This article is from the Indi Mini April Newsletter, with some of my very own editorial comments:
A Look inside the making of the nation’s largest half marathon….
The Course…
The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon course isn’t just pavement, its history in the making…you will be joining the hundreds of thousands that have taken on the nation's largest half marathon throughout the years. (Editorial Note: Woo Hoo!)
So you want to know about the course?
*The course runs from downtown Indianapolis through historic neighborhoods, around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway® and back downtown.
*Over 100 entertainment groups will be lined throughout the course providing music, dancing and much more to keep you running!
*Inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway® you will not only be able to see the live telecast on the big screens, but have spirit squads cheering you around the world famous 2.5 mile oval, which is starting its Centennial Era Celebration this year. The first official celebration of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s ® Centennial Era will be the same event that started it all 100 years ago – a balloon race. (Editorial Note: YAWN.) The Indianapolis Motor Speedway® Centennial Era Balloon Festival, presented by AT&T Real Yellow Pages will kick off Friday, May 1 – Sunday, May 3. As 35,000 runners in the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ® to race around the famed oval track, more than 50 balloons will ascend from the infield for the first of two balloon race competitions. The colorful balloons will fill the skies of Indianapolis, creating a beautiful backdrop for the beginning of the Month of May festivities. (Editorial Note: ZZZZzzzzzzzz.)
*Splits: watch for your times at Mile 5 & Mile 10 (Editorial Note: WHAT?! That's it?)
*You wont get thirsty as there are eighteen water & Gatorade Endurance pit stations along the course (Editorial Question...and not one that's rhetorical: Do I trust this and leave my own gatorade at home?)
*Apprehensive about aches, pains, and injuries during the race? No worries, the St. Francis Medical Tents at the start line and other medical tents at each Pit Station will get them taken care of!
What’s new?
The 500 Festival 50th Anniversary Legacy Art sculpture located in beautiful White River State Park’s Celebration Plaza. Look to your right for this colorful inspiration as you leave the start line!
5 comments:
18 hydration stations seems like an awful lot for a half marathon. Do you think they are counting 2 per stop... like 1 for water, 1 for gatorade?
I don't pack a fuel belt, but if you've been training with one, I'd say bring it anyway, just in case. This way, maybe you can avoid the traffic jams at the aid stations, coast through, and drink your stuff in peace!
LOL at the yawns!
Lou, I sent an email to the race info people to ask just that, we shall see if they respond.
Aileen, I I never leave home without my fuel belt after the 2007 marathon fiasco, I trust no one. On the flip side, I don't worry about traffic jams at my 12:00 pace. ;)
wow no one should be dehydrated there.
I've done a half marathon where they ran out of water - at TWO CONSECUTIVE water stations (and they only had water every 2 miles). That sucks ass.
But don't worry about that in Indy though. They are a well oiled machine. You will never run out of water or entertainment. My favorite half by far.
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