I love unique marathons and I love inaugural marathons. This new marathon ticks both of those boxes and is one that should be pretty incredible.
Run the Fenway Park Marathon
Link: Fenway Park Marathon
Marathon Details
- Date: September 15, 2017
- Time: 5PM
- Place: Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox stadium)
- Cap: 50 runners
- Cost: see below
- Application link
This should be an interesting marathon! Not only would it be the first marathon held inside of a major league stadium, but it is also being directed by David McGillivray who is the Boston Marathon director. Inaugural marathons, especially something similar to this, can be hard to pull off with the finesse of a veteran marathon. But with someone like David at the helm, I would expect it to go very well.
Of course, there only needs to be a single aid station since runners will pass it every 375 meters (almost 1/4 of a mile). Having done a few lap races before, I can tell you that is actually really nice since they can keep it well stocked and it is never a surprise when the station pops up!
The Cost
Now, to the cost. This is a first-come basis until the 50 applicants have been accepted. The application page is still open so that would mean the cap has not been filled yet. This is most likely due to the fact that all runners have to raise $5,000 for the Red Sox Foundation. If the minimum amount of $5,000 is not raised by September 10, the difference between what you have raised and $5,000 will be charged to your credit card. So, it is not something to just sign-up for. It would be smart to make sure you are able to raise that much money.
There is a $200 deposit to be made and once $5,200 has been raised, you will receive the $200 deposit back. Here is the fundraising schedule:
Am I Running It?
I tell you, the moment I heard about this, I wanted to do it. The dates would work for me and it would be a fantastic event. And I am saying this as a lifelong Yankees fan! My brother is a Red Sox fan and I told him I would love to run this and make him proud. 🙂 I mean, if a die-hard Yankee fan is willing to run the Fenway Park Marathon… 🙂
Actually, if I thought I could lock up the $5,000 fundraising, I would sign-up. If you think you can do it, you should sign-up – it should be an incredible event!
If you enter, let me know in the comments with the information for your fundraising page and I will post it to help you get your fundraising amounts!
HT: Runners World
Charlie… I’m not a runner but wouldn’t running inside that place (or any other enclosed area) for that long become EXTREMELY boring after awhile?
Having never done a lap race (other than track back in high school) I’m not sure I’m qualified to comment, but to me this also seems like it would be cool to run in Fenway for perhaps the first few miles, but after a while I’d think it would get old. I don’t like running on treadmills for the same reason. I love the changing scenery you get when running, I feel like that’s what keeps me going. To each their own, I guess.
I’ve done a couple of 12 hour races on 1/2 mile loop and 18ish hours of a 24 hour on a 3 mile (in Boston,actually) so I think this would be manageable. It can actually be distracting since you will be with everyone and can see everyone. It’s not too bad! 🙂
I am also not a treadmill fan but did do 18 hours on a treadmill one time so I know that is doable also! 🙂
I’m running this, so I was delighted to see your post. So excited to be supporting the great projects funded by the Red Sox Foundation, and representing the senior runners of the world in such a cool venue. My link is http://redsoxfoundation.racepartner.com/FenwayParkMarathon/RebeccaKadish
Any help you can give me with the fundraising will be gratefully appreciated! Thanks!
Awesome! I will put the link in the post!