This post is rated Sprinters, Olympians and Ironman.

Are you a runner? Have you completed a road race of any distance in the last 12 months? According to an article featured in Runners World I have the following statistics to report:

There were 541,000 marathon finishers in 2013.

There were 487,000 in 2012.

There were 518,000 in 2011.

These numbers are astounding…and we’re just talking about marathon. When you open it up to 1 milers, 5 and 10K races and half marathoners that number jumps way over the million mark!

If you have an interest in taking your running to the next level, I believe these individuals can help you get there:

Meb Keflezighi (well, what HASN’T this guy done!!)

Paula Radcliffe (Female Marathon World Record Holder)