Good news for runners, the New York City Marathon will be held this year, 2021. The running date for the annual big city event is November 7, 2021. I always remember the date of the NYC Marathon, because it is also always on the day that we have to set our clocks back one hour for the end of daylight savings time.

So, how does one get to be a part of the NYC Marathon? Well in a 'normal' year it isn't so easy, but this year, it could potentially be a bit tougher as they are limiting the race field to just 33,000 people, which is 60% of the normal capacity.

A smaller amount of runners will make it more of a challenge, but did you ever stop to think about how runners make it into the race? It isn't as simple as filling out a form, telling them your t-shirt size and then paying your fee, you have to run qualifier races or your have to get in on the runner lottery.

When I hear about people who actually want to run the 26.2 mile race, my heart goes out to them. If you want to guarantee that you will get an invite to be in the race each year, you just have to have already ran in 15 of them.

So how can someone from the Hudson Valley get an entry? According to the New York Road Runners (NYRR) website, you will need to do the following:

sign up to fundraise with NYRR Team for Kids or one of NYRR’s charity partners, or through an official International Tour Operator.

What does that mean? You will need to, be in great shape and be in training mode, that is just a given. You will also need to help raise money for the NYRR charities. It was interesting for me to know that this whole race is actually a charity event. In 2019, the race actually raised $45 Million for charity, through the runners and the sponsors.

In fact the NYRR was actually formed in 1958, to help and inspire others through running.

If you are a runner and you are not up to 26.2 miles just yet, how about these local races?

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