According to the latest numbers available (to us, for free, anyway) running and jogging participation in the US grew steadily from 1998-2004 (Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association). During the six-year period running participation (that is, people who reported running or jogging at least once during the year) increased from almost 35 million Americans to more than 37 million. The biggest jump actually occurred from 2003 to 2004 when more than 1 million new American runners came on board.

The reason for the increase? Who knows. I do know that in 2003 I was in the Air Force and we started a new mandatory fitness program that included running a mile and a half as part of the standard test. Before that point the Air Force used a VO2-max test that consisted of riding a stationary bike while hooked up to a heart rate monitor. Anyway, with more than 300,000 active duty personnel this is just one thing that could have increased running participation around that time. In 2003 many health insurance and HMO groups also began offering discounts for regular aerobic exercise so perhaps that had an impact as well?

Even more interesting to me is the growth in trail running participation from 1998 to 2004, increasing nearly 24% over 6 years! Those of you who have been with this site for a while know that we actually started out focusing on trail running and our selection of “Places to Run” is dominated by off-road runs. It seems more and more folks are recognizing the benefits and excitement of trail running and are getting out into the dirt. It also helps that running shoe companies are building specialized shoes for trail running that provide increased traction and ankle support.

Yep, running participation in the US is certainly gaining traction and we’d love to have everyone join the party! SeriousRunning.com is here to help you find the best places to run, the best running shoes to wear, and the most enjoyable races to run. See you out there!

The Nike Women’s Marathon has been on my race wishlist for a while, but after hearing about how Nike treated the fastest runner of this year’s race I’m not as excited about my entry fees going to Nike.  FitSugar writes about this Cinderella Story of the winner of the race.  The fastest runner, Arien O’Connell, a fifth grade teacher from NYC blew away the competition and didn’t even know it.  She completed the hilly San Francisco marathon in 2:55:11, beating her previous PR time by a whopping 12 minutes.

Unfortunately, O’Connell was not registered as an “elite” runner and did not compete in the elite’s race so originally could not be considered the winner of the race even though she had the fastest time by an 11 minute margin.  O’connell surprised herself at the time she was able to run and never considered herself an elite runner, but shame on Nike for not recognizing this amazing feat because of a technicality in the rules.

Just yesterday Nike issued a press release recognizing their mistake and declaring O’Connell a winner of the Nike Women’s Marathon:

Nike is announcing today that it recognizes Arien O’Connell as a winner in last weekend’s Nike Women’s Marathon completing the full race in 2:55:11. She shattered her previous time and achieved an amazing accomplishment.

Arien will receive the same recognition and prize, including a Tiffany & Co. trophy, the full marathon elite group winner received. Arien was unfortunately not immediately recognized as a race winner because she did not start the race with the elite running group, which is required by USATF standards. Because of their earlier start time, the runners in the elite group had no knowledge of the outstanding race Arien was running and could not adjust their strategies accordingly.

Learning from the unique experience in this year’s race, Nike has decided today to eliminate the elite running group from future Nike Women’s Marathons. Next year, all runners will run in the same group and all will be eligible to win.

Nike has a proven track record of supporting athletes and we’re proud to be able to honor Arien and other athletes who surpass their goals and achieve great accomplishments.

Elite or not, O’Connell and all the other women participants did a great job finishing the women’s marathon.  The finisher’s necklace by Tiffany, massages, and post-race celebration were certainly well deserved.  Keep running ladies, you’re all winners in my book!

Another option for finding new places to run is to join a hash run.  Hashing is hardly serious running, it’s more of a social event for runners.  A hash run can take place nearly anywhere; the trail is determined by the lead runner, called the “hare”.  The hare gets a head start from the rest of the runners, or “hounds”, and uses flour to mark the trail that the hounds have to follow.

The hare can leaves various marks showing the path of the hare, a trail split, dead ends, and short cuts.  The front runners usually yell out “On-On” for the rest of the hounds when they see a hash mark indicating they’re on the right trail.  A trail split, or “check”, really makes the run interesting, as there may be two or three different directions the trail may go and part of the fun is finding the hare’s correct path. The mischievous hare can make an adventurous run by leading you through urban or wooded areas, muddy trails, stream and log crossings, endless parking lots, and hydration stations serving water or more importantly, beer.

Beer is an integral part of the hash run.  After three to five miles of hashing, the run usually ends at a bar or restaurant to eat, drink more beer, sing drinking songs, and tell tales of the run.  After a couple of hash runs, you may even find yourself with a new hash name, perhaps forever identifying you with some embarrassing moment you had on the run.  During my first hash run with the Atlanta Hash House Harriers, I complained of my wet, squishy socks resulting from the multiple stream crossings and my hash name “Squishy” was born.

If you’re like me you get tired of running the same route day after day. Heck, running interesting routes is the reason I skip the track and the treadmill whenever I can but sometimes it can be difficult to find new places to run. This is especially true if you generally start and end your runs in the same place most days (like your home or office). Here are some ideas for spicing up your home-base running routes:

1. Go for an out and back. If your daily run is 4-miles each day you’re really only running a 2-mile radius around your home-base. Try to come up with creative solutions for doing an out and back which can effectively double your radius (and quadruple your running area!). For me this means using public transportation to get back home or coordinating with friends or family to meet me for brunch at the end of my run. Shuttling cars is also an option, though this take a little more effort.

2. Use a map. Sometimes I like to bring up a Google Map of my neighborhood to look for streets I’ve yet to explore on my daily runs. You can even use a tool like MapMyRun to estimate the distance of a new route so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into. Just don’t forget to make yourself a cue sheet – it’s easy to loose track of where you are on unfamiliar streets!

3. Drive somewhere. I usually save this option for special occasions (like long, leisurely runs) but it’s great to get away from the neighborhood and run somewhere new. Consider finding a state park, a scenic neighborhood, or even an urban environment every once in a while for a nice change of pace. You can also search our Places to Run database to find a trail run in your area.

4. Run a race. Many times race courses utilize city streets that are too busy for regular runs but when blocked to traffic make for unique running routes. Road races are great too because you won’t need to stop at intersections any more – just run without thinking! You can also use SeriousRunning.com to find local races of various lengths.

5. Run at an unusual time of day. If you normally run in the morning before the sun comes up you’ll be amazed at how different your route will look during the day. A late night run will reveal all sorts of activities (perhaps not all good) that you don’t normally observe during your daily run. Be safe but also take the chance to see your route in a different light.

Running should never feel like a chore and finding new places and times to run can keep runners from getting bored. No one wants to feel like a hamster on a wheel – go out and explore!

Looking for a free alternative to Garmin’s pricey Motionbased service? Well we have your solution here: The GPS running data manager from seriousrunning.com. Upload your Garmin Training Center data or even GPX formatted data and store all your workouts online.

The serious running GPS data manager gives you interactive maps, elevation profiles, and summary run data in an easy to use interface. Download your runs to view in a topographic program or even Google Earth. Plus you can choose to share your runs with other seriousrunning.com users with a single click. Oh – and if you happen to ride a bike from time to time (we won’t tell) – you can even track your cycling workouts recorded on your Forerunner or Edge GPS device. Sweet!

Ok, so you don’t have to be a serious runner to find what you’re looking at seriousrunning.com. Whether you’re interested in becoming a better runner or just getting into running for the first time, seriousrunning.com has the resources to make your runs faster, safer, and more enjoyable.