Every year like clockwork, someone complains that charity runners are taking spots away from qualified runners. So I decided to actually look at the numbers instead of just having an opinion about it.

I pulled the Boston Athletic Association's most recently available public tax filing for 2023. Here is what I found.

The Math Nobody Is Talking About

The BAA spent $34,116,665 to put on the race in 2023. With 30,000 runners, if you removed every sponsor and every organization that receives funds from charity runners and then turns around and supplies volunteers to make the race happen, each runner would need to pay roughly $1,137 just to cover operating costs. Most runners currently pay around $260. That gap does not close by magic.

But here is where it gets even more interesting. That $1,137 figure assumes all 9,000 to 10,000 volunteers continue working for free. If you paid each volunteer just 10 hours at minimum wage, that adds another $1,425,000 to the bill, pushing the true cost per runner to over $1,185. And that is using the most conservative numbers possible. Many volunteer roles would cost far more than minimum wage in the real world.

The Part That Gets Overlooked

The money charity runners raise goes directly to charitable organizations, not to offset your registration fee. But many of those same organizations are the ones supplying the volunteers who make race day function. On top of that, many people volunteer specifically because they know the race supports causes they care deeply about. Remove charity from the equation and you do not just lose fundraising. You risk losing a big chunk of the volunteer workforce that keeps the whole operation running.

The Airline Analogy

The charity runner does not take a spot from a qualifier in any meaningful economic sense. Think of it this way. Complaining about charity runners taking your spot is like demanding airlines remove first class. Removing first class does not create more seats for economy passengers. It just makes every remaining seat more expensive. The same applies here. Remove charity runners and you do not gain more spots. You just get a much higher registration bill.

On the contrary, the charity program provides the financial and operational floor that allows the qualified runner's spot to exist at an affordable price. The $71.9 million raised by charity runners in 2024 alone is the ultimate proof of the marathon's value to the region, ensuring that the world's most prestigious race remains viable, sustainable, and inclusive for decades to come. The interdependence of the qualifier, the charity runner, the sponsor, and the volunteer is not just a feature of the Boston Marathon. It is the very foundation of its existence.

The Bottom Line

For the small but loud group of people who complain about charity runners, let's be honest about what they are actually saying. They want their race registration subsidized by sponsors and volunteers, but they also want to eliminate the $71.9 million that charity runners raise for good causes across the region. You simply cannot have it both ways.

So before criticizing a charity runner who spent months training and raising thousands of dollars for a worthy cause, remember this. They are not taking your spot. They are part of the reason the spot is affordable in the first place, and the organizations they support are out there on the course making sure you cross that finish line safely.

The entire ecosystem depends on all of it working together.

Data source: BAA 2023 Form 990 (public tax filing). Charity fundraising figure from BAA 2024 race report. Analysis by Adam Osmond.

The Hartford Half Marathon has been a Connecticut running institution since 1996. With nearly 30 years of results data covering 91,545 finishers across 29 races, there's a rich story to tell — from the race's explosive growth through the early 2010s, to the gender shift that transformed the field, to what median finish times reveal about who is running and how the sport has evolved.

The Story Behind the Numbers

The Hartford Half Marathon has been running since 1996, and nearly 30 years of race data tells a fascinating story about how the event grew, shifted, and evolved.

When the race launched in 1996, just 460 runners crossed the finish line, and the field was 83.5% male. That changed almost overnight. By 1997, the field more than doubled to 968 finishers, and the gap had already narrowed to 62% male, 38% female. The growth never really stopped from there.

Then came 2004, a turning point. For the first time in race history, women became the majority, making up 50.9% of the 1,839 finishers. It was a milestone that stuck. Women never gave that majority back, and over the next decade they kept building on it, peaking at 59.5% of the field in 2013.

That 2013 race holds a special place in Hartford Half history. It was the all-time record year with 6,585 finishers, and that number carries special meaning. The Boston Marathon bombing happened in April 2013, and the running community responded the way runners always do, by showing up. Hartford that fall saw a record-breaking turnout as runners across Connecticut and beyond used the race as a way to stand in solidarity with Boston and affirm that they would not be scared away from the roads. Women outnumbered men by over 1,200 finishers that year (3,915 to 2,670), the widest gap in race history.

