The Running Thread - 2018

[GollyGadget]

I find most of my races through the local running club. They have a site that lists most races within an hour so. Outside of local races, I've used different websites to find what I'm looking for. For example, we're always traveling on Thanksgiving so I have to look up a nearby Turkey Trot.

 

[Nole95]

I research races that I see people talk about on here to see if they're something we are interested in. I also use runningintheusa.com to see what's out there.

 

[kleph]

ATTQOTD: In addition to www.runningintheusa.com a large number of races now use Active.com for their registration, so it's a good place to look for upcoming events. For the 26.2 crowd, another good one to check out is MarathonGuide. This site has been around forever so the historic race reviews are really helpful if you are targeting a destination race.

For local events, you can't go wrong with local running clubs and independently owned running stores. Also look out for regional race websites. Here in Dallas/Fort Worth there is DFW Races which is a lot more granular than the nationwide race databases. So if I decide I want to run a 10K on a given weekend, I can usually find one in driving distance on that.

Word of mouth (and I include social media in this) can be extraordinarily helpful because you often are connecting with other folks wanting to do the same race.

 

[camaker]

ATTQOTD: My go to sources online have been runningintheusa.com and halfmarathons.net. The expos at races I have run have led me to some other gems like the Tuna Run 200 relay. I'm also a member of the local running club Facebook group and just monitoring the chatter there has led me to investigate other races as well.

 

[Miranda]

ATTQOTD: I am overwhelmed about race info! I never have to go looking for it much anymore.

• We have 3 main local race series: Seacoast Series (races all over the NH Seacoast and SE ME... Portsmouth, Newington, Dover, Stratham, Rye, New Castle, and York ME), Dover Series (all Dover NH races), or Will Run For Beer (southern NH and northern MA races). Between those 3 series, that's 30+ races of all distances, 5K up to HM.
• I have done a race with the large local running company (Millenium Running) that has races of all distances (and their own series, but they are based in a city about an hour away from me so I don't do their races regularly enough for the series)
• The Will Run for Beer series is put on by Loco Races, who have a handful of races that are not part of the series, so you get emailed about those once you're in their system. And some of their beer series races aren't actually put on by them, they are just the series organizer/sponsor, and some of the races are actually put on by other organizations (Winner's Circle Running Club based on the North Shore is one that has done a few of the beer series races I did). So, then I'm in Winner's Circle's system, and I get emails about their races that have nothing to do with Loco.
• I hear about local races from the local running clubs, my smaller club that I mainly run with (No Finish Line Running) and the big larger club for the whole state (SIX03)
• Similarly to the beer series and Loco, I get notified by other smaller race companies once I'm in their system about their other races, like my running group's destination HM last fall was up in the White Mountains and the event was organized by Tri Tek Events, so I get email now about Tri Tek's other events
• I hear about local races from my SRTT/MRTT Facebook group
• I hear about local races occasionally from the local running store's email list (Runner's Alley), but they don't send it out very often
• I hear about non-local races from my other affiliations/FB groups (Half Fanatics, 100 Half Marathons Club, etc)

I know most of the specific info about the organizers and series here in this area isn't relevant to a lot of people beyond "I heard about it from a series or a store", but I put in specifics because I know there are some New England area people who may be looking for other sources of race organizers/events.

 

[GreatLakes]

QOTD: How do you find out about races? Word of mouth, a website, race expos, ect??

Most local races I find through local race organizers. We have quite a few and almost every race is organized through one of them. I have found out about a few races at expos but if I'm looking for something out of town my first stop is always http://www.runningintheusa.com/ because they seem to have just about every race. If anyone has a better race aggregator I'd love to check it out.

 

[kleph]

Good as in the course being accurately measured or decent finish festival. Few things make me as angry as running a 5k that measure 2.9 Mi!

This is a really good point. It can be worth your time to do a little further research on a race once you have found the one you think you want to try.

If you want to make sure your time is accurate, you'll want to check and see if the course is USATF certified.

Next, almost every race has a social media presence now. Pop in and read through comments and reviews. Check the mentions of the race's twitter handle. Look and see what the criticisms are and if they are consistent.

Finally, if it's a larger race, look at who the organizer is and do a google search on them. It's not hard to find the ones that routinely have issues.

