2013 Stroller Friendly Races

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Updated as of June 18, 2013. Due to high demand, I have migrated all the stroller friendly races to an actual Stroller Friendly Race Calendar; whereby, you can search by state (categories) and race distance (tags) to see the races available.  Currently, there are more than 1000 races listed throughout the United States and on average, 20-30 races are added a week.

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January 11, 2013

Stroller friendly races are hard to find. While many races discourage or outright prohibit the use of jog strollers during the race, I have found several races that offer special start times to strollers, some that encourage all family participation or allow the strollers to start in the back.  As of 2012, I began developing a comprehensive list, but I never completed it, so I am trying again this year. Currently,  I have a fairly comprehensive list with more than 60 stroller friendly races in the following states; Virginia, Illinois, California (San Diego and working on San Francisco), Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri , Nebraska, North Carolina and Texas.  Furthermore, you will notice in the Excel document there are worksheets for every state. The Excel document is is alphabetical order by state and each state’s list is organized by date of the race, distance (5K, 10K, 4 miler, 1/2 marathon or other distance) and location.

As you probably have found there is no one comprehensive list and/or website to go to that indicates races as stroller friendly. Sites such as Running in the USA, Active.com, or Runner’s World do not have a search filter for “jogging strollers”, so in order to find out if races are jog stroller friendly, you have to contact each individual race director.

As you can well imagine this is a daunting task, especially for parents who are trying to plan out their race schedules for the year.  Don’t get me wrong, I do plenty of races sans jog stroller – my husband and I switch of race days or get someone to watch our son – but, there are times it is nice to bring him to “race”.  As you know, for whatever reason, not all parents have the luxury of having someone else watch their child, so racing without them is not an option.

If you know of races that are stroller friendly and you like to add them to the list, please leave a comment below with the Race name, Date, Location, Time and Race distance and preferably the website link as well.   I would love if others would begin spreading the word, so we can make a comprehensive list for each state.

Updated June 18, 2013. Please note, this will now link you directly to the Stroller Friendly Race Calendar.

One note:  I do encourage anyone racing with a jog stroller to abide by Jog Stroller Racing Etiquette. This is very important not only for the safety of you and your baby, but also for the other runners. 

Please spread the word about the Stroller Friendly Races List development; the more comprehensive the list the better for all running moms and dads.

As race directors confirm that their races are stroller friendly, I will add the race to the list.

Thank you in advance for any help you’ve provided.