2010 Entry Up-date
Entries for the 2010 30th Anniversary Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon are slightly ahead of 2009 when the marathon filled on May 16. The marathon is 25% capacity and the relay is just more than 50% to the 90 team limit. If you plan to compete in either event and have not yet registered, you can monitor the entry totals by going to our race website. Although we update the totals on a regular basis, it is important to recognize that the last spots go VERY quickly - if you wait too long you will not get into the 2010 race. Please remember that once your register you are IN - we do not allow transfer of entries, refunds, or deferrals to a future year - please do not ask.
2010 Special Guests
As many of you know, for the last few years we have been able to invite a special guest to participate in race weekend activities. We are very pleased to announce that our 2010 guest will be two-time Olympian Anne Marie Letko . She was in Atlanta for the marathon and in Sydney for the 5k. In 2009 Anne Marie and Khalid Khannouchi were inducted into the RRCA American Long Distance Running Hall of Fame. She will participate in all of our race weekend activities including expo program, the traditional Saturday morning fun run, and press appearances.
In addition to the customary race weekend activities, Anne Marie will also RUN the marathon - yep, that's right run the marathon! Not only will she run the race, but she will provide one lucky and generous runner with the opportunity to have her run the race right along with them. Anne Marie will be offering this opportunity as a way to raise money for former elite runner Jenny Crain's recovery from her August, 2007 accident. The "Jenny Crain Make it Happen Fund" will be auctioning off the opportunity for a mid-pack marathoner (3:45+) to have Anne Marie run with them - both (of course) registered for the race. The auction will be conducted on Jenny's Facebook Fan Page - beginning immediately and concluding 2 weeks after the LFM fills. This is a great opportunity for one of our marathoners to share some quality running time with a great runner and get to know a wonderful woman. It is also an opportunity to assist Jenny - who was serving LFM as a Race Captain at the time of her accident.
We also expect two more of Jenny's elite colleagues to participate in our race weekend activities. Two-time Olympian Elva Dryer (5k Sydney & 10k Athens) plans to be here but will not be able to run the marathon - the USATF National Marathon Championships will be held in NYC just a few weeks later. However, elite middle distance runner Janet Trujillo does plan to run the marathon. Both will be here in support of Team Jenny Crain - note the information in the "Raise $$$ for a Cause" article below. We are very lucky to have this trio of talented women participate in our race weekend - you will all have the opportunity to see what great people they really are!
30th Anniversary Doings...
We have come a long way since about 600 people toed the line at the innagural Miller Lite Lakefront Marathon in October, 1981. That first year we had 586 finishers - only 40 (!!) women... Back in those days there were very few marathons so this race, with the assistance of significant sponsorship from Miller Brewing, attracted a diverse and fast field. Just imagine what it would be like today if there were just a few quality marathons for the fast runners to race... Although our fastest finish times go back to those first years, I was surprised to see that we have always also been a race for the citizen racer - back in 1981 we had a significant number of 5 hour finishers at a time when "slow pokes" were not so welcome at marathons. While a lot of things have changed over these 30 years, a lot of things remain the same - our start at Grafton High School, the majority of the course along the same Northshore streets, and our finish at Milwaukee's lakefront in Veteran's Park. As we move into our next decade, we hope to keep all of the things that you like and to make strategic improvements to keep the race fresh.
In 2010 we have invited all of our male and female winners to come back to run the marathon or participate on special "Champions" relay teams. We have had a great response from many of them and hope that we will see them at the start in Grafton on race morning. For those who cannot be here, we hope to get an update to include in the Runners Guide. We would particularly like to locate our male and female course record holders - Steve Benson - 1981 & 1982 winner and Nancy Mieszczak - 1983 winner. We will also again be honored by the presence our three (!!!) runners who have completed every LFM - Jim Bahr, Bill Boehm, and Duane Tate.
Also in 2010, we will welcome our 35,000th marathon finisher home to Veteran's Park - yep almost 35,000 people have finished our marathon, enough to populate a pretty good-sized city. We plan to recognize that special finisher with a special award and to secure some special sponsor goodies for that lucky marathoner.
Raise $$$ for a Good Cause
We are very happy to welcome the American Cancer Society DetermiNation program back as a charity partner in 2010. Again in 2010, they will host the pre-race pasta dinner - open to all LFM participants, friends and family. Take a look at our Charity Page for information about this program.
In response to the many runners who have asked for the opportunity to run LFM and raise funds for Jenny Crain, Jenny's friends are organizing "Team Jenny". Details are still being finalized - if you are interested in joining the team or finding out more about it, send an e-mail to TeamJennyCrain@gmail.com . As with other fund raising teams, Team Jenny spots will only be available to runners who register before the race fills.
Many of our other runners are also running to support causes dear to their hearts - if you are one of these runners, we'd love to use our Charity Page help you publicize your effort. Simply compose a paragraph telling everyone about your cause, why it is meaningful to you, and how to help you and then send it to our LFM e-mail. We'll post your story.
RRCA National Marathon Championship
We will be honored to serve as the host of the Road Runners Club of America National Marathon Championships. This is a great honor for our race and will provide us with access to some additional perks for our winners as well as additional resources to benefit the race as a whole.
