Runners pass through Renaissance Park during the 7 Bridges running event in October. Runners competed in a marathon, half marathon, 5k and 10k, as well as a race for children.On average, U.S. marathoners cross the finish line in just over four and a half hours, but long-distance runners say the real race begins months before the starting shot.
Randy Whorton, 51, is the director of Wild Trails, a local nonprofit promoting running trails in Chattanooga. Since he was 20 years old, Whorton has completed more than 100 marathons and ultramarathon-length events both on and off the trail.
The key to distance running is putting in enough miles before the event, a process that should begin six to 12 months in advance for a marathon, depending on a runner’s level of fitness, Whorton said.
“The No. 1 problem with people running is that they sign up too soon before a race,” he said. “Then they train for a month and aren’t even remotely ready.”
At 26.2 miles, running a marathon might seem like a monumental undertaking, but participation in them has been on the upswing for years. Between 2002 and 2010, the number of recorded marathon finish times increased from 325,000 to 503,000, about 55 percent, according to the website MarathonGuide.com.