Dans Papers - May 11, 2007 - Hampton Marathon

There are a lot of 10ks and 5ks that take place throughout the summer in the Hamptons. This newspaper hosts what is in fact, the grandfather of them, the Dan's Papers Potato Hampton 5k through Sagaponack on May 27. These races are a great way for the community to get together and help raise money for various causes, such as breast cancer or Parkinson's disease.

But never in the Hamptons have we had a marathon. The reason for this has probably been because having a 26.2-mile race seems sort of unfathomable for a group of summer tourists looking to relax. Not too many people understand why people run marathons, but the ones that do feel passionately about these races. Janelle Kraus, a marathon runner from Shelter Island who placed sixth amongst American women and 13th for women over all in this year's Boston marathon, knows what it means to be a marathoner and loves doing them and training for them. She puts in the grueling hours needed to battle the road every day throughout the year, so she can remain one of the top female runners in the world. It is this passion that has helped her decide to bring long distance running home.

That's right, East Hampton and Amagansett will be the host to one outrageously difficult race. A 26.2-mile full marathon, as well as a half marathon, has been planned for September 29 and will be sanctioned by the U.S. Association of Track and Field, which means that it could be a qualifying event for major marathons such as the Boston or New York marathons.

If you don't know what this means, here is a quick explanation. Not just anybody can run in the major marathons across the United States such as the Boston marathon or the New York marathon. In order to qualify for these races, you have to be officially timed in a smaller marathon and meet a specific time for the race, depending on your age and sex. Once you do that, then you are invited to the big events and you get a qualifying number.

Some people choose to run bandit, which means that they train for a race such as the Boston Marathon and compete in it, but are not officially timed. A lot of people that do this are people that really want the experience of running in a big race, but can't meet the qualification requirements.

The marathon in East Hampton will be open to anybody that wants to be timed and will most likely draw huge support from the community. If you've ever been to a marathon, they are quite a spectacle. Nearly everybody in the community heads out to support the runners on their journey, holding out signs, playing music and handing out food and drinks to the runners. In Boston and New York, it is a major, major event.

The Hamptons course that has been laid out has views of Napeague Harbor, Accabonac Harbor and Gardiners Bay. The course has been planned so that flat stretches of road as well as a lot of hills are going to be included. Nothing will be comparable to "heartbreak hill" in Boston, which includes miles of uphill running that knock out runners like flies throughout the race. But it will still be very competitive, and with the large group of health-oriented people that come to the area, a marathon may be just the event that they need to say goodbye to the summer and jumpstart their bodies for the fall.

If you plan on running this race and have never raced a marathon before, experts say that you should start training three months in advance to get yourself in good enough shape to complete the race. It is not an easy task.

So if you are thinking about running a marathon and would love to see your name on the special list of qualified runners for city marathons, get out there and start running.

And if you're not planning on running the race, don't be surprised if you see a lot more beach joggers then usual this summer.