Some may say we struggle with getting people to run these races, but we really don't try very hard to advertise; we like to keep these events small. If you're thinking about running with us AND you'd be traveling a long way to get here so you can count it as an "official marathon," contact me, so I can try to get more people to run.
A lot of prospective runners ask if a certain one of our races will count toward the Maniacs or 50 States, referring to the Marathon Maniacs and the 50 States Marathon Club. The short, and confusing, answer is: it depends.
The long answer is that most of our advertised races do count as "Official Marathons." We know the rules, and we encourage you to familiarize yourself with them too, if you're a member or candidate for membership.
Marathon Maniac Rules:
50 States Marathon Club Rules:
The one thing we can't control is the rule each club has that there must be "5 Starters and 3 Finishers." We limit participation in our events to 20 runners because having a small number of runners makes it easier to provide these events for free, and we just really like really, really small events. But the point is that sometimes we're right on the edge of that, and sometimes we have 4 starters and 4 finishers, so it wouldn't count. We won't make people up, but if you see a goofy name in our results, it's because that runner wants to be anonymous for some reason (we allow it, and we promise that they're real).
We post our results on the website, and I think they're all pretty easy to find. The only exception is that races run by only SGT Jay and/or Bobby Cordell are not included in our list of results. They both live in Boone and run the course on a nearly daily basis, and they both keep pretty good track of their mileage, so there's no reason to post results from those runs.
I also have backup files on my computer of race results in case blogger crashes, or in case of some other internet disaster. If my computer were to crash and blogger were to crash, I also have the results saved in a folder on my external hard drive. In addition to that, I email the results to myself. So, in my opinion, it's nearly impossible for any race results to be lost.
For 50 States Marathon Club certification, we provide a few extras upon request:
(1) Medals
We can't afford to provide free medals, and we're not about to start charging people, so there is a "medal option" for each race. For some races, we make cardboard "medals," and for all other events, we do dog tag finishers' awards. `We understand that anyone can just buy the dog tag and claim they ran the marathon, but you can buy marathon medals on ebay too, and it's not going to help you get your marathon certified by the 50-Staters. This is something that, if results were lost, you would be able to use to help verify your marathon. Having the medal alone would probably not get your marathon certified.
(2) Certificate of Completion
If you request one, I'll provide you with a certificate of completion that includes your name, your time, the distance you ran, the name of the event, the date of the event, the name of our organization, and my name and signature. In the near-impossible case that our results were lost, having a certificate, a medal, and my contact information would help you out quite a bit in getting your race certified by the 50-Staters.
(3) Bib Numbers
We don't wear bib numbers because we think they're a waste of money, and we'd rather call you by your name than by a number. We do provide them upon request though. They won't be Tyvek bibs though. I'll print out a commemorative bib for you, and they usually have some information about the race on them as well as your name.
As far as the B. Marathon Series goes, we have our own definition of "Marathon." We count any run between 26.22186 miles and 50K as a marathon, and anything 50K and over as an ultramarathon. We also don't do DNFs (although you may see one or two, those are B. Marathon Series officials). We just have finishers of varying distances. Some people run a mile or two, and some people run over 30. The only way to get a DNF here is if, five days after the event, you are still running. Otherwise, if you started, I'm going to assume you finished.
We do respect the fact that there are clubs out there that have rules. In fact, we love the fact that they do this. We think the rules are perfect for the organizations that have them, but they aren't the rules we use for our runners. But we do respect the fact that you would like to follow their rules at our event. We want you to follow their rules too. That's why we've gone out of our way to familiarize ourselves with their rules, and that's why we've gone out of our way to provide some optional extras to help you achieve your marathoning goals.
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