HUNTSVILLE- The annual Rocket City Marathon, presented by Fleet Feet Sports of Huntsville and Brooks Running, is expanding and becoming even more high tech than in the past. Scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 8, with start and finish at the Von Braun Center in downtown Huntsville, the 26.2-mile run will now include a half-marathon, a children’s marathon, prizes and awards for spectators, real-time tracking and an added drone coverage of the race.

“We have been doing a lot of new things this year and we’re hoping even more spectators will attend as we have some great new things for them as well,” said Dana DeBardelaben, who along with her husband, Dwayne, are the 2018 race directors.

Sanctioned by the Huntsville Track Club, the Rocket City Marathon began in 1977 and is nationally certified by the USATF and is regarded as one of the best in America. Not only is the event a qualifier race for the Boston Marathon, the race scores double points on the Running Journal Grand Prix 40 Championship Circuit and is this year’s Road Runners Club of America’s Alabama State Championship race. Prize money is offered in both men and women open divisions, as well as, both masters divisions.

Searching for new ways to make the race more than just a race, organizers have added a half-marathon event, sponsored by Southern Marketing Associates, within the marathon. Dana added, “It’s not your typical half-marathon start as the event will begin at the 13.1-mile marker, two hours after the start of the full marathon, and will run the back half of the course, which includes the portions of the course through the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and the Botanical Gardens. That race has already sold out and registration is complete as it sold out in 94 minutes.”

This year’s mega-event will also include a Kids Marathon. A non-competitive event for children in grades K-8, the Kids Marathon participants become “marathon finishers” on race day by logging in over 25 miles in the weeks leading up to finishing their final mile at the Rocket City Marathon. The Kids Marathon is a multi-week running program.

This year’s race will include a virtual event bag for the participants and an added training shirt and a spectator medal, both of which can be purchased at registration. Door prizes will be given away at the awards ceremony for any spectator, volunteer or participant who is present at the gathering that begins at 1:15 p.m.

“One additional special new feature for this year’s race is the drone coverage of the race, which will be streamed into the confines of the VBC and on our race YouTube channel,” added Dana.

As tradition, the Rocket City Marathon also hosts a RCM Expo the evening before the race. The Expo also includes a pre-race dinner for a seating charge of $25 per person. The dinner will feature special guest speaker Mike Durant of Huntsville as he’s a best-selling author and inspiration for the motion picture Black Hawk Down. Durant is a former Blackhawk pilot and prisoner of war and has a riveting story to share.

Registration for the Kids Marathon closes Nov. 25 while the registration for the marathon closes Dec. 7 at the Expo. Information regarding any item centering on the marathon is available at the race’s new revamped website: www.rocketcitymarathon.run. Those registering will receive weekly newsletters and can enjoy the twice weekly videos on the race, including instructions on how to properly train for the 26.2-mile jog through downtown Huntsville.