The years after 2013 saw a gradual decline in overall participation, a pattern common to many road races nationally as the post-2010s running boom cooled. But something compelling has been happening in the last three years. The gap between male and female finishers has been closing steadily and noticeably. In 2023, it was 51.3% female to 48.6% male. In 2024, it tightened further to 50.7% female and 49.1% male, the closest the race had been to even since the early 2000s. And in 2025, it was 51.7% female to 48.1% male, with overall participation climbing to 3,774 finishers. After two decades of a wide and consistent female majority, the race is trending back toward parity, and the momentum is real.

And for the first time, starting in 2023, non-binary runners began appearing in the official results. There were 3 non-binary finishers in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 8 in 2025. Small numbers, but a meaningful step forward in how the race recognizes and welcomes all participants.

Key Year Snapshots

A Personal Connection

This race has special meaning to me. The Hartford Half was my first half marathon in 2011, and the following year I ran the full marathon, which was also my first marathon. I have been watching this race's data for a long time, and the story it tells keeps getting more interesting.

Back in 2019, I did a deep dive into half marathon participation data across Connecticut and found something striking. Every single half marathon in the state had peaked between 2012 and 2014, and all of them were on a steady decline heading into 2019, with some even folding entirely. At the same time, big city races like the Brooklyn Half were seeing massive growth, suggesting runners were not disappearing but migrating toward marquee events.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Hartford Half has grown every single year since returning from COVID in 2021, reaching 3,774 finishers in 2025, a 55% rebound from the post-COVID low. The data suggests the days of chasing 2013 numbers may be behind us, but the Hartford Half is clearly healthy, stable, and growing again.

Finish Time Trends

Median finish times tell another story. Both genders show a gradual slowdown over the decades, consistent with the field becoming more recreational and diverse. The fastest men ran sub-1:03 in the late 1990s and 2000s, and those course records still stand. On the women's side, Kimberly Smith's back-to-back 1:11 performances in 2010 and 2011 remain the standard.

I want to be clear upfront — I was not racing the 2026 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. I was there as a videographer, filming the entire course with my GoPro as an unofficial resource for the race director and the running community. My finish time of 1:48:14 reflects a camera-in-hand effort, not a race effort. That said, I still crossed the line, and the data analyst in me couldn't resist pulling the full results and breaking down the field.

The Course Video

Here's the full course footage I captured at the 2026 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. This video was filmed while running the course with a GoPro — it gives runners a real feel for the layout, landmarks, and conditions on race day.

Gender & Age Trends: The Data Keeps Telling the Same Story

I've been doing demographic analysis across large and small road races for years, and the 2026 Cherry Blossom is completely consistent with everything I've seen before. Women have become the majority participant demographic in distance running, and this data makes that undeniable.

Their dominance is strongest in the 20s and 30s age brackets, which also happen to be the highest volume groups. The 25 to 29 cohort alone shows women outnumbering men by nearly 1,000 runners (2,974 F vs. 1,991 M). But here is where it gets interesting. The flip happens at exactly 50 to 54, where 476 women and 475 men finished, separated by a single runner. That is not a coincidence. That is a demographic boundary.

Older male runners who came of age during the running boom of the 1970s and 80s entered the sport when it was largely male-dominated, and many of them never stopped. That generation built a lifelong identity around running during that era, and that dedication absolutely shows in the data. Meanwhile, the surge in women's participation over the last 20 to 30 years has fundamentally reshaped who shows up at the start line, and that shift is most visible in the millennial and Gen Z age groups.

The growth of this sport is being driven by women, and the data across every race I have analyzed backs that up.

Key Takeaways

The 2026 Cherry Blossom had one of its largest fields ever at over 20,000 finishers, with women making up 56% of all finishers. The 20–29 age group dominated participation with 7,367 runners. Average finish times held steady between the 20–29 and 30–39 groups before climbing in the 50+ categories. The fastest age group on average was the Under 20 cohort at 1:32:28.

