Author Archives: TJ

Boston Marathon to get its own beer?

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You read that right — the Boston Beer Company, the maker of Samuel Adams beer, is teaming up with the Boston Marathon to introduce a special commemorative craft beer just for the running of this year’s race, scheduled for Monday, April 16.

The beer company and the 116-year-old race actually have something of a history. Jim Koch, the founder and CEO of Boston Beer Company first began selling the brew that would later become known simply as “Sam Adams” back in 1985 on Patriot’s Day, the state holiday in Massachusetts that also happens to be the day the Boston Marathon is run each year.

Read the full story on the new Boston Marathon beer at CNBC’s website.

Quote for the Day

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“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.”

Those are words from Priscilla Welch, the winner of the 1987 New York City Marathon and 6th-place finisher in the 1984 women’s Olympic marathon in Los Angeles, who didn’t take up running competitively until she was in her mid thirties.

Not only that: Before she meet her husband at age 35, Welch had been a pack-a-day smoker and “self-proclaimed partier” who took up running as a way to pass the time when she and her husband were stationed in Norway for the British military in the early 1980s.

Read more about Priscilla Welch — also known sometimes to her fellow competitors as “Cilla the Killa” — in this Running Times profile from 2008.

(Hat tip: 13.1 Marathon Series for the inspiration.)

Want to run a Wine Country Half Marathon?

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The past few years have seen the rise of the destination race in a big way, whether it’s to places like Hawaii for the Kauai Marathon & Half Marathon or to South Africa for the Big Five Marathon & Half Marathon, which takes runners through the wilds of the African savannah.

Closer to home, one of the most popular racing trends has been the many marathon and half marathon races that run through the California and Oregon wine country. Many of these sell out quickly each year, which is no surprise of course given the scenery you get to run through mile after mile.


Here’s a list of the wine country races scheduled for 2012:

Race to Robie Creek Registration Opens Today

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If you’re interested in running the April 2012 Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon — which organizers bill as “the toughest half marathon in the Northwest” — you’ll need to make sure you try to get into the race today. This race famously sells out in minutes each year, so check out the event website and Active.com for more info on signing up.

Registration for the race opens at 12:00 PM Mountain Time (that’s 2:00 PM Eastern Time) — don’t be late!

Race to Robie Creek official website: www.robiecreek.com

Plus more race info on the main site: Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon

Update: Registration for the race has now filled up, but the organizers are opening up a “second chance” registration tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM Mountain Time. From the race website:
Continue reading →

New Half Marathon (& Discount) for Wausau, WI

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The Rapid Running series of marathon, half marathon and cycling events arrives for the first time in 2012 in Wausau, Wisconsin, with an all-new race set for the end of summer here in this central Wisconsin city on the banks of Lake Wausau and the Wisconsin River.

Set for a late August run as school is getting back into session, the Rapid Running Wausau Half Marathon is the sixth of seven planned events in the Rapid Running series for 2012, which starts with the half marathon at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania in May and concludes with a new half marathon in Sheboygan, Wis., in October.

For today only, runners who register for the Wausau Half Marathon (or any of the other marathon and half marathon races in the series) can save 44% off the registration fee when you use this Active.com promo code: AMERICA44.

Find out more about the race at the Rapid Running Wausau Half Marathon on the main site.

Friday Roundup: Great Reads on Running, Health & More

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I couldn’t let another week pass without providing a link to what must be one of the absolute toughest races there is, the Empire State Building Run-Up, which took place last week. Yes, you heard that right — runners, walkers, firefighters and endurance athletes of all kinds attempt the grueling climb up 86 flights of stairs all the way to the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building in New York.

A good friend of mine ran it — and finished it! — but needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be joining her next year. Here’s a recap of that race, plus some other great reads I’ve found around the Web this week.

  • Once Again, First to the 86th Floor: A profile of Thomas Dold, the 27-year-old winner (again) of this year’s Empire State Building Run-Up, who is on his way to becoming for this race what Takeru Kobayashi once was to the 4th of July hot dog eating contest at Coney Island.
  • Slideshow of the Empire State Building Run-Up: The race in pictures, captured by New York Times photographers.
  • Getting Out of a Rut: Running Times magazine takes a look at the perennial bane of nearly every runner, how to rise above it when you plateau during training.
  • Hidden Arsenic Source in Brown Rice Syrup?: In a web follow-up to their story this week on World News Tonight, ABC News takes a look at what could be inside the energy shots and gels many of us consume during training and races.
  • 3 Foods for a Healthy Heart: If I bring you down with the link above, I wanna lift you back up again with this one. Because running is all about cardio health, and you gotta have heart, right?

What have you been reading lately?

Running. Beer. Running and Drinking Beer?

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In what has got to be one of the more “interesting” announcements I’ve ever seen on a new running event, it looks like one of the many race management companies across the U.S. has decided to combine what is surely many runners’ favorite pastime after the race into something that will no doubt provide some great fodder for entertainment, at least.

It’s called “Tap N’ Run,” and from the looks of it, it’s basically running and drinking beer. At the same time. Experimental? Innovative? Quirky and slightly edgy, perhaps? The answer to all of those, of course, is yes. Is it a good running experience? Something tells me there’s only one way to find out.

So far, the race is set for five cities across the country this year, starting in Cincinnati in May and finishing in Nashville, Tenn., in August. Can’t wait to hear what this is actually like. Have any of you run in it?

Find out more at the event’s website: Tap N’ Run

New Summertime race in the South

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When the weather gets warm in June, July and August in the Deep South — and by early June, it can be quite warm, especially with the way the weather’s been so far this year — there aren’t many long-distance races to come by.

In tiny Dawsonville, Ga., however — home to just over 2,500 near Lake Lanier and Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest — they’re starting what they hope will become an annual running event with the all-new Dawsonville Half Marathon, which makes its inaugural run on Saturday, June 9.

Find out more on the main site by clicking here: Dawsonville Half Marathon, 5K and Fun Run.