500 Festival Mini-Marathon

It's May, which is a pretty huge month here in Indianapolis. They kicked off the 500 Festival this morning with the Mini-Marathon. Everybody in Indy knows the Mini is a pretty big deal. It's a half-marathon, so runners go 13.1 miles, with 2.5 of those miles being a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. According to their website, "the Mini-Marathon is the largest half-marathon in the U.S., and overall, the eighth largest running event in America." So, it's a pretty huge even for Indianapolis, especially for being an event within an event. It's a great way to start the month.

This year, as you can see from the photo, the race ended in a tie. I find it pretty Canadian to declare a tie, but apparently the eighth largest running event in the U.S. can't afford or doesn't have the foresight to get a finish line camera. They don't have a good enough photo or video to determine the winner, so we are left with a tie. Each runner received the full winner's prize of $3,500. Pretty incredible race. In case you were curious, Kenyans Lamech Mokono and Valentine Orare each ran the course in 1:02.53, or about 4:46 a mile.