More and more women are lacing up their running shoes and participating in 10k races in the US, according to new research from Northwestern University's School of Medicine.

While men still run the 10k race with a faster average time, overall participation in 10k races is increasing and it seems women are filling more spots in the race lineup than ever before.

Researchers analyzed data gathered from the 10 largest 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) races in the US in the last decade. As more people take up running as part of a healthy lifestyle, registrations for 10k races has soared, with 1.3 million people participating in such races in 2010, the researchers said.

Dr. Dan Cushman, a clinical instructor in physical medicine and rehabilitation and lead author of the study, said women began outnumbering men in the 2006-2007 time frame and today make up the majority of participants in the country's 10 largest 10k races.

Among the study's findings were that both men and women seem to be getting faster, and that the fastest men are also getting younger.

More people are also finishing the 10k race in under one hour, with increasingly more women accomplishing this feat than men, the researchers said.

More people are also finishing the races, though it takes more than an hour for most of them.

"It seems that as these large races have more people participating, we have slower runners, but I see that as a positive thing," Cushman said.

"It's not just elite runners or former high school athletes running today's 10km races, there are more everyday people running this distance," Cushman said. "One of the best things we can do to improve our health is exercise and taking on a 10km race is a great goal."

Data for the study came from these popular 10km road running races across the country:

  • AJC Peachtree Road Race, Atlanta, GA
  • Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder, Boulder, CO
  • Cooper River Bridge Run, Charleston, SC
  • Bellin 10k Run, Green Bay, WI
  • Wharf-to-Wharf, Santa Cruz, CA
  • Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race, Cincinnati, OH
  • Statesman Capitol, 10k Austin, TX
  • Scotland Run, New York City, NY
  • Rodes City Run, Louisville, KY
  • Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race, Pittsburgh, PA
  • UAE Healthy Kidney 10k, New York City, NY