For my own result — 1:48:14, overall place 14,440 — this was a filming run, not a race effort. But the data gives a useful baseline to measure against in future editions when I line up to actually race.

Data source: 2026 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile official results (20,088 finishers). Analysis by Adam Osmond.

This post is a placeholder for your full Run 169 Day write-up.

The Plan

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The Day

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The Numbers

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Race Video

Course Details

Both the 5K and half marathon start at 7:00 AM at the intersection of Fairfax Street and Wythe Street, across from Oronoco Bay Park in Alexandria, VA. The finish line is on N Union Street at the intersection with Oronoco Street, with the post-race festival held at Oronoco Bay Park, 100 Madison Street.

The Kids Dash starts at 10:30 AM at the intersection of King and Union Streets, with the finish also at Oronoco Bay Park.

Aid Stations

The half marathon has six aid stations along the course. The 5K has one dedicated aid station at mile 1.8 on Green Street. All aid stations include portable toilets and medical support. Aid station locations for the half marathon are at mile 2 (S Washington Bridge Overpass), mile 4 (GW Memorial Parkway and Tulane Drive, water and Gatorade), mile 6 (GW Parkway and Wellington Road), mile 8 (water and Gatorade), mile 9.5 (water and Gatorade), and mile 12 (S Washington Bridge Overpass).

Pace Teams

The half marathon offers 13 pace teams with two leaders each, targeting the following overall times: 1:30, 1:35, 1:40, 1:45, 1:50, 1:55, 2:00, 2:10, 2:20, 2:30, 2:45, 3:00, and 3:15. Pace leaders wear special singlets and carry signs showing their target pace and overall finish time.

Course Cutoff

The half marathon cutoff is based on a 15-minute-per-mile pace, roughly equivalent to a 3:30 finish. Runners who fall behind that pace may be asked to move to the public sidewalks to complete the distance.

Key Takeaways

Both the 5K and half marathon saw strong year-over-year growth in 2026 — the 5K grew 16.6% from 1,455 to 1,697 finishers, and the half marathon grew 19.5% from 3,037 to 3,630. That's meaningful growth for both events and reflects a healthy, expanding race.

In the 5K, women made up 60.5% of finishers, consistent with the broader national trend of women dominating shorter road races. Non-binary runners represented 10 finishers in the 5K and 9 in the half marathon — a small but notable presence as race organizations continue to expand their gender categories.

The half marathon was nearly even between men (51%) and women (48.8%), with the 30–39 age group being the largest for men and the 20–29 group being the largest for women. Median finish times were 1:55:22 for men and 2:12:39 for women in the half, and 31:15 for men and 36:11 for women in the 5K.

About the Race

The PNC Alexandria Half Marathon and 5K is produced by Run Pacers and held annually in Alexandria, Virginia. For registration, course maps, and race-day information visit alexandriahalf.com.

About the Timing Company

Race timing for the PNC Alexandria events is provided by ARE Event Productions, based in Albany, NY. ARE is an endurance event timing, technology, and full-scale production company that has provided services to over 2,000 races across the U.S. and Canada, including national championships, the Nike Women's Series, and the NYC Marathon.

As a vertically integrated company with its own software developers and event producers, ARE delivers timing with live tracking, logistics, entertainment, and equipment. They author their own timing, registration, and event management software, giving them the in-house technical capability to deliver a first-class race experience from start to finish.

Data source: PNC Alexandria 5K and Half Marathon official results, 2025 and 2026. Course information from Run Pacers. Timing by ARE Event Productions. Analysis by Adam Osmond.

The DC Front Runners Pride Run 5K is one of the highlights of Pride weekend in Washington. Held each June at the Historic Congressional Cemetery, the race starts and finishes among the headstones, winds along the Anacostia River trail and the fields of the RFK campus, and closes with a finish line party. It is a run, a walk, and a community celebration all at once, and it draws over a thousand runners and walkers from across the DMV and beyond.

