Welcome to Abe's Army - 2007!

New to Running? Abe's Army Wants YOU!
A Seasoned Runner? Abe's Army Wants YOU!
Spring is just around the corner and it's time to lace up those running shoes. Registration for Abe's Army has begun. Whether you're a seasoned runner and want to help out as a leader, or completely new and inexperienced, Abe's Army wants YOU!

HOW DO I REGISTER?
First things first - you need to sign up for the program. Click here to sign up (leaders AND recruits):
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1425302

Important dates:
May 15, 2007 - Leader Orientation at Athleticare
May 20, 2007 - Registration Deadline - No late registrations will be accepted
May 22, 2007 - Packet pickup at Athleticare
May 29, 2007 - First Session at Illinois State Fairgrounds, 5:45 pm, Parking in Lot 21

Program Changes for 2007:

• Recruits will be limited to 400 applicants.
• Registration deadline is May 20th. No late registrations will be accepted. (Probably not a factor because we expect that before May 20th, the 400-applicant limit will be reached.)
• Online registration for recruits and leaders will be available and highly encouraged. (No additional cost to the applicant.)
• T-shirts for people registered before April 30th will be included in their packet pick-up bag. No shirt guarantee is made for registrations after April 30th.
• All groups will meet at the same location. For most dates, the site will be the State Fairgrounds.
• No 8:00 minute or sub-8:00 minute training groups will be offered.
• Experienced runners (5K or 10K experience) will be pre-assigned to a group based on their Abe’s Amble goal time and/or previous race times. This strategy significantly reduces the number of recruits who need to be assigned groups after the program begins.
• New runners will be assigned to a mega-group (lots of runner and leaders) for the first 2 weeks and then assigned to an appropriately paced group.