BENTONVILLE -- It's time for runners to tie their laces and approach the starting line for Run Bentonville's race series that begins Friday.
The 2-mile Memorial Park Glow Run will kick the 2015-2016 series about 8:45 p.m.
Packet pickup
Packet pickup for the Memorial Park Glow Run will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Downtown Activity Center, 215 S.W. A St.
Walk-in registrations are still welcome.
Source: Run Bentonville
"It's a great way for beginners to come out and enjoy a fun race experience," said Layne Moore, recreation specialist at the Parks and Recreation Department. "It's also a chance for our faster runners to go for a personal record at a shorter distance."
Online registration closed at midnight Wednesday. Moore said Wednesday afternoon she expected registration numbers to be between 950 and 1,000. Those who missed the online registration can register in person at the Downtown Activity Center at 215 S.W. A St. today and before the race Friday.
Children six years and older can participate as long as they're accompanied by an adult, according to the Run Bentonville website. Every runner will receive an headlamp, glow necklace and glow-in-the-dark T-shirt. Registration is $25.
The starting line will be at the Memorial Park parking lot to accommodate the number of runners, according to Moore.
The seven-race series concludes with the Bentonville Half Marathon on April 2, 2016.
"Ultimately, the goal of Run Bentonville is to keep people running and active year round," Moore said. "We try to space our races throughout the year to give our runners something to continually be striving and training for."
Each race builds in distance and difficulty to prepare runners for the half marathon, she said.
Races are scheduled for September, October, December, February, March and April.
The People's Choice 5k in September is new. Parks and Recreation officials will collect feedback from runners to see what themes and distances they want, Moore said. Feasible ideas will be complied for a vote. A decision should be made toward the end of June, she said. Ideas can be submitted to [email protected].
"We would love our runners to be in a race that they feel they had a hand in," Moore said.
Last year the September race was the Paw Pacer that included a one-mile dog jog in addition to the regular 5k.
Also new this year is the Loyalty Medal for participants who run in at least six of the races, Moore added. There will be a Masters Division in the overall series points system for runners ages 50 and older.
The points system is set up to where the top 10 overall male and female runners of each race receive points, which are tracked throughout the year and result in one male and one female Race Series Overall Champion. Each participant will be awarded one point per race. Those with six points at the half marathon will receive the Loyalty Medal.
This will be the third year for the race series. It was created after the Running Festival, which sported the half marathon, was established to encourage people to run throughout the year, not just on one day, said David Wright, Parks and Recreation director.
NW News on 05/28/2015