New Year's Eve Midnight Run in NYC

NOTE: Get details on the 2009 Central Park Midnight Run here.

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If you'll be in New York City for New Year's Eve and are looking for something different (and even healthy!) to do, check out the annual New Year's Eve run in Central Park.

The Emerald Nuts Midnight Run is a fun way to ring out the old and ring in the new. The festivities start on Monday, December 31 with DJ music and dancing at 10:00 p.m. Runners are encouraged to run in costume, and there's a costume parade and contest at 11:00 p.m. The main event, a 4-mile race, begins at midnight, accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display by Grucci (the same company that puts on the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks each year).

It's a great and healthy start to 2008. What's more, this year there will be a special companion race run by more than 200 service members stationed in Al Asad, Iraq.

Locations: Dancing and the costume contest take place at the Central Park Bandshell, just south of the 72nd Street Transverse in Central Park, New York. (Closest entrance: Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street).

Runners will be making their way to the starting line around 11:30 p.m to the sounds of a live brass band. The race starts on the East Drive of Central Park near 68th Street, then heads north to the 102nd Street Transverse. Runners will then turn (west) across the transverse and then turn left (south) on the West Drive. Runners will make their way from the West Drive to the 72nd Street Transverse, and then turn left (east) and finish near the Bandshell.

Study: Marathons Cut Traffic Deaths

Marathons can be saving lives not only among runners who train to compete in them, but among motorists. A Canadian survery says that marathons are "more likely to save lives due to road closures on the race course than to cause runners' sudden cardiac death," according to an article on WebMD.

Researchers at University of Toronto studied large U.S. marathons between 1975 and 2004, run on public roads.

2007 Jacksonville Marathon - Official Race Results

The results for the 2007 Jacksonville Marathon and half marathon have been posted online. Besides viewing and searching the results, you can also enter your bib number and view the photos that may have been taken of you by the official race photographer.

On a day when the Northeast and Midwest U.S. is suffering from freezing cold and snow, it must have been nice to be running a fast, flat course in Florida (even if northern Florida doesn't quite have the sun and balmy temperatures of more southern areas of the state).

Congratulations on completing the 2007 Jacksonville Marathon or half marathon!

New York More Marathon and Half Marathon for Women Over 40

Online registration is now open for the More® Magazine Marathon and Half Marathon, the New York Road Runners Club has announced. The races will take place in New York City's Central Park on Sunday, April 6, 2008, with both races beginning at 8:00 a.m.

More® Magazine is a publication for women over 40, and the races are open to women who will be at least 40 by April 6 can participate in the marathon as an individual. Or, they can run in the half marathon with a female partner who is at least 12 years old. So for women under 40, they can take part in the half marathon by finding a parter who is 40 or over. NYRR can match runners with a partner, or you can go to the More® Magazine message board to find a partner.

2008 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run - Registration is Open

Registration opened December 11th for the 2008 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, one of the most scenic and popular road races in the U.S. The 2008 Cherry Blossom race will be held April 6, 2008.

The site says that the size of the field for the 10-Miler has been expanded to 12,000 to meet the heavy demand. And there is a new course for both the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run and the 5K race... you'll find the new course maps here.

The 5K race is already filled, but the 2008 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile run is still open as of this writing. The Cherry Blossom races are known for the magnificent cherry blossoms in bloom, as well as the historic scenery of Washington, D.C.

You can register for the race online or download a PDF of the entry brochure.

2008 Covered Bridges Half Marathon - How to Get In

Well, that didn't take long! Registration for the 2008 Covered Bridges Half Marathon was apparently closed less than a couple hours after it opened, with all the places filled. BUT... as the official site says, you can still get into the race.

One was is to join in supporting one of the race's official charities, which involves raising a certain amount of money for that charity (the lowest amount seems to be about $300). The second way to get into the 2008 Covered Bridges Half Marathon is to sign up for a weekend package offered by the Woodstock Inn, the race's Web site says.

The 2008 Covered Bridges Half Marathon takes place on June 1st, 2008, and the course winds its way through the towns of South Pomfret and Quechee, Vermont. Since first hearing about the race more than five years ago I haven't been able to act quickly enough to register. Maybe this year I'll take a look at those charity options for getting into the race.

2007 Dallas White Rock Marathon - Race Results

Here are the race results for the 2007 Dallas White Rock Marathon, which was held on Dec. 9th. For the marathon and half marathon, you can view a runner's results with RunPix, a colorful graphical display that gives an analysis of place, pace, category, gender place, and more.

You can also view the compete results for all races: the 2007 Dallas White Rock Marathon, the half marathon, and the 5K.

2007 Honolulu Marathon - Race Results

The 35th Honolulu Marathon is in the books. Now you can search for runners in the 2007 Honolulu Marathon at the official results page. You can search by name, bib number, gender, age, etc., or view the leaders.

(The page may say '2006' at the top, but the results ARE for the 2007 Honolulu Marathon.)