The 37th Annual 2009 Yuengling Shamrock Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA reached its cap of 7,500 runners on January 9, 2009. The race took an additional 1000 runners more than last year and it filled four weeks earlier. Two weeks later, an additional 200 charity slots were opened with 100% of the proceeds going to our four main charities: UMDF, Operation Smile, Team Groove, and Team Kainer. The race raised more than $30,000.00 in less than 12 hours for these charity slots. There is still space available in the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, Towne Bank 8K, Operation Smile Final Mile, and Children's Marathon.

This year's race numbers will reach 20,000 between the 5 different events including the Marathon, Half-Marathon, Towne Bank 8K, Operation Smile Final Mile, and Children's Marathon. In the last seven years the event has grown from a good regional race of 3,500 runners to one of the Nation's largest running events. The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon weekend kicks off Friday March 20, 2009 at the Yuengling Shamrock Sportsfest Expo, held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The Expo is free and open to the public on March 20 from 1:00-9:00 p.m. and March 21 from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Those interested in participating in the races can register online at www.active.com or by visiting the event web site .