> shaving another second off a sprint does not it seems encourage millions to get off the couch
I'm not disagreeing, though something has caused millions to get off the couch.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported in December 2012 the number of Australians jogging or running as a sport or recreation has almost doubled since 2005–06.[1]
In the US, in 2015 there were a total of 30,300 races, up 8% from 28,000 in 2014 with 17.1 million finishers reported across all road race distances.[2]
I have a sneaking suspicion that the overall exercise in society has dipped or at best stayed level (recent research indicates dipped afaik)
That is the nice and easily measurable 17million racers in marathons are most likely office workers who train in off hours as opposed to farmers walking hundreds of miles across fields or builders carrying bricks.
Our work has become so much less demanding that taking up racketball does not compensate and marathons barely.
I'm not disagreeing, though something has caused millions to get off the couch.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported in December 2012 the number of Australians jogging or running as a sport or recreation has almost doubled since 2005–06.[1]
In the US, in 2015 there were a total of 30,300 races, up 8% from 28,000 in 2014 with 17.1 million finishers reported across all road race distances.[2]
1. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/4177.0Media%2...
2. https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/running-industry-trends-runn...