Bus to the Start: We have a bus running from Hampton Beach State Park on Friday September 12th at 6AM to Cannon Mountain (arrive approx. 8:45am). Tickets are $30. Please call Ragnar Customer Service at 877-83-RELAY (877-837-3529) to order yours today! Credit Cards accepted.
Call 1-800-608-1140 for special pricing on all vehicles and hotels.
Offering discounted pricing and access to all vehicle types. Marathon Travel Packages is your team’s personal Reach the Beach logistics concierge, Open 24/7 for your needs.
Call 1-800-608-1140 for all reservations, full availability may not show online!
Official Race Hotels
Best Western - Franconia |
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Owned and operated by endurance athletes!
Dear Reach the Beach Enthusiast,
We are excited to announce that we have formed a partnership with the Ragnar Relay Series. We believe that this partnership will make your Reach the Beach experience even more amazing in 2014 and beyond.
What’s staying the same?
What’s changing?
As part of this partnership, we will merge our Massachusetts race into the very popular Ragnar Cape Cod. This will give us additional resources and capability to make our flagship event, Reach the Beach New Hampshire, the best in the world.
We look forward to working with the folks at Ragnar to put on their race in Cape Cod and hope many of you will join us there. Participants in Ragnar Cape Cod will notice the strong community and volunteer connections that RTB will bring to support participants along the course.
RTB Massachusetts participants: we will send a follow up email shortly with instructions on how to transfer your registration to Ragnar Cape Cod.
What will improve?
Our partnership with Ragnar Relay will provide RTB participants with many benefits along with support infrastructure from Ragnar, including
As we begin our 16th year we remain committed to our vision of offering the highest quality race experience, second to none. Each year we have challenged ourselves to raise the bar, and we believe this partnership does that once again; positioning our events for long term success and years of amazing RTB memories.
We believe this is the best way to continue the tradition of excellence that you have come to expect from RTB events. The additional resources and infrastructure that the Ragnar partnership brings will enable us to provide you with a premier race experience - the races that we have loved putting on and that you have loved to run.
Thank you so much for making Reach the Beach what it is today and thanks, in advance, for your continued support.
If you have any question feel free to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
Mike and Rich
Founders and Co-Race Directors
Sign up and pay for our RTB:MA event before October 31st, 2013 or our RTB:NH (reg opens Dec 1) event before Dec 31st and receive a FREE Pair of New Balance Running Shoes!*
Here’s how it works – simply register for one of our relays before the deadline (RTB:MA before Oct 31, 2023 and RTB:NH between Dec 1 and Dec 31st, 2013) , pay for your team, and you will receive a product shoe code within 14 days of confirmation of your registration payment. Then, head over to the New Balance website to shop for your pair of Men’s or Women’s Shoes – any pair, any price. Pick your shoes, enter the shoe code, and they will show up at your door. Shipping included!
Enter two events and get two pairs of shoes.
*Any team receiving a code and then withdrawing from the related race, will receive their entry fee minus $65 per our refund policy. If you don’t want the shoes…no problem! Just email the code back to [email protected] within 2 weeks of receiving your registration confirmation and let us know you will not redeem it.
Nancy Eckerson: Reach the Beach is two days of running heaven
Not just another long run: Reach the Beach Relay
Adventure Relay Race Celebrates Milestone on Sept. 13th & 14th
Hopkinton, Mass. – The New Balance Reach the Beach Relay (RTB) will celebrate its 15th Anniversary on September 13th and 14th with new activities and more than 5,750 athletes running from Cannon Mountain in Franconia to Hampton Beach. Teams of 6 to 12 runners will rotate through 36 transition areas as they cover the 200 mile race. Runners rotate in a set order covering approximately 16.5 miles each over three run segments until the final runner “reaches the beach”.
In 1999, 30 teams finished the inaugural event which started at Loon Mountain, including a team with Danvers resident Jack McManus, the sole athlete to have run in all 15 consecutive relays. McManus credits team camaraderie and amazing volunteers with bringing him back each year. “The fun, the laughs, creating memories with an incredible group of runners, and meeting runners from different parts of the country motivate us to return each year,” McManus said. “The race is an incredible challenge.”
This year’s relay will begin on Friday, September 13 at Cannon Mountain in Franconia with 490 teams and runners coming from as far away as Europe, South America, and Asia to take part in RTB. The event is recognized as one of the premier relays in an industry that has become crowded with adventure racing. New this year is a van decorating competition to reward the creativity many teams use to identify their large vans, which become their home-away-from-home during the race. In addition, a mobile scavenger hunt created by Boston-based SCVNGR will give teams clues and challenges along each of the 36 race legs for a chance to win prizes. New race categories such as FreeStyle and Half-Team, and 15th Anniversary commemorative items will add to the excitement of this milestone year.
New Balance joined as title sponsor for the race in 2010 due to the unique nature of the event and this year will bring the brand’s Runnovation campaign to the race. The Runnovation campaign celebrates the evolution of running and seeks to document real people and elite athletes who are redefining the current and future of running. New Balance will have four teams participating in the race this year including one team that is made up of Team New Balance Elite Athletes, company employees and international retail partners. Cameras will be along the course capturing footage from the relay and sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #Runnovation. For more information on the campaign at the New Balance Reach the Beach Relay please visit https://www.facebook.com/Newbalance.
