Geist Half Marathon & 5K

Interested in seeing where the inaugural Geist Half Marathon and 5K Run/Walk Presented by Community Health Network will take place? We’ve mapped both the Half Marathon and 5K routes on the USATF website, just click the links below and see if we are running through your neighborhood? View maps…

Race Renamed the “Geist Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk Presented by Community Health Network”

Organizers of the Geist Half Marathon & 5K benefiting local children’s health and wellness causes today announced Community Health Network as the Presenting Sponsor of the inaugural race around Geist Reservoir on May 17th, 2008. With their sponsorship commitment, the race will be renamed the “Geist Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk Presented by Community Health Network.”

“We were already working with Lawrence Township School Foundation to implement a year-long health and wellness initiative in the Lawrence Schools called ‘My Community Gets Healthy’,” said Dan Hodgkins with the Community Health Network. “This race will be the culminating event for this program as well as inspiration for others to make healthy lifestyle choices. We couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this great race and cause.”

Designed to help kids get healthy and fit, the “My Community Gets Healthy” program will be phased into Lawrence Township schools starting this fall. Other health and wellness programs will be funded in nearby Hamilton Southeastern Schools as well.

“Having good community partners is invaluable,” stated Christie Love, Executive Director of Lawrence Township School Foundation. Many contacts have already been made bringing experts in all fields together. In Shape Indiana, Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations, Lawrence Township School District, YMCA, Cardinal Fitness, and Fit City have committed their support. “It’s exciting to imagine the reach of this initiative as the Geist Half Marathon & 5K takes hold,” said Love.

Plans for the inaugural Geist Half Marathon continue to develop as area homeowners and businesses collaborate with Geist Half Marathon, Inc. board of directors, led by Tom Britt. Britt, publisher of the “atGeist Community Newsletter” (www.atGeist.com), is enthusiastic about community involvement in the event.

“It’s great to see community members come together to help organize an event for such a great cause,” said Britt. “Community Health Network will be a great partner for all of us in our mission of promoting healthy lifestyle choices to our area children.”

Sponsors and volunteers for the event are still needed. Plans for a pre-race dinner, food tent, entertainment, water stops along the course and much more are in the works. For sponsorship information and details contact Tom Britt at Tom@atGeist.com or visit www.GeistHalf.com and click on “Sponsorships.”

To register, visit www.GeistHalf.com and click on the “Get Me Registered” link. Entry fees are $40 each for half marathon participants and $20 each for 5K participants.

Papa John’s Pizza will be the official pizza of the Geist Half Marathon with their $2,000 sponsorship. Ty Despain, manager of the Papa John’s on Fox Road, is excited to be a part of this inaugural event that will have runners going right by his business.

The Geist Harbours Property Owners Association voted to sponsor (2) waterstops along the route of the inaugural Geist Half Marathon. The board of directors felt that the race will greatly enhance the visibility and awareness of several GHPOA neighborhoods including Masthead, Beam Reach, Feather Cove I, and Admirals Bay.

Vince Auten, Beam Reach resident and Geist Half Marathon Vice-President, is going to run the proposed Half Marathon route tomorrow, May19th at 7:30 am. He’ll be driving a Safeco Insurance marked car and starting at the Kroger parking lot just north of 116th and Olio Road. If anyone is interested in joining Vince, be there at 7:30 am!

Indianapolis, IN, May 1, 2007—Geist Reservoir residents, business owners, and local school officials will be on hand at Bella Vita Ristorante today at noon announcing an alternative to the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon next year with the Inaugural Geist Half Marathon and 5K Walk/Run. Organized to inspire health and wellness in the children surrounding Geist Reservoir, the Geist Half Marathon will be held two weeks after the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon and two weeks before the end of school on Saturday, May 17, 2008.

“We want to showcase our great Geist community while encouraging local kids to get on a healthy lifestyle track,” said Tom Britt, President of the newly formed Geist Half Marathon Inc.

Working with the Lawrence Township School Foundation and the Hamilton Southeastern Schools, the upstart organization will fund various programs through the area schools that encourage fitness and a healthy lifestyle. One such program is the “My Community Gets Healthy” initiative debuting this fall through the Lawrence Township Schools.

