While everyone may not be on Strava, a popular fitness-tracking app, the platform is on its way to becoming the unofficial official social network for endurance athletes. In its annual Strava Year In Sport Report for 2017, the company shared that “tens of millions of users across 195 countries” upload activities to Strava more than 1 million times a day.
Much like other social media platforms, users give “kudos” to workouts (think of it as a “like”). A LOT of kudos—351,547,509 kudos were given in the U.S. this year, with 2,268,669,189 were given worldwide! With that many users and that much data, Strava has some serious clout. In addition to bringing athletes together, 125 cities are now using Strava data—with identifying markers removed—to examine traffic and commuter patterns to create more user-friendly transportation solutions. Your runs (and rides) really do make a difference!
Here are some of the highlights of the report:
Worldwide Strava users logged 136 million runs representing 699 million miles, 34.4 billion (with a B!) feet of elevation gain and 627,239 marathons completed.
Runners in the U.S. recorded 30 million runs representing 151 million miles, 6.3 billion feet of elevation gain and 134,966 marathons completed.
Strava users include athletes from beginners to professionals. Cat Bradley, (pictured above) winner of the 2017 Western States Endurance Run uses the app. Take a look at her impressive race day data. Could you average 11:46 minute miles for 99.5 miles?!
How do Strava athletes stay so active? There’s data for that. Here are the top four drivers:
37% of U.S. users train with others on a weekly basis
46% join a club of some sort
92% who set goals are still active 10 months later
43% of those who train on a weekly basis do so in the morning
8:00 a.m. was the most popular time for Americans to work out, whether doing so solo or as part of a group.
Runners know how to hydrate and fuel. The top three food mentions in Strava posts were:
– Beer
– Coffee
– Pizza
Tackling specific “segments” and comparing your times to others is a popular activity. Have you run any of these top three running segments in the U.S?
– Reservoir Mile in New York City
– Rocket Mile in San Francisco
– From Mile Marker 2.5 to 3.5 along Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas
Think your state runs a lot? The three states with the most runs logged were:
– California
– Texas
– New York
And talk about speed! The three fastest states according to Strava data were:
– South Dakota with a 7:36 minute average mile pace
– Louisiana with a 7:42 minute average mile pace
– North Carolina with an 8:00 minute average mile pace