Registration for this year’s AthFest half marathon is now open. The 8th Annual race will be held next month. This year’s event will feature a new course and a 5K race on Saturday. Organizers say the 5K will allow more runners to take part in the race. Jill Helme is the Executive Director of AthFest Educates.
“We realized that when you’re running a 13.1 mile distance, it’s not the kind of distance that absolutely everyone in your household is going to be comfortable running,” according to Helme.
Helm says the race has ardent supporters.
“The half marathon has this incredible following and this group of people just absolutely love it and show up to run it every year and show up to support it every year, and so we thought we would add a 5K as a way to let family and friends who show up to support their runners also get involved in race weekend. It’s just this hyper-local event that we wanted to be able to expand it .”
The 5K is Saturday, October 21st and the main event, the Half Marathon will be held Sunday, the 22nd,, at 7:30 AM. To register, visit AthHalf.com. Volunteers are still needed to help with massive undertaking. The race weekend also includes a Health and Fitness Expo from noon to 6 pm at the Classic Center Pavilion.
AthFest raises money for music and arts education. The organization has given more than $310,000 in grants to date.
