Month: July 2017

Get more “Indy” out of your Indy Mini

  Every year, approximately 30,000 people travel to Indianapolis for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. Many of them are locals. Many are not. To the ones who are not, don’t shortchange your visit by failing to experience the “Indy” in your Indy Mini. So pack for a full weekend in the 317! You’re already going to see … Continue reading “Get more “Indy” out of your Indy Mini”

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Every year, approximately 30,000 people travel to Indianapolis for the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. Many of them are locals. Many are not. To the ones who are not, don’t shortchange your visit by failing to experience the “Indy” in your Indy Mini.

So pack for a full weekend in the 317! You’re already going to see the most iconic landmark in Indiana during your run (Indianapolis Motor Speedway), but here are a few other reasons to make the most of your 2018 visit:

Sights and Sounds

A recent CNN article Best Things To Do In Indianapolis highlighted the lengthy list of unmatched experiences in Indy. From the famous Milktooth restaurant to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the city is filled with must-see stops for your weekend in town. Also listed is the J.W. Marriott – once the largest Marriott in the country – located inches south of the Mini-Marathon start line. Cafe Patachou, St. Joseph’s Brewery and Sun King are just a few of the other notable food and drink locations to experience on your visit.

Outdoor Enthusiasm

U.S. News listed Indy in their 10 Most Fun Places to Live if you Love Outdoors thanks to the number of parks and outdoor recreational opportunities. You may not be looking for another physical activity after your 13.1 miles, but numerous parks make Indy a great place to take the kids and get a cool down.

Indianapolis Zoo

Conde Nast named the Indianapolis Zoo one of The 10 Best Zoos in the U.S. in mid-July. One of your first iconic landmarks on the race route, the Indianapolis Zoo is one of the rare places to find incredible wildlife in the Midwest. You’ll pass by it near the end of your first mile, and you can even see animals from the route, if you look closely.

The Indy Mini is a time-honored race that’s become a family tradition among people in Central Indiana. If you’re a visitor in town for more than just race day, it’s worth bringing the whole family and experiencing the Indianapolis Zoo from the inside.

Indianapolis Travel and Accommodations

Flying to the Indy Mini in 2018? You’ll want to do two things:

1) Fly into the top-rated airport in North America for five years running; the Indianapolis International Airport

2) Book your hotel through our official travel partner to ensure the best hotels for the best deals on Mini weekend; BOOK NOW!

Once you’re here? Get ready for the Greatest Spectacle in Running and enjoy your experience in the fastest city in the world.

 

Registration for the 2018 Indy Mini will be available in September. See you soon!

 

Rolls-Royce Runs Away With 2017 Indy Mini Employee Wellness Challenge

It’s the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon’s Employee Wellness Challenge, and it was an impressive performance by Rolls-Royce. The Mini-Marathon’s corporate competition features numerous Indianapolis-based organizations. Awards are given to the top companies in performance and participation. In performance, the organization’s top-five finishers are pooled for an average time to determine the winner. In the 2016 Indy … Continue reading “Rolls-Royce Runs Away With 2017 Indy Mini Employee Wellness Challenge”

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It’s the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon’s Employee Wellness Challenge, and it was an impressive performance by Rolls-Royce.

The Mini-Marathon’s corporate competition features numerous Indianapolis-based organizations. Awards are given to the top companies in performance and participation. In performance, the organization’s top-five finishers are pooled for an average time to determine the winner.

In the 2016 Indy Mini, Eli Lilly garnered the trophy in performance. Lilly was second in 2017 behind an unmatched display from the group at Rolls-Royce. The organization’s top five finishers boasted an average time of 1:22:10! To put that in perspective, five Rolls-Royce finishers averaged a top-100 performance among.

 

A Summer Spectacle in Running

  Summer is coming to a close. It feels like yesterday we were welcoming the sunshine and excitement in Indy with a month-long celebration of May. Let’s bookend summer the way we started it. The kids go back to school and… well… they need something fun to look forward to. They need… a spectacle. The word … Continue reading “A Summer Spectacle in Running”

 

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Summer is coming to a close.

It feels like yesterday we were welcoming the sunshine and excitement in Indy with a month-long celebration of May. Let’s bookend summer the way we started it.

The kids go back to school and… well… they need something fun to look forward to. They need… a spectacle.

The word “spectacle” harnesses the magnitude of the Indianapolis 500; “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” It’s a sight to behold, a visual display, a must-see event. Each year, thousands run the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon; “The Greatest Spectacle in Running.” They circle the track, kiss the bricks, and return to downtown Indianapolis as part of a Hoosier tradition. It’s a family outing, but 13.1 miles is sometimes too long for everyone in the family.

Enter the 500 Festival mini-mini.

The speedway, the pagoda, the bricks, and the history; these are the spectacle. There are few experiences like these found in classrooms during the school year. And while school may start in August, the calendar reminds us summer continues until September 21.

It’s not over yet!

Now, it’s the kids who get the chance to start those engines and burn rubber! We’ve always been about May, but we love finding new ways to celebrate Indy and do what we do best; bring the greatest people in the world to the fastest track on the planet.

The 500 Festival mini-mini is not your typical fun run. All participants receive a bib, finisher’s medal, goodie bag and shirt, but this is a timed race! The top three male and female finishers of each wave will make a trip to victory circle and take home coveted awards. It’s a full day of fun for the whole family at IMS, but when the gun sounds, it’s showtime!

So after the Brickyard 400, the Indiana State Fair, and the back-to-school shopping – when you feel like your kiddos have few spectacles left – give them this one and end summer on a high note.

See you at the track!

#Indyminimini

 

500festival.com  |  IndyMini.com  |  @500Festival  |  Facebook.com/500Fest  |  Facebook.com/500FestivalMiniMarathon  

The Greatest Spectacle Challenge

Alright challengers – the latest and greatest addition to the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon makes its debut in 2018. If you’re all about gathering as many medals as possible, get ready to conquer EVERY 500 Festival running event next season for the ultimate bragging rights; 35.2 miles. In 2017, you could take on a series of … Continue reading “The Greatest Spectacle Challenge”

Alright challengers – the latest and greatest addition to the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon makes its debut in 2018. If you’re all about gathering as many medals as possible, get ready to conquer EVERY 500 Festival running event next season for the ultimate bragging rights; 35.2 miles.

In 2017, you could take on a series of Indy Mini training races known as the Miler Series, presented by OrthoIndy. These races consisted of a 3-Miler, 6-Miler, and 10-Miler in February, March and April, to prepare you for the Mini. If you completed the Milers, you earned yourself the Podium Finisher medal.

However, registering for the Mini Maniac Challenge and combining the Miler Series with the 13.1 miles of the Mini-Marathon (32.1 miles total) earned you the additional Mini Maniac medal. You could also couple your Mini-Marathon with the Finish Line 500 Festival 5K, a total of 16.2 miles in one morning, and take home the Mega Mini medal, as well as the 5K and Mini-Marathon medals.

Each challenge offered three shirts and medals, including the selected challenge, the Mini-Marathon medal, and either the 5K or Miler Series. All of these challenges and challenge medals will be available again in 2018 with one additional opportunity; The Greatest Spectacle Challenge.

When you sign up for The Greatest Spectacle Challenge, you’ll train with the Miler Series AND conquer the 5K and the Mini-Marathon on May 5, 2018. In doing so, you’ll take home FOUR shirts and medals! That’s one for each event and a fourth for conquering every part of the Greatest Spectacle in Running.

One spring. Four medals. Make 2018 count!

Check out the challenges before registration opens in September, and start making plans today!

 

500festival.com  |  IndyMini.com  |  @500Festival  |  Facebook.com/500Fest  |  Facebook.com/500FestivalMiniMarathon  

5 Ways to Mini-mize Your Summer Running

Unfortunately, not all of your summer training runs can include a lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They can, however, be an experience that feels like that first Saturday in May, giving you an Indy Mini vibe no matter the distance! Here are five ways to mini-mize (see what we did there?) the pressures of continuing to … Continue reading “5 Ways to Mini-mize Your Summer Running”

Unfortunately, not all of your summer training runs can include a lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They can, however, be an experience that feels like that first Saturday in May, giving you an Indy Mini vibe no matter the distance!

Here are five ways to mini-mize (see what we did there?) the pressures of continuing to run in that summer heat:

1. Run With Friends

Thousands of OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon participants travel to downtown Indy each May for the friendliest and most encouraging half marathon in the nation. Make that Hoosier hospitality part of your  running experience and run with friends to encourage each other and enjoy the glory days of summer!

2. Listen to Music

The Indy Mini boasts the largest number of entertainment groups of any road race in the country, and it’s a big reason why our participants come back year after year. Don’t run solo and pop in the headphones like any normal training session. Play tunes from your phone or strap on a wireless speaker and blast your favorite tracks for you and your friends. You might get more smiles from the runners you pass along the route!

3. See Something

It won’t be a lap around the Speedway, but see something during your run that rivals that feeling. Wherever you live, find landmarks or a scenic route that takes you out of the monotony of neighborhoods or treadmills. Dodging cars and counting mailboxes can get redundant when you’re trying to squeeze in a quick summer run. Grab a group of friends and go conquer a park, trail, or somewhere new!

4. Stop the Clock

Don’t worry about beating yesterday’s time or outdoing yesterday’s distance. There’s a time and a place for the competitor in all of us, but it’s good to change it up, especially in July and August. Just being active in the summer heat should count as a win. So hydrate, run for the joy of running, experience the beautiful summer weather and leave the stopwatch at home!

5. Wear Your Indy Mini Gear! 

If you go for a run in Central Indiana, there’s a good chance you’ll come across another runner who’s conquered the Mini. They’ll be proudly donning the gear to prove it.

 

500festival.com  |  IndyMini.com  |  @500Festival  |  Facebook.com/500Fest  |  Facebook.com/500FestivalMiniMarathon