INDUSTRY NEWS - ATLANTA MARATHON & HALF-MARATHON BREAKS ENTRIES RECORD
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
The
Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon and Half-Marathon, scheduled for
Thanksgiving Day, has exceeded 10,000 entries for the first time in the
event's 46-year history, organizers announced today. A 20% surge in
registrations for the half-marathon when compared to last year put the
race over the 10,000 runner mark.
"The number of people taking
on the challenge of long distance running events continues to increase
nationally –especially at the half marathon distance," said Atlanta
Track Club executive director Tracey Russel through a media release.
"With the help of The Weather Channel as the new title sponsor for the
event, we've had the opportunity to be more aggressive with our
marketing efforts and it certainly has paid off with our increased
registration."
Along with Independence Day on July 4,
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, is the most popular holiday in the United
States for runners to enter races. Hundreds of "turkey trots" are held
throughout the country where runners hope to build up a calorie deficit
before tucking into their traditional Thanksgiving feasts. A small
sample of races which reported finisher totals to Race Results Weekly
last year showed nearly 92,000 finishers, but when less competitive
races are factored in the total would be much higher. The Weather
Channel Atlanta Marathon and Half-Marathon is one of the largest
Thanksgiving Day events, recording 6905 finishers last year (the
largest is the Thanksgiving Day 10-K in Cincinnati which recorded
10,611 finishers last year).
The Atlanta Track Club has added
wave starts this year to ease congestion at the starting line, and has
also moved to a disposable timing chip, the ChronoTrack "D-Tag,"
replacing the reusable ChampionChip transponder most familiar to
runners.
Registration is still open at http://www.atlantatrackclub.org.
ENDS