By Abigale Kreinheder
Holiday Valley will be hosting one the greatest running events in Western New York on May 13, 2023. Running will never be more fun than at the Happy Half Run. ‘Sometimes it is not just about the distance, it is how you get there,’ so get your running shoes ready for an epic race.
The race is organized by Endurance Factor, a professional endurance sport coaching organization that produces epic running events all around the country.
In 2014, Holiday Valley reached out to Doug Bush, the Head Coach for Endurance Factor, to help organize the first Happy Half Run in Ellicottville, New York. Since then, it has evolved into an annual event beloved by runners around the area.
There will be three separate running events, the Half Marathon run (13.1 miles), the 5K run (3.2 miles) and the Beer Mile (single mile). Each run will begin and end at Holiday Valley resort.
Both the half marathon and the 5k courses will head south; the 5k will run towards Ellicottville Central School and loop back to Holiday Valley from there while the half marathon will continue through the scenic rural roads towards Great Valley and return along the same route. You can find an exact map of the course on the Happy Half Run website. The courses are USATF (US Track and Field) certified meaning times could be accepted as a record or be nationally ranked.
Aside from the more serious runs, there will be a Beer Mile, yes, a run that includes drinking beer! The Beer Mile is a mile long course that requires runners to drink a beer every quarter mile. The beer mile can be run individually or as a pair, so participants can run one mile and drink four beers alone or run ½ a mile and drink two beers with their partner.
“I came up with this idea of integrating a fun event to a running event,” Bush said. “The Beer Mile traditionally didn’t have a lot of popularity, it was only done at colleges and kids doing it where they could, so I decided to make it a bit more legit and fortunately Southern Tier was very supportive of it. Just something a little bit different to do at a running event…it can be pretty entertaining to watch as well.”
It is not permitted to bring your own beer for the run, but don’t worry, all the beer will be provided by Southern Tier Brewing Company so there will be good options to quench your thirst.
All road intersections will be controlled by County Sheriff Departments and local Police, and the running path will be lined with cones to ensure the safety and of all runners.
“You have to take traffic into consideration. You can’t just run down the road and have a safe event; you have to make sure all the municipalities are on board… It does take a tremendous amount of coordination,” Bush said.
All finishers will be rewarded with a medal and a goodie bag at the end of each race and enjoy more beer, food, and a live DJ performance at the Southern Tier sponsored after-party at Holiday Valley.
Since runners will start in waves beginning promptly at 9am for the half marathon and 9:20am for the 5k, runners will wear RFID chips to record the finishing times for each individual runner. The Beer Mile will begin at 1pm to give enough time for the half marathon and 5k runners to recoup and join in if they want.
Registration is currently open online at happyhalfrun.com so be sure to sign up before May 12. The Half Marathon is $90, the 5K is $40, and the Beer Mile is $50. If you make a last-minute decision to run it’ll cost $100 for the Half Marathon, $50 for the 5K, and $55 for the Beer Mile.