Half-marathon gaining in popularity

Mayor's is simply keeping up with races Outside.

According to Running USA, which tracks trends in the sport, participation in U.S. half-marathons in 2009 increased 24 percent over 2008. And half-marathons have been the fastest growing road distance in the country since 2003, increasing by more than 10 percent each year.

Mayor's race officials today expect more than 1,900 half-marathoners, an increase above last year's field of about 1,500 half-marathoners.

Race director Michael Friess, UAA's running coach, said the rise in half-marathon participation makes sense in a country where studies show running continues to increase in popularity. Plus, he said, destination races targeted by runners -- the Mayor's for the last 15 years has received a huge influx of entrants from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training fundraising program -- often means runners are competing while on vacations.

"They're a little easier to train for (than marathons),'' Friess said. "If you're on vacation, you're going to be able to walk the next day.

"The half-marathon's still a challenge. And overall, it's safer -- you're less likely to get injured. And so, it's healthy.''

The surge in half-marathon participation in the last decade even played a factor several years ago when Mayor's changed its official name from the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon to the Mayor's Marathon and Half-Marathon.

"We wanted to make sure people knew the half-marathon was part of the event,'' Friess said.

Mayor's also includes a marathon relay, 5.6-miler and Youth Cup race. Nearly 4,000 runners are expected for the five-race extravaganza today.

Running USA's 2009 half-marathon report cited several reasons for increased participation in 13.1 milers. Among them: Training for the event is not as taxing or time-consuming as preparing for a marathon; improved training programs make preparation easier; and the number of half-marathons have proliferated.

According to Running USA, women's participation in half-marathons has ballooned in the 2000s too, so much so that women made up 57 percent of marathon fields in 2009.

Marianne Elson-Griffith of Anchorage today will run the half-marathon as preparation for the Humpy's Marathon in August. This will be her fourth half-marathon.

"Personally, the half-marathon gives me a little taste of what that's like,'' she said.

Elson-Griffith, 44, said she's targeting Humpy's and hoping for a better experience compared to when she ran the Mayor's Marathon a couple of years ago and suffered on the hilly, backcountry tank trails in the first half of the race.

"I thought it was harder than having children,'' said Elson-Griffith, a mother of two. "Why I'm thinking about doing (a marathon) again is I don't want that to be my memory of the marathon.''

Lindsay Peterson of Eagle River, a mother of two, has run a few five-kilometer (3.1-mile) and one 10-K (6.2 miles), and said she's entered in today's half-marathon, in part, because it's a challenge.

"There's a group of friends and we all have children, and we get together at night to run,'' said Peterson, 27. "It's a way to de-stress. I've always wanted to do a half-marathon, to check that off my to-do list.''

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.