Applefest Half Marathon Recap

My prize: a basket of apples

This weekend I ran the 31st and final Applefest Half Marathon in Hollis, NH. The race is in southern New Hampshire and only an hour drive, so the 10 a.m. starting time allowed us to sleep to a reasonable time before driving up.

The race is really well organized even though it isn't huge and the volunteers did a great job of keeping the roads clear and safe for runners. I was also impressed at how loud spectators were, everyone I ran by (none of whom knew me) cheered, which doesn't always happen, but was really nice.

The course itself is stunning. It goes along beautiful country roads during the perfect time of year to see the foliage. I ran by forest, farms and even apple orchards, one of which provided a wonderfully strong smell of apple cider. There are rolling hills throughout, but when there's a downhill I really had the opportunity to get some speed going, resulting in a balanced time overall (I ran the exact same time in the very flat Surftown Half a few weeks ago).

After the race there's a wide selection of snacks including apple crisp, plus the awards for age group winners are giant baskets of apples, which I was lucky enough to take home.

Overall this was an awesome race that I wish I had discovered earlier. Unfortunately, this is the last Applefest Half Marathon that will be run, though the organizers will be creating another race in the future.

Runner's World Half Marathon & Festival Coming to Boston!

Next summer the Runner's World festival - which includes a 5K, 10K and half marathon - is coming to Boston. The races will all take place from June 6-8, 2014 in/around Boston College.

The 5K and 10K will both take place on Saturday morning, while the half marathon will occur on Sunday morning. Runners have the option of running one, two or all three races. Plus, for those interested there will be a seminar, dinner with Runner's World editors plus other activities.

The courses will take place along Heartbreak Hill, the famous stretch of the Boston Marathon, which will ensure that the course is far from being flat!

It's not known if this will be an annual event in Boston or if this is part of a national tour - so far Runner's World has only held races around its headquarters in Pennsylvania. No matter what, this is an event and race you won't want to miss!

Boston Marathon Registration Stays Open for Week Two

After a highly watched week of registration for the 2014 B.A.A. Boston Marathon, the field limit has not yet been reached and registration will continue through next week, beginning Monday at 10 a.m ET. Last week, only runners with times at least five minutes below their age group qualification mark were allowed to register.

Next week, all runners who qualified are allowed to register, but it will not be on a first come first served basis. Instead, the B.A.A. will wait until everyone wanting to has registered, and take the fastest times (compared to age group qualification marks) and accept those until the field limit i reached.

Earlier this week it was stated that 22,000 qualified runners will be accepted for the 2014 Marathon, despite the field size being increased by 9,000. A significant number of those additional spots are for runners who were unable to finish last years race, and it is speculated additional spots will go to charities, corporate sponsors and towns/cities.

Earlier this week Runner's World reported 11,300 people had registered for the race after four days, but there has been no update since Friday morning, which i when registration opened for people meeting the qualification time by five minutes or more. This could be because it's the weekend, but more likely it is because the B.A.A. doesn't want people to know exactly how many spots are left. Could this be because it wants some flexibility in allowing additional runners in, depending on how many people register next week?

UPDATE: Runner's World reports that 5,000 spots remain open.

Surftown Half Marathon Recap

The 2013 finisher's medal

All the way in the southwest corner of Rhode Island in Westerly, the Surftown Half Marathon is a flat, fast and scenic course that is provides a good opportunity to run fast.

The race is essentially a figure 8. You run two loops that are connected with a straightaway, which you run twice (once in each direction). For a race that's not huge, it was surprising how many people were along the course cheering runners on. It's not a city race or anything, but people were vocal, especially the many great volunteers.

There are several points of the race where you can take in a nice view of the water, but the course is mostly through small neighborhoods and streets. If you're looking for a race that's all about ocean views, try a different one in Rhode Island, such as Newport.

The biggest downside to the race was that its start was delayed about 15 minutes because of the long bathroom lines. And course, they didn't have nearly enough bathrooms.

Side note: I don't understand why races don't have enough of the portable bathrooms brought in. When there are hundreds or thousands of runners, you're going to need more then 15-20 bathrooms. Every time this happens (which is more frequently than anyone would hope) it bewilders me.

In any case, I enjoyed the race overall. It was low-key but still had good competition and a well organized race. I'm not sure if I'll run it again because of I had to wake up really early (4:55am) to drive there, but if I were local this would be on my yearly race calendar.

Overall Ranking: 7 (out of 10)
Course: 8
T-shirt: 7
Medal: 7

Boston Marathon 2014: It's Official!

What a great way to end the week!

4,000 Runners Sign Up for Boston Marathon on Day 1

The 2014 Boston Marathon is filling up at a faster rate then the 2013 race did - which comes at no surprise. 4,000 people registered the first day registration opened, which is for runners that met the qualifying standards by 20 minutes or more.

Quoted in Runner's World, B.A.A. spokesperson Jack Fleming said, "We are running less than a couple thousand ahead of year-to-year. Better indicators will be on Wedneday when 10 minutes and faster qualifiers can submit their entry application, and of course on Friday, when 5 minutes and faster qualifies can submit their entry."

Based on Flemming's statement, it appears the B.A.A. expects registration to open at least until Friday. However, message boards are speculating the marathon could fill up during the BQ-5 registration period. We should know a lot more after Wednesday, when the next rush of registration will take place with BQ-10 runners.

Boston Marathon Field Size & Registration Date Set

Today the B.A.A. announced the details for the 2014 Boston Marathon.

1. As expected, the field size will increase by 9,000 runners to allow 36,000 runners to take part next year.

2. Rolling registration will open on Monday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. ET.

• Runners meeting the qualifying standards by 20 minutes or more will be able to register immediately. 
• Runners meeting the qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more will be able to register on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. ET.
• Runners meeting the qualifying standards by 5 minutes or more will be able to register on Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. ET.
• All qualified runners will be able to register beginning Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. ET.

Of course, at any point registration will fill up and close. My guess is sometime on Sept. 13, and I'm really hoping I'm able to get in (I'm in the 5 minute group). We'll all find out soon enough!