- The Strava Mile is open to all runners to post their best mile time in June
- Any runner who uploads a run at least one mile in distance on Strava and tags #MyMile has the chance to win running shoes for themselves and their followers
- Strava data reveals Swedish runners have the world’s fastest mile average best effort pace (7:45) globally
- U.S. mile times ranked 18th (8:31) among the top 25 fastest countries, with Boston (7:54), Portland (8:00) and San Francisco (8:04) being the fastest cities in the U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO — Strava, the social network for athletes, released data from over 5.6 million runners showing the average best mile efforts from 25 countries ahead of the Strava Mile – a new campaign to encourage all runners to try to run their fastest mile during June for a chance to win running shoes from Wiggle for themselves and up to ten of their Strava followers. Over sixty years after Sir Roger Bannister ran the first ever sub-four-minute-mile and Diane Leather ran the first-ever sub-five-minute-mile mile by a woman, the magic of the mile distance hasn’t been lost, nor has the prestige.
Almost any runner can get through a mile, but it takes courage to toe the line and go for a new PR. The Strava Mile campaign is about bringing runners from all over the world together and encouraging them to run their best miles together.
Any runner who uploads a run at least one mile in distance on Strava and includes #MyMile in their activity title has the chance to win running shoes from Wiggle for themselves and up to ten of their Strava followers. The campaign will run until June 30. Learn more on the Strava blog.
Strava’s data reveals how fast, on average, runners in different cities and countries can run a mile, giving athletes a goal to strive for (tables showing top twenties by country and city are included as an appendix).
Boston, Portland and San Francisco topped the list of fastest cities in the U.S. with average best mile times of 7:54, 8:00, and 8:04, respectively. Female runners ran at an average pace of 9:03, while male runners ran at an average pace of 8:23. In the U.S. and globally, female and male runners ages 35 to 44 achieved the fastest pace of any age group, at 8:13 and 8:14, respectively.
Globally, U.S. runners ranked 18th, with an average mile best effort pace of 8:31/mile. UK runners ranked 16th, with an average mile best effort pace of 8:23/mile, and Germany ranked 9th with a pace of 8:16/mile. The fastest four nations included Sweden, France, Switzerland and Norway, which were significantly faster than the rest of the nations (8% quicker than the global average of 8:27/mile).
The Strava Mile is a chance for everyone to experience how the mile is one of the most accessible sporting challenges.
Strava will also be bringing the campaign to life at a series of global events throughout June in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and Berlin.
The campaign will run until June 30. To join the challenge, visit: https://blog.strava.com/strava-mile/. For more information on Strava, visit www.strava.com.
# # #
About Strava
Strava is the social network for athletes. Our mobile apps and website connect millions of active people every day. All athletes belong on Strava, no matter where they live, which sport they love or what device they use. Join the community at strava.com.
Our favorite stats:
- 16 activities uploaded every second, 10 million every week
- 100+ compatible mobile phones and GPS devices
- 130+ employees, most in San Francisco with more in Hanover and Bristol
- 600+ professional athletes are on Strava
- 1 million athletes join every 40 days
- 1.3 billion kudos given between athletes last year
- $7.99 a month to make the most of your sport with Premium, or $59.99 a year
- 100+ cites making commuting better with Strava Metro
Media Contact:
Max Borges Agency for STRAVA
305.374.4404
Appendix – Global tables:
All times shown are minutes per mile