“Through partnering with local community partners, we hope to increase fitness awareness in our schools throughout the year,” said Christie Love, President of the Lawrence Township School Foundation. “The Geist Half Marathon and 5K Walk/Run will be the culminating event for our kids, giving them something to train for all year long.”

Both the 5K and Half Marathons will start near the intersection of 116th Street and Olio Road to take advantage of the parking available near Hamilton Southeastern High School. Runners and walkers will cross the Olio Road bridge heading south and cut through the Springs of Cambridge and cross the Fall Creek Parkway bridge near the Geist Marina. The 5K runners and walkers will end on the bridge while the half marathon runners will continue west, then south on Fall Creek Parkway to circle the south end of Geist Reservoir. Race organizers expect 4,000-5,000 participants.

“The course will give runners a scenic run through some of the area’s most established neighborhoods,” said Jeff Graves, Geist Half Marathon board member and owner of Vision Event Management Services. “All the runners and walkers will have their races finish on the Fall Creek Parkway bridge at the center of Geist Reservoir.”

Registration cards for the event will be handed out May 3-4 from the Geist Half Marathon booth at the 500 Mini Expo, Convention Center downtown. Registration is also available online at http://GeistHalf.com. Sponsors and volunteers are also needed.

About the Geist Half Marathon Inc.

Founded in March 2007 as an Indiana non-profit corporation, the Geist Half Marathon Inc. is governed by a board of seven individuals consisting of five Geist area residents and two marathon experts: Tom Britt (Publisher of atGeist.com), Vince Auten (Beam Reach Resident), Michael Turik (Admirals Pointe Resident), Rennie Brissenden (Sandstone Resident), Josh Carter (Feather Cove I Resident), Jeff Graves (Owner of Vision Event Management Services and former Executive Director of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon) and Marty Day (President of Runners Forum and the End Result Timing Company). For more information, visit http://GeistHalf.com.

Lesley S. Stoeffler with Genesis Real Estate Services Inc. has agreed to be the sponsor of our “Sponsor Tent” which will be adjacent to the Geist Marina. They will receive banner recognition on the “Sponsor Tent” which will house all the vendor booths, packet pick-up, and post race festivities. Thanks Lesley!

A follow-up meeting on March 8th attracted a few new faces to the group as well as the election of the governing board of directors:

+ Michael Turik: Admirals Pointe resident
+ Vince Auten: Beamreach resident
+ Rennie Brissenden: Sandstone resident
+ Marty Day: President of Runners Forum
+ Jeff Graves: Owner of Vision Event Management (former Executive Director of the 500 Festival Mini Marathon)
+ Josh Carter: Feather Cove I resident
+ Tom Britt: Crossing South resident, Publisher of atGeist.com

Organized as a not for profit (501 c3 status), the Geist Mini Marathon Inc. is seeking a title sponsor to announce at a press conference to be held the first week of May, 2007. At this press conference, the official logo, date, and other details will be announced.

If you would like to volunteer for a committee, sponsor, run, walk, or just stay in the loop as details are announced, sign up for the “Geist Mini Group” email list. If you are interested in sponsorship information, call Tom Britt at (317) 823-5060.

We will host our second organizational meeting at Burd Ford on Thursday, March 8th from 7:00-8:00 pm. If you are interested in chairing a committee or serving on the board of directors, please attend.

Welcome to the Geist Mini Marathon blog. This is your place for getting information regarding the first 1/2 marathon in Geist! This post is to update the group on where we stand.

The second organizational meeting will be held later this week. As one can imagine, it takes quite a bit of planning to pull something like this together. Our target is for a spring 2008 run and for a formal announcement to the public at the 500 Mini Marathon expo this spring. Tentative start/finish location is the Hamilton Southeastern school complex on Olio Road and the run will incorporate both the Olio Road and Fall Creek Bridges. All proceeds from race will benefit the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation and the Lawrence Township Schools Foundation to support education in our community. The organizing committee thanks the sponsors that have stepped up so far to help us make this happen. You’ll find links to them on the right side of this page.

If anyone has an interest in helping plan for this event, please let us know by posting on the Google group (link on right side of page - above sponsors). Also, please feel free to post your thoughts and comments in the Google group and check back here for more updates!