Indy Mini Marathon

"Mini" marathon? What the heck is a "mini" marathon?

the Indy Mini Marathon is the largest half marathon in the US. I don't really like the "mini" title either. I still have people get confused about how long a marathon is. Adding Mini to marathon just confuses people more. Frequently I am asked if I am runnning the marathon in Indy in May. Uhhh no .. but I am running the 1/2 marathon.

A monstrosity that destroyed good racing in the month of May on the other hand 75% of those taking part never race another race during the year, so maybe that ain't so.

I'll be there, for the 26th time.

The name "Mini-Marathon" is now so ingrained it would be a mistake to change it. More commonly called "the Mini" in local parlance. Truly an Indianapois Icon... 35,000 runners/walkers.

Sure there is a ton of Dead Wood by letsrun standards, but literally thousands and thousands and then more thousands of dedicated amateur runners from all over the country.

Maybe I will see you there. I will be wearing my cool Orange New Balance 902s-- glaringly bright.. you won't miss me. :)

BTW, I do kind of like having the "dead wood" as you say running. Most are really fairly clueless about running and just train to finish. The good part about it is that everyone is talking about running and asking advice etc. It's nice to have people even talking about our sport!

I will be there for my 10th in a row. Hoping for some cool weather.

Out of shape but running somewhere in the 1:12-1:14 range.

spaniel wrote:

Out of shape but running somewhere in the 1:12-1:14 range.

If that is out of shape.. then what is your "in shape"? Looks pretty speedy to me!

In shape would be 1:08-1:09. Last year I ran it on no sleep in 3 days, dogged it, figured I'd still have people to run with in one that big but no, I was all alone the whole race finishing around 1:14. Once you're in front of the main pack you pretty much need to be sub-1:10 or it's pretty sparse company.

Thanks though!

no offense spaniel, but methinks you are putting us on.

I agree, the Mini is an awesome event. It might not have the fastest field, but there are few half marathons that can compete with it. As for the dead wood crowd. There are a lot of slow runners, but it gets a lot of people out on the roads in the late winter to early spring just to train for it. Go through the suburbs or along the canal and there are people running all over the place in preparation. It serves as the first goal for a lot of people who would have never taken up running otherwise. I love it. It really brings the local running community together.

My "deadwood" phrase was aimed only at letsrun aficionados that feel that anyone that can't break 16 for a 5k or 3 hours for a marathon is not a runner. I sure do not feel that way ! I agree, those thousands of people training like crazy to run 2:00, 2:15,whatever, and also those walkers trying to do 3:10, etc..... my hat is off to them ! (And at age 65, I will be DELIGHTED if I can run 1:55 myself ... hoping for top 5 or at least top 10 in M 65-69.)