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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Half Marathons to Sign Up for in 2014



Since so many people expressed interest in my last blog post on running half marathons, I thought I'd share a few of the races I'm signing up for this year. One of my best friends told me yesterday that she wants to train for and run a half marathon this summer, but she seemed scared that she might not follow through.

My advice to make sure you train for that race is to sign up and PAY for it now! It's much harder to not go through with something if you've already paid to do it.

So here are the races I'm sure I am doing this year. If any of them sound good to you, sign up and run with me!


1. The Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon on Saturday, April 26 in Champaign, IL.
I'm already signed up and ready to go! This should be a fun one through the University of Illinois.


2. The Starved Rock Half Marathon in Ottawa, IL on Saturday, May 10.
I've got a newbie runner with me on this one and we could use more newbie company!



3.The Quad Cities Marathon in Moline, IL on Sunday, September 28. I ran this half marathon last year, and am planning for it to be my first full marathon this year. This course was great, as it goes through four cities and two states. This was my favorite race last year because it was in my college town. I ran into one of my professors along the race, and we caught up and ran together for about a half mile. It's nice because it draws a lot of runners, but it's not nearly as crowded as a race in Chicago.

4. The Des Moines (Half or Full) Marathon in Iowa on Sunday, October 20.
I also ran this one last year, and enjoyed an awesome burger and milkshake afterwords from Zombie Burger. There's plenty of training time for this one!

There are a lot of other fun races I'd like to get into, but some of these fun ones aren't as fun if you're by yourself:

  • The Soldier Field 10 Mile on Saturday, May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend!). Finish on the 50-yard line on Soldier Field and see yourself on the big jumbo-tron thing. How fun is that?! Kyle and I are probably doing this one.
  • The Color Run in Des Moines on Saturday, July 12. Color runs, also known as the happiest 5k on the planet, are really popular. It's not about your time as much as it is about having fun. You get sprayed with different colors at each kilometer. Fun!
  • The Biggest Loser RunWalk Half Marathon in Chicago on Sunday, August 3. I've always wanted to do one of these because I'm a sucker for the TV show. 
  • Last but not least, the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando.      
Need I really say more? Well yes, because I need to convince somebody to run this with me. As much as I'd love to go run with the princesses, I would feel silly going alone. This year's race in February sold out LAST JUNE, which means I need a good friend to sign up with me for next year by THIS June. Who is going to be the fairest of them all and sign up with me?!?! Pretty please :) 

These are just a few good ones. There are plenty of races to be found on www.halfmarathons.net or www.runningintheusa.com. If anyone wants to know more about these races, leave a comment :)



Who's in with me??

What races are you doing this year??

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