Event organizers work closely with town officials on permitting, police details and EMTs at every relay transition. In addition, Reach the Beach partners with local PTAs, Boys & Girl Scout Troops and church groups who are given donations ranging from $300-$1,800 for providing volunteers to work with trained captains in each town. Volunteer groups can raise additional funds by selling refreshments to runners who spend time at each relay transition location.
“From our very first race 15 years ago we made it our mission that we didn’t just want to run through the towns we pass, we wanted to create connections with them,” explained RTB Race Director Mike Dionne.
Event charity partners also sponsor teams to raise money for important causes. Charity partners of the 2013 relay are the JDRF New England Chapter and the Alzheimer’s Association’s Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter, which has raised more than $300,000 through Reach the Beach charity teams.
“The Reach the Beach Relay draws people from all over the country to come together for two days, focused on having a great time running,” said Andy Downin, Event Manager for New Balance. “Mike Dionne and Rich Mazzola, the founders of the Reach the Beach Relay are Runnovators; this relay is the definition of social running at the event level. These unique events have helped define the future of running in an experience that is physically challenging and socially rewarding. As a brand founded on running we are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring such a positive experience to runners through the Reach the Beach Relay Series.”
About New Balance
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA, has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance is currently the only major shoe company that manufactures athletic footwear in the U.S. with 25% of our U.S. footwear shipments produced at five New England facilities. The company also operates a manufacturing facility in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 4,000 associates around the globe, and in 2012 reported worldwide sales of $2.39 billion. To learn more about how New Balance Makes Excellent Happen, please visit http://www.newbalance.com.
About RTB Relay, Inc.
RTB Relay, Inc. was founded in 1999 by multi-sport athletes Mike Dionne and Rich Mazzola. RTB Relay is a company with a social conscience promoting the highest quality races which embrace the host communities, leave the smallest environmental impact and benefit all involved. May 2011 marked the addition of a spring race from Mount Wachusett in Westminster, Mass. to Horseneck Beach State Reservation in Westport, Mass. More details on both events can be found at www.rtbrelay.com/.
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The list of towns that make up the race course includes: Franconia, Bethlehem, Twin Mtn., Harts Location, Bartlett, Conway, Madison, Tamworth, Sandwich, Moultonborough, Center Harbor, Meredith, Laconia, Belmont, Gilmanton, Barnstead, Pittsfield, Chichester, Epsom, Pembroke, Allenstown, Deerfield, Candia, Chester, Sandown, Danville, Kingston, Exeter, Stratham, North Hampton, and Hampton.
Media Exclusives
Finish Line: Hampton Beach State park, Rt. 1A South. 9/14, 11am-8pm
With only a week to go, we hope your plans for the 15th Anniversary Reach the Beach Relay are complete! If you are still pulling it together, check out Runner’s Alley! They are New Hampshire’s only running store and have everything you need to finish off your RTB Relay needs!
Presentation, Team Spirit, Creativity, Good Taste
See you at Cannon on the 13th!
The RTB Academy had released the details for the RTB NH 2013 Video Contest. The theme this year – RTB Spirit! The race is long but our challenge to you is to use your creative talents to showcase RTB in 3 minutes or less.
Prizes:
What have you got to lose? Capture those RTB memories from your epic journey and go for it! See you at the beach!
Just download our SCVNGR app and your team will receive challenges and earn points throughout the race. This game is brought to you by veteran RTB team SCVNGR/LevelUp (they are the largest mobile payment network in the country) so be sure to thank them when you see them on the race course!
Download the SCVNGR app from the App Store or Google Play. Do it now!
IMPORTANT: Register your account with your TEAM NUMBER AS YOUR FIRST NAME and RTB AS YOUR LAST NAME. During the race make sure to only sign in to this account from one phone at a time.
Prizes will be awarded randomly Friday and Saturday to teams that play. The top prize, a Free Entry into one of our 2014 events, will be awarded to the team with the most points (any ties will be resolved by a random drawing) at the conclusion of the race. All prizes except the Free Entry must be picked up at the finish line on Saturday. Unclaimed prizes will not be mailed.
You’ll have the option to tweet and post your team’s activity. HAVE FUN!
Questions? Email [email protected]
If one of your goals is to run a race, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go out and tackle a typical 5K or marathon. Instead, put together a team of your fitness-minded friends and run a relay race in a fun destination where you’ll cover 200 miles in less than 36 hours. The great thing about a relay race is that novice runners can participate with those who are more experienced, since each leg varies in length and difficulty. And after your run, you’ll get bit of downtime—most relays require teams to have vehicles to shuttle you to the next leg. Our Startle.com team rounded up five exciting relay races that are sure to jumpstart your running game.
RTB Relay has been featured as one of the 5 Relays to Travel for on Forbes Travel Guide. Check out the full article here: Forbes Travel Guide.
