- Garmin has just published a ‘trends in running’ report
- It tells us that Garmin Connect users in their 50s recorded the greatest distance at an average of 5.1 miles
- We also learn that runners sleep better, have a lower resting heart rate than non-runners and have a good VO2 max.
Garmin has just published a ‘trends in running’ report which has revealed some surprising data.
Based on statistics from the Garmin Connect app globally, we’re told that the average distance of a run across all users was 4.82 miles, but if you had to guess which age group ran the furthest, you probably wouldn’t pick the 50 to 59 category.
Nevertheless, people in their 50s achieved the greatest distance, averaging 5.1 miles. Those in their twenties ran slightly shorter routes averaging 4.6 miles, just ahead of runners aged 70+ who recorded an average of around 4.57 miles.
Want to guess the day of the week with the most miles logged overall? Perhaps not surprisingly, it was a Saturday, and measured in the month with the most races, it was August.
The time spent on a run was 46.3 minutes on average. As for weekly mileage, most Garmin runners — nearly 40% — averaged between 6 and 10 miles. The next largest group, representing 28% of runners, completed 11 to 20 miles.
What about the average pace? Across all runners, it was 9:21 per mile for men and 10:11 for women.
Sleep success
Garmin also noted that runners generally had a better sleep score compared to non-runners. The average sleep score for a runner was 73 for those who ran less than 10 miles and 74 for those who went longer than that, compared to those who didn’t run at all, with a score of 70 on average.
Resting heart rate was also better for runners, as non-runners averaged 62 bpm, compared to 59 bpm for those who ran 0 to 5 miles per week, and 55 bpm for runners who pushed over 31 miles per week.
Curious what the average VO2 max was for runners? Garmin says it’s 50 across its entire user base. Actually not too shabby! If you’re not familiar with VO2 max as tracked by a smartwatch, check out our handy explanation.
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