The focus for the Air Force Marathon this year — keep going with what’s worked in the past, said Chris Meister, race director.
“I think we do a lot well,” Meister said in a new interview. “This is our 28th year. We’re just continuing on, doing what we can, making it a lot of fun for everybody.”
The formula may be familiar, but it’s gotten bigger. The marathon, half-marathon and 10-K runs are on the morning of Sept. 21, starting near the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, as usual.
The 5K and the Tailwind Trot (a one-kilometer event for children) are on the afternoon of Sept. 20 at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center.
Of course, there’s a more. The virtual events started Sept. 1, and if you want to go that route, upload your results by the end of the month.
“We’re not just a marathon,” Meister said. “We’re much more than that.”
Registration for all events is found at https://register.usafmarathon.com. More information is found at the homepage, usafmarathon.com.
Last year, the marathon with its allied races had about 8,500 participants altogether, about 60% of them civilians. Meister expects similar numbers this year.
“People sign up for races later and later nowadays,” he said.
One tweak race leaders made from past events: Runners will cross the finish line into the waiting after-race festival, there on the base itself, with food, drink and musical entertainment. The festival or after-party will not be held at The Greene in Beavercreek or elsewhere off base.
“We wanted to kind of get away from that a little bit, instead of asking people to go somewhere else after they worked so hard all day to run a race, we just brought the after-party to them,” Meister said.
The event has about 1,000 to 1,200 volunteers, he said. Right now, the event is well situated with those.
Participants can expect a detailed email with race and parking instructions in coming days, but one rule of thumb really hasn’t changed from previous years. Arrive early. A shuttle service from the Nutter Center starts very early to help with that, and Meister says it’s a good idea try to be in place two hours before the start of your event, to relax and warm up.
More info
The two-day health and fitness expo starts at 3 p.m. next Thursday (Sept. 19) at the Nutter Center, continuing the next day at 11 a.m. It’s free and open to the public, whether you’re running or not.
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