- The percentage of the global population who have run a marathon is very low.
- Reports show that less than 1% of people have completed a marathon.
- Most of the people who have finished a marathon race come from developed nations such as the United States.
Most people know a friend or family member who has completed a marathon in their lives. Some of them could have received medals for their performances while others monetary awards. It is alleged that only 1% of the human population have ever finished a marathon.
The 1% is a number that people in the athletics sector use to quantify the challenge of completing a marathon. But how true is this statistic?
To verify whether this claim is factual, we have analyzed the global marathon data to discover if the “1% club” is an accurate figure.
What percentage of the global population has completed a marathon?
Although many people in different parts of the world including Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States of America (USA) register for marathons every year, the number of those who have successfully completed a race is very low.
Reliable statistics show that the number of people who have ever completed a marathon ranges between 0.01% and 0.1%.
This means, in a world with more than eight billion human beings, only less than eight million have started and finished a marathon race.
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To put this in perspective, 1 in every 2000 individuals in the world has featured in a marathon.
Which country has the highest number of people who have run a marathon?
Although East African countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania continue to produce thousands of runners like the legendary Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele, Tigst Assefa and Jacob Kiplimo, the number of their citizens who have run a marathon is surprisingly low.
Reports indicate that countries that have had the highest number of people who have run a marathon are the developed ones such as the United States.
For instance, over 0.5% of American citizens have run a marathon. However, this number does not exceed the 1% mark.
Finally, the number of people who have completed a marathon is likely to increase in the next few years due to the number of people embracing the sport. This is as a result of awareness campaigns that are being carried out by star runners like Kipchoge and the inception of new marathon races.
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