Queens Distance Runners is a nonprofit 501 (c)3 Event Management Company under the group exemption provided by Road Runners Club of America. We are one of the few Running Club/Organizations to offer membership free-of charge. There is a “QDR Membership Plus+”, which comes with extra perks that extend past our mission of “Bringing Runners to Queens, and Queens to Runners”, as there are discounts to local places of interest in support of the Queens Distance Runners.
We are a grassroots organization focused on attracting tourism to the growing borough of Queens through running and healthy activities. A county that is highly family-oriented and proudly holds large groups of immigrants. Our mission is to provide a public good by creating and promoting race events that develop communities, small businesses, and the state of fitness of our local residents. While the primary colors of the Queens Marathon pay homage to the flag of Queens (light blue and red), there will be hints of gold, the color of the Queens Distance Runners. We selected gold for a variety of reasons. In the Olympics, the most coveted medal is the gold medal, the Color itself stands out (it is a difficult color to acquire in bulk!) and in New York City, the sun rises first, in Queens.
We are focused on creating race events that accentuate the community it takes place in, Queens County. People visiting or living in Queens should come to expect that there will be frequent races that highlight our borough and for an affordable price. As we mentioned in our Queens Marathon description, our goal is to support our communities. We attend local community board meetings, we volunteer across Queens, and we fundraise for local non-for-profits. We believe in connecting our Queens running community to the real world. While we stage group runs and train towards annual events, such as the TCS NYC Marathon, World Marathon Majors, and support local club produced events across New York City and beyond, we are proud to highlight our events in Queens on any given weekend. If you have any questions regarding membership to the Queens Distance Runners, you may email us at membership@qdrunners.org.