500 Festival Miler Series starts this weekend

Indianapolis, Indiana – Even though the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is still several months away, preparations are already getting underway for one of the largest half-marathons in the nation.

With the 3-mile race on Saturday, the 500 Festival Miler Series presented by OrthoIndy got underway. Here, on a 3-mile track in downtown Indianapolis, more than 1,000 runners of all ages and skill levels participated in the series’ inaugural race.

“One of the coolest things is seeing all of the participants and how excited they are,” said Lindsay Labas, the VP of Marketing and Communications with the 500 Festival. “It’s just fun to see everyone come together as a community and be out there as one and racing together.”

Runners will now get ready for the 10- and 6-mile races. Assisting runners in setting up a safe training regimen for the impending half marathon later this spring is the aim.

“Training is probably one of the most important things you can do before running a half marathon in May,” Labas said. “This series aligns with a spring training program, we have a 3-miler, 6-miler next month, and a 10-miler the following month. So sticking with those Saturday long runs and runs during the week helps you get prepared for the big race.”

March 9 is the date for the 6-mile race, and April 6 is the date for the 10-mile race. All of this builds to the May 4 Mini-Marathon.