Another Rock N Roll event pops up

Kind of like the plants in the Little Shop of Horrors, the Competitor Group continues to gobble up races, spitting them out as Rock N Roll events.

The latest is the U.S. Half Marathon 2, which had been held in the spring in San Francisco since 2010.

It now will become the San Francisco Rock N Roll Half, scheduled for April 7, 2013.

Amazingly, the registration for this rebranded event is only $80 through Nov. 30 and $90 through Feb. 15, 2013.

Modesto lobbies for Amgen bike tour leg

The city of Modesto has begun lobbying the owners of the Amgen Tour of California, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, to once again be a host city for the multi-stage bicycle mid-May race.

The city hosted it from 2008-11, but was passed over as a stop last year.

As part of its efforts, the city has created a Website that points out why it should be chosen.

The city submitted a bid before the Aug. 17 deadline.

Last year, race organizes announced host cities in early November and unveiled the route in February.

Race organizers the past few years have followed a trend of asking new cities, such as Sonora, to submit bids. Sonora's proximity to Modesto was the reason Modesto was not chosen last year.

Sonora, as well as Turlock, have also submitted bids for the 2013 race.

AEG, which also owns the Los Angeles Kings and Staples Center, is up for sale, and it is unknown what effect that will have on the Amgen race.

Half-marathons continue to lead race growth

Since 2003, half-marathons have been the fastest growing road race distance, and 2011 was no exception.

Of the 100 largest timed U.S. road races, half-marathons comprised 42 percent, according to figures from Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Running USA.

And the Competitor Group, producers of the Rock 'n' Roll series, had 15 of them.

The top 100 races had more than 1.6 million finishers, and five road races had more than 40,000 timed finishers each.

That compares to 922,500 total finishers in 2000.

The 100th race in 2000 had 3,600 finishers. In 2011, the 100th race had more than 8,000 finishers.

Here are the top 10 timed races:

1. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K, 55,077

2. Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K, 51,303 (Spokane)

3. Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 10K, 49,213

4. ING New York City Marathon, 47,133

5. Zazzle Bay to Breakers 12K, 43,954 (San Francisco)

6. Bank of America Chicago Marathon, 35,755

7. Cooper River Bridge Run 10K, 34,789 (Charleston, S.C.)

8. Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K, 33,365 (Richmond, Va.)

9. Zappos.com Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon, 33,257

10. Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K, 32,442 (Chicago)

View the full list and other statistics at Running USA.