New York, October 6, 2015—The Staten Island Half, the fifth and final race of 2015 in NYRR’s signature Five-Borough Series, will feature a newly added race element on Sunday, October 11—the first-ever NYRR Staten Island 5K. While the Staten Island Half has reached capacity with an expected 10,000 finishers, registration is still open for the NYRR Staten Island 5K, it was announced today by Peter Ciaccia, president of events for New York Road Runners and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon.
 
“We are excited to celebrate the great culture and pride that Staten Island brings to New York City at the 2015 Staten Island Half, especially through the addition of the first-ever NYRR Staten Island 5K,” said Ciaccia. “This is a family-friendly event with two different race options that helps set the tone for the quickly approaching 2015 TCS New York City Marathon, as we visit the home of our iconic starting line in Staten Island.”
 
The Staten Island Half, beginning at 8:30 a.m., features a reconfigured course, taking runners on a journey down Bay Street, up the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk, and past the iconic TCS New York City Marathon start at Fort Wadsworth before finishing on home plate at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, home of the Staten Island Yankees. The inaugural NYRR Staten Island 5K will start at the same time as the NYRR Staten Island Half, and at noon, kids ages 2 to 12 will have the chance to run around the bases during the kids’ races.
 
“The 2015 Staten Island Half and NYRR Staten Island 5K are great ways to recognize the borough of Staten Island as a key stakeholder in our commitment to positively impacting the community,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR. “NYRR is deeply rooted in Staten Island with events for all ages and abilities, including the NYRR Open Run initiative, our NYRR Youth Running Series, and the NYRR Striders program. We are excited to continue to reach more runners through the final race of the 2015 NYRR Five-Borough Series.”
 
NYRR organizes and supports events and community programming in Staten Island throughout the year, for people of all ages and abilities designed to get them moving toward a healthier lifestyle. Many of these programs take place in parks across the borough, including Conference House Park and Silver Lake Park. In the summer of 2015, NYRR launched NYRR Open Run, a community-based initiative aimed at bringing free weekly runs to local neighborhoods in New York City by working with community leaders and volunteers. NYRR offers additional programming in Staten Island, including the NYRR Youth Running Series and the NYRR Striders program. NYRR Running 101 classes held at Borough Hall and Conference House Park provide new runners with training tips and information to keep them moving for life. NYRR also engages year-round with Borough President James Oddo to identify challenges and collaborate on responses to health and wellness issues as part of Oddo’s running advisory council and health and wellness council. The borough has served as the starting point of the New York City Marathon since the first five-borough running, in 1976.
 
With four of five races complete in 2015, the NYRR Five-Borough Series has had a total of 63,960 finishers.
 
For more information about the NYRR Five-Borough Series: Staten Island Half, please visit the event page. For more information about the NYRR Staten Island 5K and to register, please visit the event page.