There will be a worldwide half marathon taking place on or around the weekend of October 13 (depending on when you can find a race to run). It's organized by the podcast Phedippidations and it's free. All you do is register on their website and give them your results afterwards. Then your results will be in the finishers database along with all of the other finishers from around the world. If you don't find an official race to run, you can map out your own 13.1 mile course around your neighborhood.

They've also set up training aids and forums...the idea is to get like-minded people (runners and people who want to try) from around the world to go through the event together. There's also a "Kick the Couch 5K" to get people moving. I'm probably not explaining this well, but there is a FAQ at www.worldwidehalf.com.

I know this is the same weekend as the Munich Marathon which does not include an official Half Marathon. I'm thinking about registering for the Worldwide Half and entering my time into THAT database at the halfway point at the marathon (and then finish the marathon--two birds with one stone). It won't be truly indicative of how fast I can run a half (due to pacing and trying to keep decent splits and all that), but I still think it would be kind of fun to be part of something global like this.

It's also possible to enter a team name for the Worldwide Half. If anyone else is interested we could represent good ol' Toytown.

Oh--I know I am kind of sounding like an advertisement here (even though it's free), but I have nothing to do with these people--I just dig the podcast and think the idea of a global running event is kind of neat.