July 4 race in running to set new record

Saturday’s Hannibal Cannibal event could set a new record for participation, and it will likely not be a photo finish.
“By the end of the day (Wednesday) we will have over 1,000 entries. Our biggest year was in 2006 when there was 1,004,” said Robin Doyle, community relations coordinator for race sponsor Hannibal Regional Hospital and this year’s race director. “We usually have 200 to 300 people actually register at packet pickup on Friday night and Saturday morning, so we could be at 1,300 registrations when the cannon goes off that morning.”
Participants may preregister and pick up their race packets from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, July 3, in front of the old Murphy Motors building on North Main Street. Another registration period will begin at 6 a.m. Saturday, July 4, but Doyle pleads with runners and walkers to not procrastinate about signing up.
“We are really encouraging people to go ahead and preregister now and pick up their packet Friday night and not wait until the morning of because it is just going to be a massive crowd,” she said, noting that the Saturday morning period is typically set aside for out-of-town runners. “We have over 100 volunteers, but it doesn’t matter how many volunteers you have when you have a massive group of people. We only have so much working space. We do not want to turn anybody down. We want it to be a record breaking year.”
Doyle says there are different reasons why the numbers have surged for this year’s race.
“We went on all the major running Web sites and posted our race this year. I think good marketing had a lot to do with it,” she said, adding that billboards promoting the race have gone up in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. “It may have helped that it’s on the Fourth of July this year. The parade is right after the race. People are probably coming down to just make a day of it.”
Growth has been seen in all divisions of the Cannibal, which features a fun run for youngsters 10 and younger, a 5-kilometer walk and run, and a 10-kilometer run.
“I think all-around participation is up,” said Doyle. “We have a lot of younger kids that are participating. The fun run is for kids 10 and under, but we have a lot of children under 10 that are in the 5K run. Our 5K numbers are really up this year. Of course, the 10K run didn’t happen last year because of the flood and that’s back. We’ve got a lot of entries for that as well.
“I’ve really tried to market to the walkers just as much as the runners this year. The 5K is really 3.1 miles. People walk that.”
While the Cannibal started out as primarily a race for local runners, that’s no longer the case.
“We get a lot of people from across the river, St. Louis, Kansas City,” said Doyle. “This year we’re seeing a lot more people coming from a lot of different places. Right now we have people from 26 states and two countries.”
The cost to participate is $25 for the 5K run and walk, and for the 10K run. The fee to take part in the fun run is $10. All proceeds this year go to Hannibal Regional Hospital’s cardiopulmonary rehabilitation department.