I pulled five years of official results, 2022 through 2026, into a single dataset and broke the field down by participation, gender, age group, finish time, geography, and the runners who keep coming back. The story the numbers tell is one of a growing, diversifying field that has shifted from a male majority to near gender parity, with the fastest growth of all coming from non-binary runners. Full timing and historical data for this analysis came from ARE Event Productions.

About the Race and Its Charities

The Pride Run 5K is hosted by the DC Pride Run Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, and net proceeds along with sponsor and individual donations are directed to local charities serving the LGBTQ+ and other underserved communities. The 2026 charity partners, each a registered 501(c)(3), include the Wanda Alston Foundation, the Team DC Scholarship Fund, the Blade Foundation, Ainsley's Angels of America (National Capital Region), SMYAL, Thrive DC, the Historic Congressional Cemetery, and the Pride 365 Fund. The race begins and ends at the Historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street SE, Washington, DC. Registration and more information are available at RunSignUp.

About the Timing Company: ARE Event Productions

The 2026 results in this analysis were timed and scored by ARE Event Productions (AREEP), an endurance event timing, technology, and full-scale production company based in Albany, NY. AREEP has provided services to more than 2,000 races across the U.S. and Canada, including national championships, the Nike Women's Series, and the New York City Marathon. As event directors themselves and authors of their own timing, registration, and event management software, they handle timing with live tracking, logistics, entertainment, and equipment in house. Historical results for the earlier editions were also gathered from AREEP.

Data source: DC Front Runners Pride Run 5K official results, 2022–2026 (5,415 finishers across 5 editions), timed and compiled by ARE Event Productions. Net times used throughout. Gender categories follow the divisions in the official results; the non-binary category aggregates results coded as non-binary across years. Analysis by Adam Osmond. Race information at RunSignUp.

The Juneteenth Half Marathon & 10K bills itself as the "World's Greatest Urban Trail Run," and it has a fair claim to the title. As an experienced trail runner, I agree. Held each June at Fort Stanton Park in Southeast Washington, the race runs the length of the Civil War Defenses of Washington Trail, a genuine off-road route of dirt paths and real climbs that connects historic fort sites between the Anacostia and Deanwood neighborhoods. It is a hard trail run, a Juneteenth celebration, and a free community event all at once, hosted by the all-volunteer RunJuneteenth organization and kept free through donations.

I ran the 10K in 2026 and pulled four years of official results, 2023 through 2026, into a single dataset to see how the race has grown and who shows up to run it. The story is a race that has more than doubled in size in four years, a 10K that draws a majority-women field while the half marathon stays majority-men, a deeply local DMV crowd, and a field that gets a little broader and more recreational every year as it grows. Full results for this analysis came from the official RunSignup race pages. Race details are at runjuneteenth.org.

2026 was the biggest edition in the race's history. A record 657 runners finished, 354 in the half marathon and 303 in the 10K. In the half, Ethan Ready posted the fastest time of the day at 1:29:15 to defend his title, and Shayla Manitowabi led the women in 1:53:58. In the 10K, Brandon Dunston won in 46:18 and Cheniya Sharpe was the top woman in 55:20.

The Course: A Hidden Gem in the District

The race is hosted at Fort Stanton Park and runs the full Civil War Defenses of Washington Trail, an off-road route that traverses between the Anacostia and Deanwood neighborhoods and connects five historic Civil War fort sites. Organizers are upfront that this is a proper trail run with dirt paths and significant elevation change. The half marathon is an out-and-back over the full trail with 1,375 feet of elevation gain. The 10K is a one-way, point-to-point route heading north with a more modest but still real 467 feet of gain, and free shuttle buses bring 10K finishers back to the start for the festivities.

Race Day and Logistics

Race day starts before dawn. Runners meet at 5:00 am, stretch at 6:00 am, and the race starts at 6:19 am. Because there is no parking at Fort Stanton Park, runners park at the Anacostia Metro garage and ride free shuttles to the start between 5:00 and 6:00 am. The course has seven water stops and medical tents at key points including the midpoint and the northern trailhead. Afterward there is a free Juneteenth celebration BBQ back at Fort Stanton Park with food, music, and community that runs well into the afternoon.

