Have Finishers At the Boston Marathon Gotten Slower?
This post is the first in a series that will take a deep dive into data about marathon running. It was inspired by an article claiming that American runners are getting slower — and that if you zero in on the front-of-the-pack runners, you’ll find that they are also getting slower.
While I don’t necessarily dispute that average finishing times have gone up over the last twenty or thirty years, I think the other claim is a bit suspect.
For more context, check out my introductory post on this topic. You can also refer back to there for links to the rest of the series as I publish it.
But the short version is this series is a response to the Run Repeat mega study and its claim that there is a slowing trend in marathon finishing times for serious amateur runners at the front of the pack in recent years.
Today we’re going to look specifically at data on finishers from the Boston Marathon. In future articles, I’ll dive into a few other major marathons before exploring some medium-sized races.
