Half Fanatics

While running my first half marathon nearly a year ago, I noticed other runners wearing "Half Fanatics" shirts.  Then again at the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon last October, I saw runners in the same shirts and they even got a shout-out as they crossed the start line.

I realized that this must be a national running club.  Sometime later, I looked up the requirements for joining.  Even the lowest level (requiring 2 half marathons within a 16 day time frame or 3 within a 90 day timeframe) seemed to be out of my reach, so I wrote it off as something I would never do.

While running the New Jersey Marathon earlier this month, I noticed many runners wearing "Marathon Maniacs" shirts.  I knew from looking at the Half Fanatics site that Marathon Maniacs was a sister running club.   I'd never previously looked at the requirements for Marathon Maniacs because marathons are hard.  The sheer number of runners sporting Marathon Maniacs tops made me go take a look.   The lowest level (requiring 2 marathons within a 16 day time frame or 3 within a 90 day timeframe) is more than I can currently do.

But this did make me come back to re-check the requirements for half-fanatics.  I'd realized that if I complete my goal of running 11 half marathons this year, I'd qualify for the second level of membership.  I mentioned this to Alek and after he took a look at the membership criteria he pointed out that I already qualified at the lowest level!

So now, I can proudly say that I'm a Half Fanatic!

My cool new shirt!