A Free Race, Funded by Donations

RunJuneteenth keeps the race entirely free and relies on volunteer boards and donations to cover operations, permits, and safety equipment. For the 2026 race the organizers set a fundraising goal of $61,965 and raised $13,032 from 323 donors. Keeping a race this size free is a deliberate act of access, and it is a big part of why the field has grown the way it has.

Data source: official Juneteenth Half Marathon & 10K results, 2023–2026 (1,791 finishers across 4 editions), via RunSignup. Net (chip) times used throughout. Gender categories follow the divisions in the official results; the "other or unreported" group aggregates non-binary and unspecified entries. My finish and placement are from the official 2026 RunSignup chip-time results. Analysis by Adam Osmond. Race information at runjuneteenth.org.

The HBCU Run the District 5K is one of the most meaningful races on the DC calendar. Officially the HBCU 5K Run/Walk & Community Day, it is a celebration of health, wellness, education, and cultural pride that turns every registration into scholarship money for local students who dream of attending a Historically Black College or University. The 2026 race, held Saturday, June 27, was the 13th annual edition, starting in The Bridge District at 633 Howard Rd SE and running a fast, flat, point-to-point course across the iconic Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and through the Nationals Park area along the Anacostia River.

I have a long history with this race. I ran it in 2017 and had one of my better days, and for the last two years, 2025 and 2026, I have been on the other side of the clock helping to time and score the event. I pulled together 11 editions of official results, 2013 through 2026, into a single dataset of 6,073 finishers to see how this race has grown from a few hundred runners into a near-thousand-person community event, and to tell the story of who shows up to run the district every June. Race information is at dchbcu.org.

What sets this race apart is everything wrapped around the finish line. The HBCU Run the District 5K is far more than a morning run. Every dollar raised goes toward scholarships that help remove financial barriers for future leaders heading to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The event is designed to be welcoming to everyone: adults and children get chipped or unchipped bibs, and there is even a virtual 5K option so people anywhere in the world can run, jog, or walk on their own terms and still be part of the mission. Every registrant receives a commemorative medal and a race shirt.

The weekend has grown into a full cultural celebration. It kicks off with the “Beats, Bibs & Bragging Rights” pre-race mixer on Friday evening at the Perch SW Rooftop of the Cambria Navy Yard Riverfront Hotel. Race day itself features Alumni Row, where HBCU chapters host tables to network and show their university pride, a vendor village of local businesses, and a Greek Giveback where Black Greek Letter Organizations run a hybrid fundraiser for the scholarship fund. The event also actively recruits volunteers to hand out water, cheer on participants, and help with logistics, offering community service hours in return. It is a model for how a road race can double as a community-building and fundraising engine.

The 2026 results in this analysis were timed and scored by ARE Event Productions (AREEP), an endurance event timing, technology, and full-scale production company based in Albany, NY. AREEP has provided services to more than 2,000 races across the U.S. and Canada, including national championships, the Nike Women's Series, and the New York City Marathon. As event directors themselves and authors of their own timing, registration, and event management software, they handle timing with live tracking, logistics, entertainment, and equipment all in house. Historical results for the earlier editions were also gathered from AREEP. Being part of the timing crew for the last two years has given me a real appreciation for the precision and logistics that go into scoring a field of nearly a thousand runners.

Run With Purpose

If there is one thing this 13-year dataset makes clear, it is that the HBCU Run the District 5K has built something durable: a fast, flat, festive race across the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge that grows nearly every year, draws a loyal and majority-women DMV field, and turns every finish line into scholarship money for future HBCU students. It is a race with purpose, and the numbers show a community that keeps showing up for it. Registration and details are at dchbcu.org.

Data source: official HBCU Run the District 5K results, 2013–2026 (6,073 finishers across 11 editions; no races held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19), gathered from ARE Event Productions. Finish times normalized from multiple source formats. Gender categories follow the divisions in the official results; the “other or unreported” group aggregates non-binary and unspecified entries. My 2017 finish and placement are from the official results. I helped time and score the 2025 and 2026 editions. Analysis by Adam Osmond. Race information at dchbcu.org.

