How Do Your Runs Measure Up to the 240 Million Others Logged in Strava Last Year?
We’ve pulled the most interesting stats from the annual report to help you determine where you fit in within the Strava-sphere.
The annual Strava results are out, and the data-heavy report clearly tells us that runners were definitely not slacking off pounding the pavement over the last year.
According to the new Strava report, 36 million athletes from 195 countries worldwide logged 6.67 billion miles in 2017. The data showed an average of 15 million activities uploaded per week, or to be even more specific, 20 uploads per second.
Now, there are 32 sport options from cycling to snowshoeing available for logging activities, so there’s a lot to sort through in the data. That’s why we’ve broken it down for you, so you see how running compares to other sports—and how you compare to other runners in the Strava-sphere. Here, the most interesting stats we learned from our year of workouts.
WATCH: Runner's World Editor Ali Nolan Breaks Down Strava’s Annual Report
Runners love a cold one after their runs. Sure, we devour many things postworkout, but beer reigns vastly supreme over coffee.
The sweet stuff—cakes, cookies, and doughnuts—comes up only after those two all-important beverages.
Overall, when looking at percentages, more women on Strava are running than taking part in any other sport.
However, the total number of men running on Strava nearly triples that of women. No matter what, both genders seem to favor the half marathon more than the full marathon distance.
There’s a very good chance you participated in a Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving before filling up on that turkey feast. The U.S. loves its turkey trots, as Thanksgiving is consistently the most active running day every year in the country.
Globally though, the most active running day was September 16, 2017, perhaps due to the beginning of the fall marathon season.
Some commute by bike, some commute by car, and some commute with a pair of running shoes pounding the pavement. The runners are logging some pretty good mileage, too: Take those from Utah, who run, on average, 4.7 miles to work, and probably never sit in rush hour traffic.
Run commuting is a global trend, though. In 2018, Strava saw an increase of 56.8 percent in the U.S. compared to 2017. That’s 1,315,499 more people off the road, equalling a carbon offset of 18.2 million pounds of CO2. Globally, that number grows to 104.8 million pounds, thanks to 21,781,323 people commuting to work on by running.
No, the most popular route is not Central Park. It’s not too far off, though: Head over to Brooklyn, and you’ll find more runners connected to Strava dashing through Prospect Park, Strava’s most active hub segment around the entire world.
Runners don’t upload pictures that much on Strava. We only make up 6 percent of the total photos posted in 2017, coming in behind cyclists and those photo-happy backcountry skiers and snowshoers. However, this does not include Instagram—and we’re all guilty of stopping for that.
Of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, runners from 47 of them primarily use the runner emoji. Florida, North Dakota, and Wyoming, we kind of get your reliance on the cyclist, snowflake, and sunglasses smiley emojis, though.
As for Vermont, we’re not totally sure what’s going on there with your frequent use of the black heart, but we’re here for you.
If you’re in your 40s, you could be in your running prime. In fact, the 40-49 age group tops all groups for men and women in the U.S. and around the globe for farthest average distance per run. The rest of the age groups aren’t far behind, but the 40s seem to be prime running time.
The average mile time on a Strava run is 9:48. Not quite the 4:38 pace Eliud Kipchoge used to break the world marathon record, but runners hit all kinds of paces, and many care more about the distance than the speed. That may be why we see an average run time of 47:47 in the U.S., and a time of 49:49 globally.
Worldwide and in the U.S., Tuesdays appear to bring out the fastest average mile times for runners. Why this falls on a workday and not a race weekend day is beyond us, but it might make you want to save your tempo or speedwork for Tuesdays from now on.
Bottom line of this report? We just run a lot, everywhere. Running is a globally-inclusive sport, with 240.7 million runs logged around the world in 2017—53.2 million of which came from the U.S. That’s an increase of 46.2 percent, which shows that running’s popularity continues to grow.
Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand. His work has previously been published in Men’s Health.
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