User:Runnerarchives1985

I was a semi-competitive distance runner in my 40s, and I still run the Boston Marathon every year. I've always enjoyed writing as a hobby, so as the popularity of marathon running surges in the United States, I'm attempting to address the scarcity of distance running subjects on Wikipedia. For context, when I started this project there were only 200 articles on American male marathon runners and 135 on American female marathoners. Nearly half a million Americans run a marathon each year, so about 1 in every 1,500 have a Wikipedia article. For comparison, there are 1.2 million Americans who play football at the high school level or higher. There are 10,400 articles on American football players, meaning 1 of 115 have an article. My initial article subjects are accomplished distance runners I'm familiar with from my geographic area. I have roots in Massachusetts and have spent most of my adult life in Southern Maine. I plan to expand beyond this region as I have time. Below are the 25 articles I have created to date (in alpha order).