Denise Malan - The Runners Bucket List: 200 Races to Run Before You Die

Copyright 2014 by Denise Malan

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Malan, Denise.

The runners bucket list / Denise Malan.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-60078-838-3 (pbk.)

1. Marathon runningGuidebooks. 2. Running racesGuidebooks. I. Title.

GV1065.M34 2014

796.4252dc23

2013040304

This book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or organization. For further information, contact:

Triumph Books LLC

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

(312) 337-0747

www.triumphbooks.com

Printed in U.S.A.

ISBN: 978-1-60078-838-3

Design by Andy Hansen

Page production by Alex Lubertozzi

For my grandparents and Mike

Index

The inspiration behind The Runners Bucket List is simple: running is an adventure.

You can race a train in Connecticut or commemorate a prohibitionists bombing of three bars in the middle of the night in a tiny Kansas town. You can feel free as you run through the towering redwoods in California or confine yourself to a gym and make 204 trips around a tiny indoor track in Indiana.

The Runners Bucket List started with my own personal list of races I was dying to run. When my grandfather told me about a race in Kansas City that was run completely underground (and cleverly scheduled around Groundhog Day), I became obsessed with finding more unique races around the country.

Pretty soon, I had compiled a list 50 races long. The Talladega 21000, a half marathon around the famous superspeedway in Alabama. The Guinness Challenge in Tulsa that involves drinking three stouts in only four miles. The Hatfields and McCoys Reunion Marathon that pits the feuding families against each other.

I wanted to run them all!

But faster than I could tick them off, the list continued to grow. As it did, I started noticing patterns in the events. Many fit themes, such as costume races, adventure and obstacle course races, night races, indoor races, and hot and cold races. The Runners Bucket List was taking shape.

Those patterns evolved into the 25 chapters in this book, each representing a unique type of race, each an event that should be on your bucket list. They are large and small, indoors and out, easy and hard, fully clothed and, um, less so. Some you have no doubt heard of, including the New York City Marathon. Others are a bit more under the radar but just as deserving of being on any runners must-run list. Each is unique in its own way.

With the goal of making the list as accessible as possible, every chapter contains races of varying distances held in different areas of the country. Many are marathons but each section contains at least a 10K and usually a 5K, so beginning runners and walkers can experience the same type of race. There are a few ultra marathons, listed because of their iconic status, but those races (anything longer than 26.2 miles) are only for the toughest of runners.

Most of these races are in the United States, but there is one full chapter on international destination races, something every runner should experience.

The idea is that each runner can make his or her individualized bucket list and work to start checking off the races.

Of course, I wanted to run all 200 races and write about my experiences firsthand. Unfortunately I didnt have a luxurious five-year deadline to do that, so much of the information on races in this book was compiled from interviews with runners and race directors, online results and reviews, and race websites. But I still wanted to provide that personal touch, so each chapter also contains at least one first-person race report written by myself or a contributor who experienced the event.

Each race capsule contains information about the races location, distance, month, and website where you can find more details. While these details are as up to date as possible, please keep in mind that races change often. The dates, distances, and even the courses can vary from year to year. Every effort was made to ensure the races in this book were stable and would be there for readers to enjoy, but circumstances unforeseen can lead to races shutting down. Be sure to check a races website for the latest details.

There are many more races than could fit in this book that are well-run, unique, and deserving of being on your bucket list. I realize this.

Thats why The Runners Bucket List is a work in progress. Id love to hear about all the great races out there that rise above the average event. What makes them one of a kind? Why do you keep coming back year after year? In short, why should they be on the bucket list?

Contact me at www.runnersbucketlist.com, www.facebook.com/ runnersbucketlist, or @runbucketlist on Twitter, and you just might see your suggestions in the next edition.

Happy running!