Sign Up for the "Virtual" World Wide Half Marathon!

As a road race director, I have to say that this is just about the coolest idea that I've ever heard of. I just signed up to a half marathon called the World Wide Half Marathon, which is taking place in October. But this race is a little different...it's virtual and it's free.

Here's how it works...each runner is going to do the race on his/her own, wherever they happen to be, on the weekend of October 13th and 14th. The race can be done in an organized half marathon race, such as the Hartford Marathon here in Connecticut, or on your own (or with a group) on a 13.1 mile course that you map out. Then, when you finish, you submit your finishing time to the race's website and it gets tallied with the results from everyone else. There are age groups, team divisions, and (this is just too cool) you even get a virtual "goody bag", which is a PDF file with coupons and other goodies.

And this is no tiny, obscure event. I signed up as runner #380 and there are entrants from Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, South America and Australia!

Also, if a half marathon is a bit too long, then you can sign up for the "Kick the Couch 5K" (love that name!) which follows the same format.

The tag line is "Think Global, Run Local", indicating the aspect of this race that no other race can offer...as you do your race you can think about the hundreds of other runners around the globe doing the same event on the same weekend, thereby creating the aura of a truly global running community. Sorry, but I tend to soak up that Kumbaya stuff!

So sign up for the World Wide Half Marathon at www.worldwidehalf.com. Registering is easy and (again) it's free!