Morse Mini Marathon and 5k

The inaugural Morse Mini will be held on Saturday, September 5, 2009. The race field will be capped at 5,000 total participants.

You will be inspired by the rural surroundings of small town America and invigorated by the fresh air as you run through the Hoosier Heartland.

Proceeds from the 2009 Morse Mini will help provide much-needed funding for the 20 Hamilton Heights School Corporation athletic programs, fielding 36 teams and offering more than 400 student-athletes opportunities to excel and grow as individuals.

Olympic Gold Medalist and former World Record holder Bob Schul (only American to win a gold medal in the 5,000 meters: 1964 Tokyo Olympics) will be the honorary starter and available to meet and talk with you after the events and during the post-race expo. And if that weren't enough to convince you to register and participate in this event, you can also meet James the 9-year-old bull elk from Carley Elk Farm!

The towns of Arcadia and Cicero are looking forward to welcoming you to what is sure to become one of Indiana's "must do" running events.

Reserve your bib - register now!

Runners start and finish at Hamilton Heights High School (25802 State Road 19 Arcadia, IN 46030).

The Morse Mini's out-and-back route takes participants on a scenic tour of small town rural America over a course that crosses Morse Reservoir and passes the final resting place of teenage AIDS activist Ryan White.

Police and volunteers will be on the course to help ensure the safety of all participants. However, it is an open course (traffic will still be flowing as only one lane will be shut down for runners) and a 16 minute per mile pace must be maintained in order to guarantee the safety of all participants. Participants who fail to maintain this pace or can't finish the race for any other reason will be driven back to the start/finish line.

Thanks to its proximity to Morse Reservoir, the race course is mostly flat and fast. After running through the streets of downtown Cicero, participants run on paved roads through the country with plenty of pastoral scenery, filled with tree-lined country roads, fenced in pastures with grazing animals and green farm fields.

Packets, including your participant t-shirt, race number and timing chip can be picked up:

• Friday, September 4th in the Hamilton Heights High School Cafeteria from 4:00 - 7:30 pm
  
• Saturday, September 5th in the Hamilton Heights School Cafeteria from 5:30 - 7:00 am
  

All participants MUST pick up their race packets. Race packets WILL NOT be mailed to you.

Race participants can utilize the parking lots at Hamilton Heights Elementary School, Hamilton Heights Primary School and Hamilton Heights High School. All three are accessible from SR 19.

For race participants who park in either the elementary or primary school parking lots, there will be bus transportation to the high school beginning at 6:00 am and running until 7:10 am. The bus will run in 10 minute intervals. If you chose to walk from either parking lot, to the high school, it is less than ? mile.

Awards will be presented to the top 3 male and female overall finishers in the half marathon as well as the top three finishers in each division. Age divisions for the half marathon are:

10-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-45 , 46-50, 51-55, 56-60, 61-65 , 66-70, 71-75, 76-80, 81 & over

The award ceremony for the Half Marathon will be held in the green space in front of Hamilton Heights High School at noon. Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Bob Schul will present the trophies.

Please visit www.morsemini.com.