National Running Day is not just about the sport of running, but the lifestyle.

On June 6, runners all across the country united to celebrate the sport by proclaiming all of the reasons why “I RUN…”! Whether you run to fundraise for a charity, to improve your health, to achieve faster times, to eat more sweets, to be alone or to be social; running is for everyone.

The Houston Marathon Committee celebrated National Running Day with hundreds of local runners at Houston’s most popular running spot – Memorial Park. Surrounded by lofty trees, local runners took off for a 3-mile fun run led by HOT 95-7 DJ Sarah Pepper. Later, a second group endured the heat and ran a 6-mile run with the HMC staff.

A rush of attendees lined up for a free National Running Day “I RUN” T-shirt, as well as draw string bags, “Run for a Reason” koozies, and other goodies. While learning more about this year’s official charities and mingling with fellow runners, guests had the opportunity to enter a drawing to win one of five guaranteed race entries.

The winners were randomly drawn this morning at 9:30 a.m. Congratulations to the following runners: Allyson Cunius, Bridgett Macias, Diana Guadarrama, James Benton, and Nathan Brooks!

The opening of the lottery registration for the 2013 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon coincided with this coast-to-coast celebration, which occurs annually on the first Wednesday of June. Thousands of runners registered on the first day of the lottery which concludes on June 21st, and all runners will be notified by June 25th.

Special thanks to Smoothie King, Michelob Ultra, Mix 96-5, Mega 101, and Hot 95-7 for generously providing refreshments and entertainment to everyone in attendance.  Also, thank you to the volunteers and those in attendance for making this a wonderful event and celebration of running.