not fantasy numbers, and the winning times, ambiance, or organisation play no role.

The largest 10K races in Germany

Berlin tops the charts for the 10K, half marathon and marathon races, as well as for the largest overall event. While Berlin leads in the categories half marathon, marathon and overall event with a large advantage, Berlin (5,167 participants) just edges ahead of the next 10K race, Munich (5,078), and Hamburg (4,396), which a few years ago was in the lead. The second 10K race in Berlin, the Asics Grand 10 (4,319) is lurking right behind, just ahead of the Berlin Women’s Race (4,317).

If you think about it, the 10K ought to draw the largest number of participants in Germany – and not the marathon or half marathon races. If one compares it to 10K races in the USA, for instance, Germany looks like a “developing running country” for the 10K.  The Peachtree Roadrace 10K in Atlanta draws well over 50,000 participants – and that is no exception. The Bolder Boulder 10K also has over 50,000 participants. The City2Surf 14K race in Sydney, Australia registers 68,000 runners and at the 11K race in Barcelona, over 55 runners take the start.

What is up with the 10K in Germany? There is so much potential for development for the German organisers!  The attraction of the marathon may have helped the German runners forget that it just might make more sense to first run a successful 10K race and then attempt the longer distances.

The German 10K statistics from the “Laufmarkt”:

 
The complete overview is available as a PDF at the end of the article.

The largest German half marathons

The half marathon is still on the move in Germany, at least for the top three races. When I think back to the “beginning days” of the Berlin Half Marathon, it mucked around with 2000-3000 finishers, while the Göteborger Half Marathon (Göteborg’s Varvet) then already had over 25,000 participants – and now has over 40,000, with no end to the growth in sight in Norway. In Berlin, things did not get moving until 2003, with almost 11,000 finishers – now it has reached 20,250 – and registration is already closed for 2012.

The Cologne Marathon was able to increase it number of participants by almost 10%, but with 10,017 runners it is just about half the size of the race in Berlin – and at the cost of the full marathon there. The Gutenberg Mainz Marathon also increased by 10 %, for a new total of 6,778 finishers, while the Stuttgarter Zeitungs-Lauf unfortunately continues to decline (down 3%) with 6,631 participants. In Freiburg, there was a 3,5 % to 6,119 finishers. Hanover also grew slightly, and came in ninth in the German rankings with 5,097 finishers.

Internationally, Germany lies pretty far behind (8th) in the rankings (with the exception of Berlin).

The BUPA Great North RUN/GBR heads the list with 39,507 finishers (in 2010), ahead of Göteborg’s Varvet (38,459) and One America 500 Festival/USA with 31,046 participants (Statistics: only finishers, from Running USA).

German Half Marathon statistics from the “Laufmarkt”:

The complete overview is available as a PDF at the end of the article.

Germany’s largest marathon races

The Berlin Marathon is situated without competition at the top of the German marathon races, with 32,816 finishers, although it did have a small dent in the numbers in 2011 (down 3.6% from the previous year with 34,055). This may in part be due to the fact that the race is sold out earlier and earlier, which means many who sign up early may not be able to participate, and additionally, 2011 was very warm, while it poured in 2010 – which caused less runners to quit.

The Frankfurt Marathon has made a giant leap forwards with an increase of 30% to 12,428 (from 9,553) participants. The Hamburg Marathon went down 21% to 11,188 finishers (from 14,177), while Cologne dropped insignificantly (down 0.6% to 5,481 from 5,512) and Munich dropped drastically by 25.6% to 4,773 (from 6,412).

Internationally, Berlin ranks 4th behind the New York City Marathon with over 45,000 participants, the London Marathon and the Chicago Marathon. With Boston, Los Angeles, Washington and Honolulu, the USA has an additional 4 races with over 20,000 finishers. A total of seven races in the USA have over 17,000 finishers.

The USA continues to show a slight increase in the trend at a high level, while the marathon in Germany continues to move “downwards”, as Dr. Döhrn likes to say. His statistics say it all – and do not need any further commentary.

The German Marathon Statistics from the “Laufmarkt”:

The complete overview is available as a PDF at the end of the article.

The largest overall running events in 2011 in Germany

In the category overall running events in Germany, Berlin with its marathon event also leads, with a total number of 37,742 participants, which includes the inline skaters and walkers. With 24,581 finishers, the B2Run Munich ranks second, ahead of the Berlin Half Marathon with 21,943, Cologne with 17,389 and Frankfurt with 14,029 finishers.

Running USA includes a list of “Festivals”, with 67,999 participants in the Sun-Herald City2Surf 14K in Sydney, ahead of the 4K “Stracittadina Fun Run” in Rome with 65,000 participants, and the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge Frankfurt with 64,000 participants, albeit the last two totals are estimates.

In Berlin, there are two other events, the Mini-Marathon for schools with about 8,000 young participants, and the Bambini Run for kids with over 1,000 participants. One could possibly call this – and some other events – “running festivals”.

The German running scene has been growing for decades – completely independently from the running associations – at a high level of quality, and it is adapting and innovating as well. The comparison with activities abroad is necessary to help facilitate change.

The USA has always been a role model in the running world, and in time Europe/Germany will adopt new ideas to their advantage. 

Horst Milde

Die größten Läufe Deutschlands in der  GRR Statistik  (only german)

Dr. Roland Döhrn berichtet monatlich : Der Laufmarkt-Newsletter auf GRR (german)

Dr. Roland Döhrns Laufmarkt  (german)

*Roland Döhrn works as the Departmental Director of the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Institute for Economic Research and is an honorary professor at the University of Duisburg Essen.

The German Major Event Statistics from the “Laufmarkt”:

A relay counts as one runner

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