So How Popular Are 4th of July Races, Anyway?

It’s the most popular running day of the summer—and there are more events than ever to cater to all the eager participants.

Running USA recently released data on running events on Independence Day. In 2015, there were more running races than ever on July 4th—485 of them, an 18 percent increase over 2014.

Those races were finished by 292,700 runners. What’s interesting is that nearly 19 percent of those finishers participated in one race—the Peachtree Road Race, a 10K in Atlanta that had 54,752 finishers in 2015. It is the largest race in the U.S.

Overall, 52 percent of those 485 races were 5Ks, while 14 percent were 10Ks.

Independence Day is surpassed only by Thanksgiving and Halloween as the most popular holidays for runners.

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