This year I stepped out of my racing shoes and into a pacer vest. I volunteered with Beast Pacing to lead the 11:00/mile pace group at the 2026 Sole of the City 10K, Baltimore's marquee springtime 10K held at Harbor Point. While I wasn't racing, the data analyst in me couldn't put down the results file, and 15 years of participation history tells a remarkable story about this race and the Baltimore running community.

If you are interested in running with a pace group at a race near you, or becoming a pacer yourself, visit beastpacing.com. More information about the race is at soleofthecity10k.com.

A Note From Your Race Filmmaker and Pacer

This year I stepped out of my racing shoes and into a pacer vest. I volunteered with Beast Pacing to lead the 11:00/mile pace group, keeping runners on track, on pace, and having fun along the way. Pacing is one of the most rewarding things you can do in the running community. There is something special about helping dozens of runners achieve their goal time.

I also filmed the entire race from start to finish with my GoPro. If you are interested in joining a pace group at a race near you, or even becoming a pacer yourself, Beast Pacing operates at races all across the country and is always looking for passionate runners to join their team.

Data source: 2026 Sole of the City 10K official results (2,432 finishers). Historical data: 2012–2026 race records. Analysis by Adam Osmond. Pacing by Beast Pacing. Race info at soleofthecity10k.com.

The Hogsback Half Marathon is one of my favorite half marathons in Connecticut. Held along the Farmington River on rural country roads through Riverton, Pleasant Valley, Hartland, and Colebrook, it is a fast USATF-certified course with a 100-foot net elevation decrease that draws runners from across New England every September. Since 2015, I have been part of this race every single year, whether racing it myself, pacing a group, coordinating pacers, or volunteering.

Over the years the race has changed timing companies, which meant results were scattered across multiple platforms with no single place to view them. I gathered all 25 years of results into one dataset and built the Power BI dashboard linked below so runners can search their own history in one place. The 2026 results will be added after the September race.

Data source: Hogsback Half Marathon official results 2001–2025 (5,193 finishers across 24 editions). Results gathered from multiple timing companies and consolidated by Adam Osmond. No race held in 2020 (COVID-19). Analysis and Power BI dashboard by Adam Osmond. Race information at RunSignUp.

The Capitol Hill Classic is Washington DC's largest and oldest 10K, a neighborhood tradition that has been running for over four decades. The 45th edition was held on Sunday, May 17, 2026, sponsored by Kitchel Injury Law and organized by a team of dedicated volunteers. The course takes runners across historic Capitol Hill, passing the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Lincoln Park, East Capitol Street, and RFK Stadium. The day also includes a 3K and a Kids Fun Run that follow the 10K.

I pulled together every set of results I could find for this race, from 2006 through 2026, and built the analysis below. The data covers 19 editions and 50,230 finishers across the 10K and 3K. There were no results available for 2020 and 2021, and the race appears to have paused during those two years for the COVID 19 pandemic. The first part of this analysis is a deep look at the 2026 field by gender, age group, and finish time. The second part steps back to track how the two races have grown and changed over two decades.

Part One: The 2026 Field

The 2026 Classic drew 3,435 finishers across the two timed races, 2,226 in the 10K and 1,209 in the 3K. The two races attract very different crowds. The 10K skews toward adult runners in their twenties, thirties, and forties, while the 3K is a true community event with a large field of children and families. The charts below break down each race by gender, by age group, and by finish time.

Part Two: Twenty Years of the Classic

Stepping back from 2026, the longer record shows how the two races have moved in opposite directions. The 10K has been a large and stable race for two decades, while the 3K has grown into a major event in its own right. The charts below track total finishers each year and the winning times for the fastest man and woman in each race.

Data sources: 2026 Capitol Hill Classic official results timed and scored by ARE Event Productions (2,226 10K finishers and 1,209 3K finishers). Historical results 2006 to 2026 gathered from ARE Event Productions and Athlinks and consolidated by Adam Osmond. No results were available for 2020 or 2021. Race information at capitolhillclassic.com. Analysis by Adam Osmond.