By Mark Dill
America may have its newest “classic” running event as of Sunday, March 15. It’s the five-year-old Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon (TRM), the little train engine that could. With its companion event, the GNC Half Marathon, both traverse the American Tobacco Trail, a former railroad right-of-way, and together have garnered big-time attention. Aside from attracting the notice of NBC’s “Today Show” and movie star Sean Astin (who did the Half), Cary, NC’s big race weekend was a center of attention for local media with live coverage from three TV stations.
It was a milestone for the still-young event as it eclipsed $500,000 in charity to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the American Red Cross. Other beneficiaries are the Rails to Trails Conservancy as well as Wake County Parks and Recreation for the outstanding work they do in their communities. Race media partner WTVD-ABC11’s former anchor Larry Stogner collaborated with TRM to contribute a combined $10,000 to the ALS Association “Catfish Hunter” Chapter in their fight against that disease.
The two big winners of the weekend, marathon champions Bryan Morseman and Sara Richardson, were special stories. Morseman had won the Montgomery Marathon the previous day – making for two 26.2-mile victories in as many days. For Wake Forest University graduate student Sara Richardson, the TRM was her first marathon! As for the USA Track & Field NC championship race, the overall winner was Caleb Masland. Full results for all three can be found at the race Web site.
Runner’s World named the Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon one of its top nine new races in 2014. Registrations for both 2016 races went on sale March 21 at the early bird bargain discount price of $50.
