White Rock to Add Half-Marathon -- Lake Grapevine Runners And Walkers

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Date Posted: 15:45:41 07/11/03 Fri
Author: The Dallas Morning News
Subject: White Rock to Add Half-Marathon
In reply to: Star-Telegram 's message, "2004 Cowtown course not determined, race organizers open to suggestions" on 14:18:39 07/09/03 Wed

White Rock to add half-marathon
13.1-mile race popular with walkers, older runners

07/08/2003

By DEBBIE FETTERMAN / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

In an effort to compete with the nation's largest marathons, the Dallas White Rock Marathon board voted Monday night to add a half-marathon. The Dec. 14 event will feature a 26.2-mile marathon, a 13.1-mile half-marathon and a five-person relay.

The full marathon will remain the premier event, board chairman Chock Bailey said. All races will begin and end at American Airlines Center.

Half-marathons are among the nation's fastest-growing race distances, according to data compiled by USA Track & Field's Road Running Information Center. Many races, including the Motorola Austin and the HP Houston marathons, feature 13.1-mile courses.

"You can look around the country and see that the popularity of the half-marathon is growing by leaps and bounds," said board member Bob Luchsinger, who helped develop the new race. "They still require serious training to do. Older people are getting worn out and don't want to run a full marathon."

Half-marathons also are popular among walkers, including those participating in group fund-raising efforts such as the Leukemia Society's Team in Training, the American Stroke Association's Train to End Stroke and the Arthritis Foundation's Joints in Motion programs.

The new half-marathon will replace the two-person relay, Luchsinger said. The $5,000 prize money shared by the overall men's and women's two-person relay team winners will become the purse for the half-marathon.

"Our answer to the half-marathon has always been the two-person relay," Luchsinger said. "There's no question the half-marathon is what the runners want. They're telling us by every race around the country.

"We need to do it whether we want to or not."

The half-marathon will start at 8 a.m. with the full marathon and the relay. The course, designed by Luchsinger in consultation with others, will follow the full marathon's outbound path to Greenville Avenue, where it will detour a couple of miles.

It will return to the full marathon route, probably on Richmond, and head back toward the finish, Luchsinger said.

"The challenge will be at the end of the course," Luchsinger said. "We don't want the fast marathoners running into a bunch of slow-moving half-marathoners."

E-mail dfetterman@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/moresports/stories/070803dnspowhiterocklede.80201.html

A second 'half'? It may add up
Officials say runners will benefit from new 13.1-mile race in Dallas

07/11/2003

Will a second "half" six weeks later mean a whole lot of trouble for the Nov. 1 White Rock Half Marathon?

Some road racing authorities say the race popularly known as The Half need not worry. They say the Dallas White Rock Marathon's decision this week to add a Dec. 14 half marathon shouldn't create problems for the Cross Country Club of Dallas' annual 13.1-mile event.

"It's possible that both half marathons can exist and still keep their numbers and maybe grow," said Ryan Lamppa, media coordinator for Running USA and the USA Track and Field Road Running Information Center.

Lamppa said half marathons across the country have grown 19 percent since 1999. Further, Austin faced a similar scenario in February.

The ninth 3M Half Marathon drew its largest field, 3,200, this year. It was held two weeks before the Motorola Austin Marathon's inaugural half, which registered 3,000 participants.

"It didn't have any effect on our race," said Jackie Ditman, race director for the 3M half. "We had about a 10 percent increase in participation."

CCCD president Cline Taplin anticipates a similar result here. The club's White Rock Half Marathon has increased its field by more than 700 runners the last four years. It ranked 18th in 2002 among the nation's half marathons, based on total finishers, Lamppa said.

The Half has been considered a vital training race for those preparing to run late-fall marathons such as The Rock. Area training programs encourage participants to enter The Half to ensure a long run in a festive environment and to instill confidence.

The CCCD has been striving to grow and improve its half marathon. This year, it added prize money and special gifts. And it's reconfigured the course into a point-to-point route to reduce parking problems.

"The only downside is that if we don't continue to do a quality job, then people have alternatives," Taplin said. "Rather than train for our event, they have other events they can shoot for. That's major. We will be forced to do our job well."

Nonetheless, Taplin said The Rock's new half marathon is good for the sport. "A lot of people don't have the time or don't want to put the effort into running a marathon," he said. "In order to make sure they don't lose those people, races have to have half marathons."

Dallas' marathon officials anticipate an increase in entries this year by at least 1,000 and by as many as 5,000 next year, said board member Roger Foster. The half marathon will replace the two-person relay.

The Motorola Austin Marathon offers reason for optimism.

"Our half marathon numbers went through the roof," said race director John Conley. "We capped it at 3,000, and we hit our cap. Otherwise, we would have seen more. Next year, there won't be a cap."

One issue remains: What to call the new Dallas race? The CCCD's Taplin said he wonders what name White Rock Marathon officials will come up, seeing as how "White Rock Half Marathon" is already taken.

"If people get confused, it will only help us," laughed Taplin.

White Rock Marathon board chairman Chock Bailey said the marathon board is talking to a potential sponsor that would have naming rights. "We should know soon," he said.

Briefly ...

The Fort Worth Runners Club will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a picnic and fun run July 20. For information, 817-654-5390 or visit www.fwrunner.org. ... North Texas Trail Runner member Paul Stone of Tyler finished his 12th run of 100 miles or longer when he completed last month's Mohican Trail 100-mile run in central Ohio. His time was 25 hours, two minutes, three seconds.

E-mail dfetterman@dallasnews.com

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