Capital District marathon is only game around

Road races this time of year are hard to come by. So much, in fact, that you won’t find one really close by until next month.

But for those warriors that are going through withdrawal, help is only 50 miles away.

Next Sunday, the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runner Club in the Capital District is hosting its annual Winter Marathon and Marathon Relay at the University at Albany.

There have always been a handful or so local runners that make the trip to take part in the club’s annual winter series and the marathon that closes out the series often draws more.

It is defintely an interesting event as it takes place entirely on the roads on the U Albany campus and on the state office campus.

The entire 26,2-mile route is covered in the five laps around the two campuses and one of its best features is that the course is pretty much flat, with start at 10 a.m.

It is a no-frills event, with awards presented only to the overall male and female finisher.

If you can get your entry application into the mail before Wednesday, it will only cost you $20, a very modest price for a marathon race. On race day, the price climbs to $25.

Organizers have to be doing something right because this year’s race is the 42nd edition.

Normally, there are about 60-75 finishers, though 129 made it to the finish line in 2012.

If you aren’t really ready to tackle the marathon distance, but have two friends that like to run, consider trying the accompanying 3-person relay.

The entire team can register for either the $20 early fee or pay $25 on race day.

Teams can be either all male, all female or a mixed gender team.

The first person of the trio will run 9.73 miles, the second goes for 5.49 miles and the third closes it out at 10.99 miles.

Awards go to the top finishers by combined age-group totals.

Race-day registration is at the physical education building with the start and finish line close by.

Organizers warn that course marshals and water stop volunteers are pulled after five hours, and that’s also the limit for runners, so you also will be pulled from the course.

Please send all race results and information to 79 Hurley Ave., Kingston, N.Y., 12401; fax to (845) 331-3557; or email to ehoughtaling@freemanonline.com. Follow Eric Houghtaling on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ RunErichRun