Obviously, if you are doing a spur-of-the-moment 5K for the fun of it, this additional work doesn't make a lot of sense. But with larger races now demanding a serious investment of time and money, it's not a bad idea to do your homework.

 

[SarahDisney]

QOTD: How do you find out about races? Word of mouth, a website, race expos, ect??

Mostly the internet. I've used runningintheusa.com a few times, but mostly I check out the local race organizations whose races I've run before, like NYCRUNS and NYRR. This year I'm focusing on NYRR races, so that's where I'm looking.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

ATTQOTD: Websites.

This one for 5/10Ks: http://rungeorgia.com/calendar.html And I'll check Classic Race Services too: https://www.classicraceservices.com/2016-calendar/?view=calendar&month=January-2018

http://www.marathonguide.com/ for marathons.

https://www.halfmarathons.net/race-calendar-georgia/ for halfs. I wish this one had a multi-state search feature.

 

[apdebord]

ATTQOTD: A combination of runningintheusa site, the Half Fanatics member site and word of mouth/social networks.

 

[derekleigh]

That sounds amazing! Everywhere we looked in Maui seemed to be beautiful 11.5 miles is an interesting distance, what's the race?

Run/Walk for the Whales. Apparently, they have a 1-mile, 5K, 10K 11.5 and Marathon if I recall correctly.

 

[jennamfeo]

ATTQOTD: My main races used to be just runDisney, but this year I just googled the heck out of races near me (AZ, NV, CA, & UT) and made a spreadsheet of any possible races I may want to do. I won't do them all in one year, but I can now look at this list and check things off every year. Local races I hear about on FB. And other races just from people I follow on IG.

 

[Jules76126]

I mainly use runningintheusa.com. However I have also found some through ads on FB. I will generally like the page so I get future updates and other suggestions. And I have found some through members here that post like @Miranda. I need to make a list of all the ones I would like to run so I don’t forget.

 

[Chaitali]

I mostly find out about new races through seeing people write about them online. I'm also on mailing lists for local running groups so I find out about new local races that way. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do in the Fall right now. I was thinking Baltimore in October but I have a work trip that's going to get in the way. So maybe Richmond or Philadelphia in November as those are both in easy driving distance. I have a friend lobbying for Kiawah Island in early December though. I've never heard of that one before. Has anyone done it or know much about it? https://kiawahresort.com/recreation/kiawah-island-marathon/

 

[MissLiss279]

ATTQOTD: In addition to www.runningintheusa.com a large number of races now use Active.com for their registration, so it's a good place to look for upcoming events. For the 26.2 crowd, another good one to check out is MarathonGuide. This site has been around forever so the historic race reviews are really helpful if you are targeting a destination race.

For local events, you can't go wrong with local running clubs and independently owned running stores. Also look out for regional race websites. Here in Dallas/Fort Worth there is DFW Races which is a lot more granular than the nationwide race databases. So if I decide I want to run a 10K on a given weekend, I can usually find one in driving distance on that.

Word of mouth (and I include social media in this) can be extraordinarily helpful because you often are connecting with other folks wanting to do the same race.

I also use MarathonGuide for race reviews.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: A little google, a little word of mouth, a little social media... It just depends on the race! Sometime I am looking for something specific (like a 10K for a proof of time), other times I just stumble across something cool!

 

[Anisum]

QOTD: How do you find out about races? Word of mouth, a website, race expos, ect??

A bit of everything. All of the small local races use RunSignUp.com so I go there if I'm looking for something small and local. Otherwise I use runningintheusa.com OR halfmarathons.net because I like their UI/UX better. I also find out about some (like Marathon Du Medoc) here and in my local running group.

 

[Dis5150]

ATTQOTD: I have used runningintheusa and also arkansasracesonline if I am looking for races at a specific time/distance. I am in a lot of Facebook groups where people talk about different races. Word of mouth for sure and on here!

@LSUlakes can you add this race for me?

May 06 - Dis5150 - Silo District Marathon (5:59:59/ N/A)

Thanks!

 

[rteetz]

QOTD: How do you find out about races? Word of mouth, a website, race expos, ect??

All the above? I think online is most likely these days.

 

[Dis5150]

Also, those of you that mentioned MarathonGuide, you are to blame for my non productive morning at work.