Thousands participate in 8th-largest running event in US

People came from 50 states and eight different countries to take over the city of Indianapolis on Saturday morning. Among them, sophomore Tom Gazdziak woke up at 4:44 a.m., and made his way to the start line a couple of hours later with a massive crowd of people. \nGazdziak, who participated in the 33rd running of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, was surprised that so many people could come together for the event. \n“I was amazed that over 35,000 people could be at the same place at seven o’clock in the morning,” Gazdziak said. \nThe event, referred to by many as simply the Indy Mini, is a half-marathon, or 13.1-mile race, through the streets of downtown Indianapolis. It is the largest half marathon in the country.\nGazdziak ran the Mini last year, but was much happier with his improvement of more than eight minutes this year. Even though he ran a personal best of 1:24:36 and finished No. 218, which got him a special medal for finishing in the top 500, there was another part of the race that he enjoyed. \n“The opportunity to run on the speedway track was a great experience,” he said. \nRunners all entered and ran one lap on the track of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will run May 25. Some people bent down to kiss the bricks as they passed, while other, more serious runners did not want to stop. All participants came together, though, like they have been doing for more than 30 years.\nThe first Mini was held in 1977 with barely more than 800 runners. Since then it has exploded to where it now, with a cap of 35,000 participants, which it usually reaches about 5 months in advance. Brandi Davis-Handy, the communications manager for the race, said it is easy to see the growing interest in the event. \n“You can tell by looking at the large amount of participants and spectators the amount of popularity there is,” she said. \nThe race has amassed so much popularity that the crowd of people extended backward from the start line for several blocks. The elite runners started from the front at about 7:30 a.m., but the last participant did not cross the start line until nearly 31 minutes later. \nThe race organizers have taken this into account, using chip timing, where the runners attach objects to their shoes that don’t start counting up until they cross the start line. \nStarting so far back frustrated freshman Josh Smith, who took nearly seven minutes to get to the start line. Smith said there were some advantages, though. \n“It was tough to start that far back, but it prevented me from going out too fast,” he said. \nSmith, running the Mini for the second time – his first since seventh grade – worked his way up throughout the race and won his age group with a time of 1:18:28.\nAlong the course, live bands and radio stations provided musical entertainment throughout the race. As the first runners turned onto New York Street, crossing the bridge over the White River with a mile left to go, the race for No. 1 came down to Kenyans Lamech Mokono and Valentine Orare. \nBoth athletes battled down the final straight way, producing one of the greatest finishes in Indy Mini history. As they crossed the finish line together, no one knew who had won. \nRace officials utilized videotape and still photos to attempt to determine a winner. The final decision culminated in both men being awarded first place and each receiving the $3,500 prize for winning. \nAs participants crossed the finish line, many raised their hands in joy and excitement, happy to have accomplished the feat of conquering the 13.1 mile course. \nAlthough some came just to have fun, freshman Matt Woerner also wanted to compete and run fast, which he said he was able to do with a lot of runners present. \n“It was a lot of fun getting to compete against other good runners,” he said. “Trying to pass other runners motivated me to run faster.”