RUNNERS OFFER BIDS TO BE ELITE FOR A DAY
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved (used by permission)

NEW YORK (05-Mar) -- Over 10,000 runners were accepted for the NYC Half-Marathon here on March 21, but only a handful were invited as elite athletes.

However, through a special auction program designed to raise money for the New York Road Runners Youth Programs, any one of those 10,000 can pay to be elite for a day.  Right now, 32 bids have pushed up the price of the "Runners on Your MARK..." auction package, which will allow a recreational runner to stand right on the starting line with the professional athletes and join then later at a restaurant for their post-race celebration, to $1,000.

The NYRR's Youth Programs Division "organizes running-based programs that promote children's physical fitness, character development and personal achievement in under-served communities in New York City, nationally, and in the Cape Town region of South Africa," acording to the auction description.  About 100,000 children are running in these programs, the NYRR said.

This auction, and three others, including a private breakfast with Deena Kastor, will be open until the end of the day at this link:

http://nyrr.org/resources/auction/index.asp