Editing Marathon (section)

=== Participation ===
In 2016, [[Running USA]] estimated that there were approximately 507,600 marathon finishers in the United States,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.runningusa.org/marathon-report-2017|title=2016 Running USA Annual Marathon Report {{!}} Running USA|website=www.runningusa.org|access-date=2017-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034141/http://www.runningusa.org/marathon-report-2017|archive-date=20 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> while other sources reported greater than 550,000 finishers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.findmymarathon.com/statistics.php|title=Marathon Statistics&nbsp;— FindMyMarathon.com|website=findmymarathon.com|language=en|access-date=2017-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820010506/http://findmymarathon.com/statistics.php|archive-date=20 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The chart below from Running USA provides the estimated U.S. Marathon Finisher totals going back to 1976.

Marathon running has become an obsession in [[China]], with 22 marathon races in 2011 increasing to 400 in 2017. In 2015, 75 Chinese runners participated in the Boston Marathon and this increased to 278 in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |last=Meyers |first=Jessica |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/09/11/running-booms-china-marathoners-look-boston/CyNIlUrjFVkoBet488xPUK/story.html |title=As running booms in China, marathoners look to Boston |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=2017-09-11 |access-date=2017-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217061736/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/09/11/running-booms-china-marathoners-look-boston/CyNIlUrjFVkoBet488xPUK/story.html |archive-date=17 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>