Breakfast this morning was a winner thanks to pecan crumbs!
On Sunday Ryan and I were on dinner duty for a couple in our small group that had a baby last Tuesday. (Baby Aleiah is so adorable. Teeny tiny!) We decided to make them a mini-Thanksgiving that featured some of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes including sweet potato casserole. Ever since then, I’ve been snacking on the chopped pecans that we had leftover from the casserole and poured the remaining pecan crumbs into a bowl of overnight oats that I made last night.
I didn’t think they’d add much flavor since the pecan crumbs were rather miniscule, but they packed a punch. A delicious morning meal!
Plus a hot mug of frothy coffee on the side!
How Do You Find Races?
When I first set a goal to run a 5K without stopping back in 2007, I Googled Orlando-area races which led me to Track Shack’s website. Track Shack is a local running store in Orlando and the store’s website is constantly updated with upcoming races. It is a great resource for runners in the Orlando area and I used it regularly when I lived there to find local races that interested me.
Now that I live in Ocala and local races aren’t as prevalent, I’ve expanded the way I discover races. Here are some of my favorite ways to find new races:
I’m sure most of you are very familiar with Active.com. It seems like many races – big or small – direct race participants to Active.com to register. Sometimes I find the search capabilities on Active.com’s website a bit frustrating, but I highly recommend the Active.com app! I downloaded it on my phone and love using it to find races in cities that I’m visiting, like the Jacksonville St. Patrick’s Day 10K.
This website is fantastic! It is really easy to search for races by location, distance and date. It will frequently direct me back to Active.com to register, but I typically use this website to find races more often because I find it very user-friendly.
- Sign Up for Email Updates
I am on the email list for several different race organizations, including the Rock ‘n’ Roll race series, ZOOMA and Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure.
When they email me about a race in my area or a race that sounds particularly intriguing, I jot it down on my calendar so it’s on my radar!
Another email service that I recently discovered through a partnership with FitFluential is Blood, Sweat and Cheers.
Blood, Sweat & Cheers is a newsletter packed with fun, out-of-the-box activities and events like marathon tours around the world or midnight runs with glow sticks and neon paint. The newsletter features races and fun runs all over the United States. (They also have an NYC-specific news for those of you in the NYC area!) BSC is also currently running a giveaway where anyone who signs up for their newsletter is entered to win a GT Performer BMX bike or a $150 Lululemon gift card!
This website is a great resource for trail races. It sorts all trail races by state in chronological order. As someone who recently discovered trail races, I’ve checked this website a handful of times in search of upcoming trail races within driving distance of Ocala. (Tampa friends, the Picnic Island Adventure Run looks like a blast!)
- Local Running Club Websites
From what I’ve seen in Orlando, Tampa, Ocala and Jacksonville, many running clubs or local running stores do a great job of listing upcoming local races. If I am planning to visit my parents in Jacksonville, I know that the 1st Place Sports website is a great resource to check for races in the Jacksonville area.
Question of the Morning
- How do you find races? (Triathletes, please feel free weigh in since I don’t have anything specific to finding great triathlons in this post, though I know some of the above websites have triathlons listed on them as well.)
- What is the craziest race you’ve ever done? How did you find out about it?
The craziest race I’ve ever done was the Central Florida Hero Rush last fall. It was AWESOME! I found out about it through Ryan’s work since they formed a team and we signed up to participate with his company.
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Disclaimer: FitFluential, LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.
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Thank you so much for this post! I am an on-again off-again runner and really want to stay on-again! I have been wanting to do a race for a long time now! But never hear about them until they are over. Now I can use these websites to find races in my area. No excuses!
melaniegetsmarried.blogspot.com
Great resources. I typically find races by other people asking me to do them. I live in DC so there are about a million races around here. I also use Potomac River Runners and Pacers to find great local races. When it comes to crazy runs I did 2 tough mudders last year (kind of like your hero rush but 12 miles) and I have another next week.
I usually just google or look for announcements from local running groups! These are all great sites though, so thanks for the heads-up! I think the craziest race I’ve done is the Princess Half..although I’m sure the 10-miler I’m doing at Disney in October will be amazing as well!
I use active.com and sometimes I just Google “races near me”!
This post could not have come at a more perfect time! I will be moving next month and had “Look for 5ks” on my to-do list for today! 🙂
I love active.com! And thanks for the heads up for the picnic island adventure in Tampa-may have to try a race out! Wanna join? 😉
Active.com has a terrible search platform, but definitely easy to sign up for races through.
I think visiting your local running store (granted your town has one) is the number one best way to learn about local races. Most of them will have an information area set up with flyers for most races in and around your area. I think a lot of race organizers are behind the times when it comes to online marketing (obviously that doesn’t include Rock N Roll since they’re owned by Competitor and have the mass marketing thing nailed) and they stick to the grassroots approach. If I know of local race organizations, I’ll check out their specific website for races they have coming up. But otherwise talking to locals in the know (like your running stores or gyms) is one of the best ways to figure out what’s going to be a great race to do.
