Figures computed on September 10, 2026
Road running in numbers
A portrait of people who run and people just starting, built from what they log — not from a survey.
That is 135,015 km since the first logged workout — the equivalent of 3.4 laps around the Earth at the equator.
Who arrives
Based on 4,472 questionnaires answered by people looking for a plan. It describes who comes in, not who already trains.
The most common goal is 5K, not the marathon
Target distance chosen by people looking for a plan.
View the data as a table
| Target distance | of answers | People |
|---|---|---|
| 5 km | 37.1% | 1,661 |
| 10 km | 28.1% | 1,255 |
| 21 km | 24.5% | 1,096 |
| 42 km | 10.3% | 460 |
5 km accounts for 37.1% of everything, and the marathon for only 10.3%. Public conversation about running orbits the 42 km; actual demand sits well short of it. Plans, content and product designed only for marathoners serve a minority of the people who show up.
Most of them started very recently
How long the person has been running when they look for a plan.
View the data as a table
| Running experience | Share | People |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3 months | 30.2% | 1,349 |
| 3 to 12 months | 28.1% | 1,253 |
| 1 to 3 years | 20.4% | 912 |
| 3 to 5 years | 6.9% | 308 |
| Over 5 years | 14.4% | 644 |
30.2% have been running for three months or less and 58.3% for under a year. Only 14.4% pass the five-year mark. People seeking structure are overwhelmingly people who have just started — and that changes what a good plan needs to explain.
Level derived from the answers
Classification assigned by the questionnaire from weekly volume, longest race and time spent running.
View the data as a table
| Level | Share | People |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 26.8% | 1,197 |
| Intermediate | 40.9% | 1,827 |
| Advanced | 25.5% | 1,140 |
| Elite | 6.9% | 308 |
Intermediate leads, but beginner and advanced sit almost level right behind it. There is no single profile looking for a plan: there are three, with quite different needs, and a catalogue built only for the middle leaves half the demand out.
had never followed a structured plan
Out of 4,472 answers. For most people, this is their first contact with periodisation.
Goal versus longest race already run
Out of 4,472 answers carrying both fields. Repeating the distance is the most common choice — a plan is not only for moving up.
Who trains
Based on 18,891 workouts logged inside an active plan.
The week the plan draws and the week that happens
Where workouts are scheduled versus where they actually get done, over the last 365 days.
View the data as a table
| Day | planned | completed |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 14.0% | 14.8% |
| Tue | 15.3% | 17.9% |
| Wed | 14.8% | 15.2% |
| Thu | 15.1% | 15.6% |
| Fri | 13.8% | 12.0% |
| Sat | 13.8% | 12.5% |
| Sun | 13.1% | 11.9% |
Plans spread the week almost evenly — no day exceeds 15.3% of everything scheduled. Runners do not: Tue alone accounts for 17.9% of all completed work, and the weekend consistently falls below what was planned. The very stretch we picture as the amateur runner's territory is where the plan slips most.
How long a plan actually lasts
Of the plans that got off the ground, how many still log a workout in each following week.
View the data as a table
| Week | active plans |
|---|---|
| Week 0 | 93.6% |
| Week 1 | 64.8% |
| Week 2 | 53.1% |
| Week 3 | 44.1% |
| Week 4 | 40.8% |
| Week 5 | 36.1% |
| Week 6 | 31.5% |
| Week 7 | 28.2% |
| Week 8 | 21.8% |
| Week 9 | 20.7% |
| Week 10 | 17.6% |
| Week 11 | 16.7% |
| Week 12 | 13.4% |
| Week 13 | 11.0% |
| Week 14 | 9.9% |
| Week 15 | 9.1% |
Among the 574 plans that genuinely started, 53.1% still log a workout in week 2, 21.8% reach week 8 and 13.4% reach week 12. The steepest drop is not at the end — it is between weeks one and three, once novelty fades and routine has not set in yet.
The typical run is 5 to 8 km
Distribution of logged runs by distance band.
View the data as a table
| Band | of runs | Workouts |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 km | 21.4% | 3,483 |
| 5-8 km | 33.7% | 5,496 |
| 8-10 km | 14.1% | 2,303 |
| 10-15 km | 21.3% | 3,473 |
| 15-21 km | 6.6% | 1,075 |
| 21-30 km | 2.3% | 380 |
| 30+ km | 0.6% | 94 |
The 5-8 km band alone accounts for 33.7% of everything. Only 2.9% of runs go beyond 21 km — the long run is rare by design, and anyone planning around a week full of high mileage is building for a minority.
Pace shifts with the goal — but not the way you would expect
Median pace of logged runs, grouped by the plan's target distance. Shorter bar means faster.
View the data as a table
| Target distance | Median | Middle half | Workouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42km | 5:26/km | 4:58 – 6:03/km | 2,428 |
| 10km | 5:32/km | 4:56 – 6:29/km | 4,638 |
| 5km | 5:35/km | 4:59 – 6:30/km | 5,982 |
| 21km | 5:48/km | 5:13 – 6:25/km | 4,440 |
Runners training for 42km log the fastest median day-to-day pace (5:26/km); those training for 21km log the slowest (5:48/km). The likeliest reading is not fitness but plan composition: some carry proportionally more easy mileage than others, and the longer distances attract runners who already arrive with kilometres in their legs.
of active runners also log strength work
154 of 384 runners with 5 or more logged runs also logged at least one strength session.
How these figures were computed
- What countsWorkouts marked completed or partial inside an active plan on the platform, from public user accounts.
- WindowsThe weekday split uses the last 365 days. Retention uses plans started from May 2025 with at least 120 days behind them. Every other cut uses the full base. Computation runs weekly and every run is kept, so the historical series exists from the first one on.
- What is excludedInternal team accounts, rest days (excluded by activity type), records dated in the future and paces outside 3:00–15:00/km. Each pace group requires at least 300 workouts.
- PrivacyOnly percentages, medians and counts leave this page. No figure here refers to an individual, and nothing allows anyone to be identified.
- LimitsThe base is mostly Brazilian and made up of people who already sought a structured plan — it is not a sample of the running population. Month-by-month seasonality is not published because platform growth is confounded with it.
- ReuseYou may quote and reproduce these charts with attribution to magic.training. If you need a different cut, get in touch.
Your plan does not have to end in week 3
The curve above is the average. What separates the people who finish is a plan whose volume matches the week they actually have.
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