A Year In Strava

As Christmas and the year-end approach, some companies turn to reviews of their year in stats and Strava is no exception. This year’s themes were MASSIVE GROWTH and WALKING. So perhaps not as exciting data as in previous years.

Strava ’21

Perhaps surprisingly, the pandemic-led boom went from strength to strength with continuing growth in participation. Strava reports a 38% increase in the number of activities compared to the prior period. I have to say I’m very disappointed in humanity in 2021. I get it that you guys are all trying really hard and that there are an impressive number of you who are cranking out new PRs/PBs across all the standard distances. But…c’mon people, get working on those 5Ks 😉

Everyone Loves A Challenge

Well, not everyone loves a challenge. But about 140 million of you do. Awesome job.

UK & USA vs The World

Average men ride and run further than average women, at least on Strava they do. Average men also spend more time doing it.

At first glance at the national stats, it seems that Brits run and ride further than Yanks. However, in the UK we run in kilometres whereas in America you run in miles. Those of you who are well-versed in your 1.6093 times table will immediately be able to do the comparison. Americans run for over 35 minutes whereas Brits don’t.

British women anomalously run for 54 seconds longer than British men…on average. British men get their own back when it comes to lycra as on the bike they cycle, on average, a whopping 6 minutes longer than their average, female counterparts — interestingly the time to swiftly order an instant coffee, cake and consume them is also about 6 minutes but I’m sure there is no link there whatsoever.

Obviously, average American cyclists cycle for longer than average British cyclists because America is bigger and you have further to go. The stats clearly validate this.

Stravistic Morality

The moral of these stats is: Don’t be average. Ever.

Interesting Average Fact: Take 20 aspects of the average American and work out each one’s average value. There will probably be no-one in America who has each and every one of those 20 average characteristics. See…you’re not average in any case.

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Last Updated on 28 May 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID