If you’re still looking for a fun July 4 run, the popular Freedom 5K and Independence Mile will be in a new location this year.
The races will be at the UAH campus this year, starting at 7 a.m. near the Fitness Center. Runners will head south on John Wright Drive and around the bend to Ben Graves Drive. They’ll zip along on it until the turnaround in front of the Bevil Center, and then head back to the finish line.
The event likely will return to downtown in 2027. City officials could not handle HPD security for the races along with other July 4 events going on around Big Spring Park and downtown.
Running Lane puts on the races and post-event festivities. The races have 585 folks registered so far.
Marathon Insights
Artificial Intelligence catches a lot of well-deserved heat for many things, but one good task it occasionally performs is compiling data. Such is the case with the wrapup of 76 studies and other data about the New York City Marathon, and the results the AI Overlords spit out to we insignifcant peons.
Among the findings:
— Participation is up among women and Masters runners (ages 40-up) from 2006-17, especially from 2006-16 for women (74 percent). Men’s participation dropped by 17 percent during that decade.
— Higher training volumes were consistently associated with a higher injury risk.
See some more info here about being smarter in the NYC Marathon (or others).
More Marathon Fodder
The 2027 London Marathon will be two days, April 26-27, with an estimated 100,000 runners coursing the streets between Greenwich and The Mall just a jaunt away from Buckingham Palace.
Marathon officials announced the two-day event after it received more than 1.3 million applications for its lottery. Simply on a whim, I put in a lottery application and await news like everyone else. I fully expect to not get in, and won’t be crushed, sad, upset or anything else that would wreck the life of a 20-something. If for some reason I am selected … decisions will have to be made. Yes to the address? Likely so, and off to Jolly Ol’ we’ll go.
At issue, though, and the crux of this story, is how marathons are changing. Applications are surging, especially for the “majors” like NYC, London, Chicago, Tokyo and others. Who the hell would’ve thought the London event in spring, when it could be cold and yucky, would get 1.3 million applications? The NYC Marathon has 55,000-plus each year. Even the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, which was held in mid-May, had more than 30,000 finishers going from Prospect Park to Coney Island.
Mid-sized and smaller events continue to grow, as well. The Rocket City Marathon weekend events — full, half, 10K and 5K — saw an increase of about 1,500 from 2024 to 2025. Registration is on record pace for this year’s 50th anniversary of the marathon with just under six months to race weekend.
At issue is whether the event needs Bigger Better Cooler or something else. From the story:
The honest read on all this is that the biggest marathons have become luxury goods.
They are not events you sign up for. They are events you get into. The response from the people running them has been to act, very rationally, the way luxury brands act when demand overwhelms supply. You make the product feel exclusive. You scale capacity just a little, never enough. You bundle in extras. You launch a special edition. You raise the prize money to keep the elite story compelling. You announce in spring, you let it marinate, you sell out in autumn.
This works in the sense that it preserves the brand. It does not work in the sense that it does not actually solve what is broken: there is nowhere for the other 95 percent of applicants to go.
If I get a lottery ticket for the London Marathon, whatever prize money is offered isn’t my concern. I’ll be wayyyyyy down in the standings. But, should I be? An older, slower, EKG-readout pace runner in the field? Or should things be tight, like in Boston with its age-range qualifying times and yearly shifts of those to help manage the field? Should smaller marathons have age qualifying times, and encourage slower runners to do the half or 10K?
It’s an interesting problem, one that race directors and organizers will continue to battle.
Get in the Spirit
If you’re in need of something to do Saturday morning, hop over to Decatur for the annual Spirit of America 5-miler at Point Mallard Park.
Event proceeds benefit the Community Free Clinic, and the course is flat and fast. It’s put on by the River City Runners and registration still is open. The field is good, not massive and has a mix of fast-other runners in all age groups.
The Spirit of America 5-Mile run has a storied history, with records dating back 20 years on the River City Runners site. A lot of well-known local runners have their names in the Spirit events lists.
If this isn’t up your alley this weekend, check out the TVO Calendar here for other events. If you’re looking for something more laid back, local and free, check out HuntsvilleRuns.com for updated group runs and occasional slash of snark.
