The landscape and culture of the New Hampshire road race and triathlon scenes has changed quite a bit in the past few years. In many ways, the race scene looks nothing like it did in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

What do the changes mean? In some cases, not much because the changes have been subtle. In other ways the changes have meant that everyone, from race organizers to participants, has been forced to change practices and procedures.

Let's take a look some of the changes.

-- New faces at the front: Road races tend to recycyle every five to seven years. The runners who dominated in the early part of this century are rarely found racing anymore. Names such as Cathy and Mike O'Brien, Guy Stearns, Wilson Perez and Mary (Proulx) Miller once ruled the streets of the Granite State but have faded from the scene.

-- Growth of triathlons: When Keith Jordan decided to start the Timberman Triatlon at Elacoya State Park in Gilford, he wanted an event that would draw hundreds, but, as Jordan said at the time, “There were probably about 100 triathletes in New Hampshire.”

Jordan made Timberman such a big event that people traveled hours to race. That response opened a lot of local eyes to triathlons. Now triathlons are much more mainstream in these parts, with more athletes and more races.

-- Growth of major events: Given the population of the Granite State, a race that topped 1,000 finishers seemed liked a big deal, with races topping that mark meriting special recognition. A few years ago, someone started using the term “1,000 Club” to highlight those New Hampshire races.

The growth of the 1,000 Club has been remarkable. In 2009, there were about 10 races that had more than 1,000 finishers. This year, there could be as many as 25.

What's behind such growth? Read on ...

-- Emphasis on participation rather than competition: There was a time that races were top heavy with runners who were out to compete, whether it was at the front of the pack, in the middle running for age-group awards or in the back competing against the clock. Now, running road races is less about speed and more about showing up, feeling good about finishing and having a good time.

Runners of all shapes and sizes have been welcomed to the Granite State racing scene, and these folks have responded by showing up in big numbers. Their presence has resulted in a very important change on the local race scene, which leads us to ...

Sellouts: There was a time when only a few major races closed their entries prior to race day, events such as the Boston Marathon and Mount Washington Road Race. Every other race held race-day signups, allowing for folks to wait until race day to decide whether to run.

Not anymore. The popularity of many races has resulted in a large number selling out early, precluding race-day entry. Early sellouts have changed a lot of attitudes, from runners to race organizers.

For runners the increase in sellouts has meant changing the thought process from waiting until the last minute to making sure the entry form is sent well in advance of race day.

This means runners now need to pay attention to notices from race organizers — be it the race website, emails, or social media — as to how the race's entries are progressing. Many a runner has been caught unaware that a race has sold out, showing up to run on race day only to find out the field is closed.

How has this affected race organizers? On one hand, not having to deal with race-day sign-ups is one less task to handle in the hours leading up to the event. On the other hand, organizers often have to deal with backlash from angry runners who have been shut out — including some who go ahead and run anyway, participating as unofficial entrants.

Unofficial runners, often referred to as bandits, are showing up in bigger numbers at local races and creating liability issues for race organizers.

-- Good news: Ultimately, the changing culture of New Hampshire races has resulted in more people participating in more races, more races becoming major events and more people enjoying themselves at New Hampshire races than ever before.

Nothing wrong with that, is there?

- - - - - - -

Running shorts: Spectacular day at the Northeast's highest summit for this year's Mount Washington Road Race. Congrats to the winners, Sage Canaday of Oregon and Kim Dobson of Colorado. The top New Hampshire runners, North Conway's Kevin Tilton and Laconia's Abby Gosling, won the presitgious Crossan Cup, named after four-time Mount Washington winner Gary Crossan, who lived in New Hampshire. Stealing the show, however, was George Etzweiller of State College, Pa. At the age of 92, he was the oldest finisher in the race's history. You can imagine the cheers he got when he finished and when he received his medal at the awards ceremony ... Call the first-ever Ribfest 5-Miler, held at the Anheuser-Busch factory in Merrimack on Father's Day, a huge success. More than 800 runners and walkers took part, most of them later partying at the Rock'n Ribfest, an event co-sponsored by the New Hampshire Union Leader. Ethan Brown of Lowell, Mass., and Karin Biskovich of Weare were the race winners, but I have to give a two thumbs up for Bob's Ribs, purveyors of a killer pulled pork sandwich ... By the way, it was quite a weekend for Biskovich, who also won the Eastman Splash, Mash, and Dash triathlon the day before RibFest.

Andy Schachat writes about running for the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at schachat44@gmail.com.