It's almost as if the editors of "On the Roads" try to outdo themselves in their annual look at running trends. Their approach seems simple: How many statistics can we squeeze into one issue? The recently released summer issue of the USA Track & Field Road Running Information Center (RRIC) newsletter further explains the organization's fondness for number crunching.

Its traditional front-page listing of the country's largest events again reveals that in 1999 Bay to Breakers, the 12km in San Francisco, had more finishers than any other U.S race.

For several years, Bay to Breakers and Lilac Bloomsday 12km in Spokane, Wash., exchanged honors as the country's largest race. But the Peachtree Road Race 10km in Atlanta has moved into second place, with an estimated 50,000 finishers. The Lilac Bloomsday event, meanwhile, lost ground. It fell to the third-largest U.S. running event, with 47,215 finishers last year.

The new figure is based on a combined look at the standard list but also encompassing a national category -- Largest Events and Festivals. This category was included to track the numbers of ever-increasing fun run/walk events and compare them with more traditionally timed competitive events.

The Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta is a highly competitive event, but it also includes many fun or non-time runners. As such, the event does not compile an exact finishers' list.

Running's increased popularity can also be linked to the popularity of the national Race for the Cure series. The event, conducted by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in several dozen cities, raises substantial amounts of money for breast-cancer research.

The Washington, D.C., event, a 5km race held in June, attracted more than 46,000 finishers. Six other events in the series -- California to New York -- were among the country's top 15 largest races listed in the Largest Events and Festivals category.

"In 1999, an estimated 7.1 million Americans finished more than 12,000 certified running events in the U.S.," write the newsletter's editors. "Just 15 years ago, the world of organized running was much smaller, with less than 3 million participants and only 1,361 courses." As such, from trail running to road marathons, the total number of Americans who run has steadily increased.

In conjunction with figures compiled by American Sports Data, Inc. in New York, On the Roads reported more than 34 million Americans ran at least once in 1999.

Within that total, more than 10 million, or nearly a third of all American runners, are categorized as "frequent runners". The study defines frequent runners as those who participate in the sport at least 100 days per year. Half-marathons and marathons continued to be popular, but the 5km distance remains the country's most popular. Last year, more than 1 million 5km performances were reported to the RRIC, the first time exceeding the million mark.

The figure is also impressive considering it's 10 times larger than the number of runners who participated in 5kms in 1987. The RRIC is not only interested in total numbers, but it also considers geographic statistics. In 1999, California, for example, had more residents who run than any other state. Nearly 4 million Californians, or 13.8 out of every 100 people who reside in the state, ran last year. Texas has the next most runners by state, followed by New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Vermont, meanwhile, which boasted 113,000 runners as a state in 1999, leads the publication's per capita tabulations, with 24.8 runners for each 100 residents.

And, finally, while many road runners are also trail runners, those who prefer to train and race off road warrant their own categories.

Last year, more than 6.2 million Americans identified themselves as trail runners. That represents an 18.7 percent increase from 1998 figures and is among the three categories with the highest increase.

Women's-only races and children's events also experienced substantial growth, further providing considerable proof of running's vast and diverse appeal.

For more statistical running information, contact the USATF Road Running Information Center, 5522 Camino Cerrlavo, Santa Barbara, Calif., 93111. (805) 683-5868 or e-mail: rric@runningusa.org.

(c) 2000, James Raia. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate