With eight weeks to go before the first ever Garmin Marathon, half-marathon and 5k runners are in full stride towards their preparation of a spring PR-- and those who have not yet signed up still have time to put in some solid training mileage! Many runners choose to use this fast, flat USATF certified course as a qualifying run for the Boston and New York City marathons later in the year or for a first ever race.

Running this race is kind of like bringing your Forerunner back home to where it all began. The race starts and ends just feet from where these industry leading GPS watches were created-- in Olathe, KS at our world headquarters. We have all kinds of fun planned for you at this "festival of forerunners", so what are you waiting for? The registrations are already well ahead of our expectations-- be sure to sign up today!

The name Bart Yasso is synonymous with Running Legend! Yasso invented the "Yasso 800s", a marathon-training schedule used by thousands of runners around the world (and a workout you can program into many of our Forerunners). He is one of the few people to have completed races on all seven continents from the Antarctica marathon to the Mt. Kilimanjaro marathon. In 1987, Yasso won the U.S. National Biathlon Long Course Championship and won the Smoky Mountain Marathon in 1998. He has also completed the Ironman five times and the Badwater 146 through Death Valley. He has also cycled, unsupported and by himself, across the country twice. If that wasn't enough, he most recently (last year), completed the world famous Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

Yasso, who joined Runner's World Magazine in 1987 and currently holds the Chief Running Officer title (CRO) is known to many as "the Mayor of Running". Yasso will be lacing up his shoes and strapping on his Forerunner April 21st and running the full marathon right in our backyard. Those fortunate enough to run in his vicinity will be able to say they  ran with a legend and run away with stories to take back to their running groups. Look for more details in the next couple weeks about Yasso's trip to Kansas and how you can meet him and maybe even ask some training advice!

Joining Yasso out on the course will be The Runner's Edge SmartPacing Team, headed up by Coach Eladio Valdez. Whether you are indeed trying to hit a qualifying mark or attempting to finish your first race, we will have 18 pacers at various paces to help you achieve your goals! Click here for more info on the strategy they will use to help you out. Customized pace bands will also be provided and available at packet pick-up.

We look forward to seeing you all on April 21st!!