A total of 4,380 people officially crossed the finish line at Correcaminos 2016. An edition that, by the way, will go down in history as the first time the marathon distance was run, with that unprecedented route between Cartago and La Sabana. How many men? How many women? What was the average pace? Keep reading...

One of the most interesting data points is that the longer the distance, the greater the proportion of men and the lower the proportion of women. In the marathon, for example, men dominated, making up 72.8% of finishers, compared to only 27.2% women. In the half marathon, the numbers are more balanced, though men still make up the majority: 52.8%. In the 10k, however, women lead; in this 2016 edition, 54.1% of 10k finishers were women.

As shown in the graph above, the half marathon was by far the most popular distance. In total, 2,648 people finished the half marathon, compared to 1,070 marathoners who crossed the finish line and only 562 10k finishers. Note that these figures are based on official results, and therefore count ONLY those who crossed the finish line.

It is equally interesting to note that the 10k runners were the slowest, despite covering the shortest distance. This is common, and it's a pattern we've seen repeated in several half marathons and 10k races we've analyzed. The reason? Probably the people in better physical condition and better prepared are the ones who decide to tackle the longer distances. It's logical to assume that someone running a marathon must be in better shape than someone who decides to run only the half marathon, and that person in turn must be better prepared than someone who decides to run only 10k. The average pace of 10k finishers was 6:37 minutes per kilometer, while those in the 21k took on average only 5:55 minutes to cover a kilometer. The average pace of marathoners was slightly slower than those in the half marathon, but faster than those in the 10k. On average they ran at 6:07/km.

Another detail to note from the graph above is that men ran faster than women at all distances. This, again, is what usually happens according to the analyses we've done so far.

Marathon

Let's look at the numbers for the queen of distance running, the debut at Correcaminos, the most challenging. In total, 1,070 people successfully finished the marathon this Sunday: 780 men and 290 women. The average time among all marathon finishers was 4 hours, 18 minutes and 25 seconds. The average time for all women was 4:38:12 and for men was 4:11:03. Moisés Moraga Pérez split the pack exactly in half with his 4h16'00''; if you finished the marathon in less time you're in the faster half, and if you ran slower you're in the slower half. The time range in which the most people finished was between 4h00' and 4h29' (see graph below).

Half Marathon

A total of 2,648 people finished the half marathon, of which 1,400 were men and 1,248 were women. The average time among all finishers was 2 hours, 4 minutes and 51 seconds. On average, men finished in 1:57:28 and women in 2:13:07. Priscilla Mora was the fortunate one who came in right at the midpoint with her 2:03:41; everyone who finished before her is in the faster 50% of the pack, and those who finished after her are in the slower half. The time range in which the most people finished was between 2h00' and 2h14' (see graph below).

10k

The 10k was the only distance where women dominated. Of the 662 people who finished the 10k, 358 were women and 304 were men.The average final time among everyone was 1:06:05. It took men on average 1:00:28 to cover the 10k, while it took women on average 1:10:51. José Cuadra's 1:06:24 was right at the midpoint of the entire pack.

More data:

• Median marathon women: 4:37:10 (Ana Córdoba). If you ran faster than her you're in the faster half of the women.

• Median marathon men: 4:08:01 (Allan Arguedas). If you ran faster than him, you're in the faster 50%.

• Median half marathon women: 2:11:16 (Ivannia Rojas). If you ran faster than her you beat more than half the women.

• Median half marathon men: 1:56:24 (Andrey Navarro). If you ran slower than him, more than half the men beat you.

• Median 10k women: 1:10:52 (Gabriela Vindas). Everyone who finished before her is in the faster 50%.

• Median 10k men: 1:00:09 (Jorge Martínez). Everyone who finished before Jorge is in the faster 50%.

• Fastest man in the marathon: Pedro Mora, 2:23:58 (3:25/km). The man who enjoyed it the most: Daniel Alpízar, savored the experience for 6:03:48.

• Fastest woman in the marathon: Elizabeth Hernández, 3:05:26 (4:24/km). Woman who enjoyed it the most: Sandra Mora, 6:23:21.

• Fastest man in the half marathon: Jeffrey Eggleston, 1:04:11 (3:03/km). Fastest woman: Esmeralda Rebollo, 1:13:41 (3:30/km).

• Fastest man in the 10k: Jonathan Morales, 32:59 (3:18/km). Fastest woman: Mónica Vargas, 38:38 (3:52/km).