Small world – found you on twitter and I ran the St. Party’s Day race in Jax too!
awesome!! did you dress up, too!?
Thanks for sharing this! I have been searching for more runs to participate in. I’m hoping to do a mud run some time this year! Eeek!
Hi there, after reading this awesome article i am also delighted to share my experience here with friends.
I’ve been looking for sites like these! Already found one in North Texas that my brother and I can do this summer. Thanks so much for the links, and congrats on the new job! 🙂
I just signed up for Blood, Sweat, Cheers a few days ago…I’m hoping to find some cool races! Thanks for this info, I am excited to check out some fun new races!
-AJ
FitTravelerAJ.blogspot.com
I’m signed up for multiple local race organizers email lists. There are tons of triathlons in the Denver area from May-September. You could probably race just about every weekend. Of you’re in the market for long-course triathlon, the. The Ironman website is valuable. So are Rev3 and Hits. Other ways to know about races is to search the USAT website.
I can’t say I have really done any crazy races… But I did decide to sign up for an Ironman after racing only a sprint-distance triathlon. I can’t help that I was hooked after one. Here I am 12 triathlons later, including two Ironmans, two half-Ironmans, winning my age group in a sprint tri and competing Age Group National Championship. Pretty
We also have two Trak Shaks over here. I’m, like, there ALL the time. We have the Birmingham Track Club which meets there to run, plus I usually get my shoes there too and I follow them on FB to keep me notified of get togethers and races.
I use Active.com to find races mostly.
I’m training for a 5k in May. Gonna hit under 25 min, I can feellll it!
I’ve never done a crazy race. I need to. Right now.
Great post idea. I use some of the same websites, and a good triathlon site is trifind.com.
One of the craziest races I’ve ever done was the Circular Logic Marathon in West Lafayette, IN, 2 weeks ago. A marathon made up of 26.2 laps around a one-mile loop! (It actually wasn’t as mind-numbing as it sounds). Here’s my post about it: http://themilereport.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/circular-logic-marathon-recap-boston-2014/
I use active.com but also local area running clubs that I get emails, tweets, and facebook notifications from. The running store I go to, that usually sponsors a lot of the races in my area, is great about posting about runs.
As for triathlons (which I did one last summer), i just type in triathlons in my area and i’ve always gotten great results for it. There is also trifind.com in which you type in your state and it lists all the triathlons 🙂
Thanks for the link to the BSC newsletter! I look forward to reading it and finding neat runs to do:)
I am basically on the same page as you with finding races. I love to run in new places and feel it’s an exciting way to encorporate with seeing a new city. I also fill up my calendar with different races so I don’t forget to sign up, etc.
Not sure I’ve ever done any “crazy” runs…but looking forward to a color run this May in Ft. Lauderdale..that should be pretty crazy and fun!
Thanks for sharing. I’ll be running my first 5k in August (very excited I took the plunge and signed up). All of these sites will definitely be helpful to find my second race when the time comes!
I was surprised to learn the same about your blog— I loved it.I am a big fan of your blog.i am so excited by read of your blog’s content.really great post.Thanks for sharing.
Conception Calculator
Agreed Active.com is great place. Also just find out what your local running shoe and apparel store is and you will probably find a lot of races. For Example here in West Michigan Gazelle Sports is the local running apparel store, they post up coming races and events right on there website.
My 2013 Goal is to Run at least 1 Race a Month for the Entire Year, and I used the Gazelle Events Calendar to Find many of the Races that I registered for.
Happy Running
I usually find them on the internet but, I just signed up for the Blood, Sweat and Cheers newsletter. Thanks for the tip!
So, for triathlons –I agree with the above comments, http://www.trifind.com & the HITS series is awesome (www.hitstriathlonseries.com) and there is actually one in Ocala that I was looking at next year, since the timing is right for me! So if you’re interested, they have a super sprint, sprint, olympic, half ironman and ironman distance race all in the same weekend! HITS is amazing (and reasonably priced — if you sign up early enough a sprint race is like $30!)
Thank you for posting about where someone can find a race. Your motivation will guarantee inspire others to do more marathons! And maintaining a positive outlook is always the key to being constantly happy, wouldn’t you agree?
@pillow4thoughts
Check out this link! Races for foodies 🙂
http://www.self.com/fitness/2013/04/best-runs-for-food-and-drink-slideshow?intcid=homepage_life#slide=1
For runs I use Active.com, RunningInTheUsa, NYRRC, and some local sites like NYCRuns.com. For triathlons I use TriFind and NYCT.
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