Get your jingle bells ready
Those who missed Saturday's 21st Reindeer Run or just want a second dose of 5K holiday fun, you're in luck.
The inaugural Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis will offer a Christmas holiday-themed event at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital, at 3500 U.S. Highway 17.
Joyce Gilles, director of the Lowcountry office of the Arthritis Foundation, said the organization had been considering a 5K fundraiser this year and initially wanted to hold it in November. But in looking at the event calendar, they noticed a gap between the Reindeer Run and events starting in the new year.
In its first year, Gilles said, the group decided to use a course used by Mount Pleasant Hospital's Trot for Tots. For future years, they may be looking at other locations in Mount Pleasant and may even move the date back to the third Saturday in December, which would be all theirs in terms of running events and give a bit more space between the Reindeer Run and Jingle Bell.
The fees for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk are $35 for those who want to be timed and $30 for those who do not. Registration for a Kids Run is $20.
http://jinglebellrunmtpleasant.kintera.org
Normally, I wouldn't be writing about the Kiawah Island Marathon and Half-Marathon in this space, but this is not a normal year for the traditional end of the Charleston endurance sports season.
Typically, the event, which is in its 34th year, would have sold out in August or September. And if you hadn't signed up, well, you were out of luck.
But if you want to do Saturday's run and think you can run, jog, walk or crawl 26.2 or 13.1 miles in seven or so hours, you're not out of luck this year.
In-person registration will coincide with packet pick-up 4-7 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Friday at Kiawah's East Beach Conference Center.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort officials are a tad stunned that their well-organized, popular event didn't sell out this summer. The latest available figures on registrants had the half-marathon about 1,000 short of full and the marathon about 100 short, according to Liz King, director of the event for the resort. King speculates that the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon and Half-Marathon, held Nov. 5, siphoned off Kiawah's runners and that many will return to Kiawah in 2012.
Frankly, I think it was a combination of Savannah and several other regional marathon events, including Charlotte's Nov. 12 Thunder Road event and the Jan. 14 Charleston Marathon, that took away runners.
Locally, many runners said they were upset at Kiawah's race fee hike to $100 for the marathon and $95 for the half.
Granted, the resort puts on a good race (the post-race food is hard to beat). But if you don't plan to stay on the island Friday and Saturday (you have to book both nights), it is a hassle getting shuttles to the resort on race morning.
King said Kiawah will announce a new rate structure for 2012 that will allow participants to register earlier for nearly half off those prices.
