{"id":1030,"date":"2014-09-28T15:39:16","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T20:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wordpress\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2014-09-28T15:57:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-28T20:57:38","slug":"registration-opens-101-for-2015-st-lukes-half-marathon-31st-running-of-regions-largest-and-most-beloved-long-distance-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=1030","title":{"rendered":"Registration opens 10\/1 for 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon; 31st running of region\u2019s largest and most beloved long-distance race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ALLENTOWN, Pa. &#8211;Registration for the 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon and 5K races, <span data-term=\"goog_1363323939\">Sunday, April 26, 2015<\/span>, will open <span data-term=\"goog_1363323940\">October 1, 2014<\/span>, at <a href=\"http:\/\/stlukeshalfmarathon.com\/\">stlukeshalfmarathon.com<\/a>. The 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon will mark the 31st running of the event, securing its place as one of the region\u2019s oldest and most beloved road races.<\/p>\n<p>The 13.1-mile race continues to be the largest running race in the Lehigh Valley. Up to 3,400 runners are expected to toe the line next April. All proceeds of the race benefit youth running and fitness programs in the area. More than $30,000 was raised in 2014 for youth running programs.<\/p>\n<p>Runners are encouraged to register early. The St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon and 5K typically sell out in February \u2013 nearly three months before race day &#8212; with the field limit of 4,000 runners for the half and 750 for the 5k. All runners must register online.<\/p>\n<p>Again in 2015, runner amenities will include personalized bibs, hydration stations, more than a dozen live bands along the race route, a unique finisher\u2019s medal, tech shirt, stadium finish, complimentary bus travel for spectators, extensive post-race lunch, shower facilities, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a great course through Allentown\u2019s city parks. And we offer incredible value in terms of the amenities and entertainment. It is one of the spring\u2019s premier races on the East Coast, attracting runners from more than 30 states and several countries,\u201d said Neal Novak, co-race director.<\/p>\n<p>The entry fee for the half marathon is $55 between <span data-term=\"goog_1363323941\">Oct. 1 and Oct. 31<\/span>, $60 between <span data-term=\"goog_1363323943\">Nov. 1 and Dec. 31<\/span>, and $65 from Jan. 1 through sellout. The 5K entry fee is $30 until <span data-term=\"goog_1363323944\">Oct. 31<\/span>, $35 between <span data-term=\"goog_1363323945\">Nov. 1 and Dec. 31<\/span> and $40 through sellout.<\/p>\n<p>Registration has also been opened for the St. Luke\u2019s Youth Run on <span data-term=\"goog_1363323947\">Saturday, April 25, 3 p.m.<\/span> in downtown Allentown. The free run for children aged 4-13 seeks to promote healthy exercise habits among young people and expose them to the excitement and reward of running.<\/p>\n<p>Also open is registration for the St. Luke\u2019s Family Fun Walk on <span data-term=\"goog_1363323948\">Sunday, April 26<\/span>. The free, 1.5-mile non-competitive walk begins immediately after the half marathon and 5k and ends in J. Birney Crum Stadium where racers cross their respective finish lines.<\/p>\n<p>The St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon Weekend is produced by the Lehigh Valley Road Runners. It is one of the largest races<\/p>\n<p>in the country with an all-volunteer staff. The 2015 events mark the fifth year that St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network has been the presenting sponsor.<\/p>\n<p>#\u00a0 #\u00a0 #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ALLENTOWN, Pa. &#8211;Registration for the 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon and 5K races, Sunday, April 26, 2015, will open October 1, 2014, at stlukeshalfmarathon.com. The 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=1030\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Registration opens 10\/1 for 2015 St. Luke\u2019s Half Marathon; 31st running of region\u2019s largest and most beloved long-distance race<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[516,2,517,65,519,518],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2","tag-5k","tag-lehigh-valley","tag-marathon","tag-non-profit","tag-run","tag-st-lukes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/image7.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}