Choose your flavor. Themed races.

     What? Who ever thought of organizing a half marathon that finished at mid-night (Moonlight Half Marathon, Aug. 4th, Mapleton, UT)? Well... the same type of people that thought it would be fun to run a 5k around Halloween time while being chased by zombies (Night of the Running Dead 5k, Oct. 20th Sandy, UT) or run a 5k obstacle course up and down the mountain and through a swamp (Dirty Dash 5K, Sept. 22nd, Midway, UT). The list of themed races is long and growing in Utah and across the country.

Fun Run

     These new 'fun run' races have brought excitement into the boring world of long distance running. If you are an avid runner you might want to defend the term "boring" and argue that the sport makes you feel alive and energized. So for the sake of argument I would agree with you but how much more alive would you feel if ZOMBIES were chasing you while you ran? That is all that I was getting at. I have ran 5ks, 10ks, half and full marathons, sprint triathlons, olympic triathlons, and a half ironman so I know what if feels like to run for hours at a time and feel... bored. Themed races, 'fun runs', give you a chance to get out and run like you always have been but with a little more excitement.

Color Run

     Themed 'fun run' races are also marketing rockstars because they have attracted more and more demographics of runners (or non-runners) to participate in each race. Those people that you never thought would be interest in running in a race are now excited to run a 5k with friends while spectators, volunteers, and sponsors throw balls of exploding color on their white shirts at each distance marker and then join a big party at the finish line (The Color Run, Sept 15, SLC). My wife and I are runners but we typically wouldn't have ran a half marathon at mid-night until we saw the advertisements for the Moonlight Half Marathon and thought, "That would make a fun date night... lets do it". There marketing worked on us. While we were running that race we saw and unusual group of people that I never thought would be running a race, a group of ten 14yr-old girls having a birthday party as they ran. They all had glow in the dark happy birthday hats and singing the popular birthday tune as they ran. The father was leading the pack dragging a little red wagon filled with birthday cake, donuts, drinks, and presents. Wow! Like I said, "Marketing Rockstars"!

Mud Run

     Since these races are supposed to be more fun then serious they often tend to attract groups of runners not just single entrees. My family and I are a living example of this in action. My wife recruited her two sisters and their husbands, her little brother, her mother and myself to run the Dirty Dash (Mud Run) in Midway, UT Sept. 22nd. We have been training as a family to get everyone in shape for the race. In the name of family unity we were able to get others to race with us that NEVER would have searched out a race opportunity on thier own.
    So if you are an avid runner this new phenomenon just gave you a much needed breath of fresh air in options of races to run and if you are someone that has always been looking for an excuse to start running here is your excuse.
 
These are all fun runs but if you want to share this fun with others through a simple act of service while you run please read my blog post on serving other through running, "Runners with Heart". Click here http://allthingsutah2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/runners-with-heart.html