More Great News for LFM Runners!

First - I understand that some of you have had trouble with the link to our hotel block at the Hyatt. We are correcting it on our site but here is the correct one...

https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=85019

Now that we have that straight...If you have already registered for the race, great for you! 2009 will be a great marathon year here in Milwaukee. If you have not registered, there IS still time but know that we are filling somewhat faster than 2008 when we sold out the first week of June. At this rate, we will sell out in May. Remember that registration totals are posted on our web site so you can always see where we are with the limit. I do need to emphasize that the last 500 spaces go VERY quickly. If you are sure that you want to run in 2009, don't wait too long.

In terms of our 2009 race plans, I have already posted information about our new pace teams - you asked for pace teams and we have found a way to provide it without taking our attention from the important elements of the race.

Over the years many of our runners have used LFM to raise money for a variety of charities. In support of these efforts, in 2008 we set up our Charity Page in the "Pre-Race" tab on the LFM website. This allows you to tell everyone about your fund raising and the charities that you will support with your run - also what that charity means to you. We will continue with our charity page in 2009 and hope that you let us all know about your fund raising plans.

As an extension of our charity support, I am now very happy to announce a partnership with the American Cancer Society (ACS) for 2009. We have designated them as an official LFM charity and encourage you to review the information about their program that is posted on the Charity Page. If you are interested in more information about this program, I encourage you to contact Amber Flanagan at amber.flanagan@cancer.org.

A key part of this new relationship will be the LFM/American Cancer Society Pasta Dinner - yep - a pasta dinner! Many of you know that we have not provided this in the past due to limitations on managerial and volunteer resources. A pasta dinner is an established part of the ACS charity program and they have agreed to open the dinner to ALL runners and their families and friends. We will provide details on location, cost and ticket purchase as ACS finalizes the details.

We hope that you are as excited as we are with the debut of pace teams and the pasta dinner - we are listening to you!

Stay tuned for more exciting details on 2009 race plans and on special planning already underway for our 30th anniversary in 2010.

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions concerning the race.

Relay SOLD OUT

We need to let everyone know that the LFM relay sold out on March 14th. No on-line entries were accepted after we reached our limit. To be fair to those who mail their entries, we will accept all entries post-marked on the March 14 closing date. We do appreciate the support of all of those who have registered and hope that those who did not get in will put us on their 2010 calendar - October 3, 2010.

The marathon is about 25% full. If you are on the fence, you still do have time to decide on your plans for 2009. Note that we do post the number of registrations on our web site so that you can have an idea as to the entry totals at any given day. That said, you do need to realize that those last 500 spots go VERY quickly - people on the fence making their decision - so be careful when registrations get to that point.

We so appreciate the support that our runners show for LFM every year. We hope that you will be happy with your choice to run our race in 2009.

Pace Teams for 2009

I told you to stay tuned... In our post-race survey many of you told us that you'd really like us to add pace teams. In fact, many of you said that you'd even be happy to see an increase in the registration fee to cover the cost of bringing in someone to organize this professionally.

I am sure that many of you will be happy to hear that we have been able to arrange for pace teams for the 2009 race. We have retained an experienced pace team provider to organize this in 2009 to ensure that runners using the teams will have pace leaders who can "deliver" (just like our USPS sponsor :)). We will have pace teams spanning finish times from 3:20 to 5:00 hours. Details will be posted on our web site in a few days - so take a look!

If you are an experienced pacer, stay tuned for information about serving as a pacer, too.

Oh - BTW - we did not increase the registration fee for 2009 to accommodate this cost (as we were not sure we could make it happen) but will probably have to do so in 2010.

Registration Update

It is great to see that so many of you have registered in this first week. At this rate, we will fill sooner than last year!

For those already looking for race details, note that we have updated almost all elements of the web site - or at least those that we can at this point. I will up-date the Rules section soon. The site contains reservation links to our co-host hotels - the Hyatt and Courtyard by Marriott. You might note that the Charity Page is pretty empty. We invite any of you running for a specific charity to send me an e-mail - with the link and with a paragraph about why you are running for tha group and what it means to you. We'll post these again this year.

As always, feel free to e-mail us directly at lakefrontmarathon@sbcglobal.net

Registration Opens January 29th

Registration for the 2009 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon and THREE person Relay will open on Thursday January 29th. Our 29th anniversary race will be held on Sunday October 4, 2009. Please follow the link on our web site www.badgerlandstriders.org/lfm for on-line registration.

Note that - in light of current economic conditions - we have not increased the registration fee for the marathon in 2009.

You will note that we have changed the relay to a three-person event beginning in 2009. This was done to enhance safety on the course by removing the relay exchange that was at approximately 11 miles. Parking issues and traffic congestion in this area presented potential hazards to the runners, volunteers and the public. Relay legs will approximate 7, 12, and 7 miles. In recognition of this change and after considering runner comments from 2008, relay runners will now also receive a long-sleeve Race Ready technical shirt. The registration fee for the relay was set in recognition of this additional cost - and value to participants.

Many of you have e-mailed and asked about our position on Mp3 players for the 2009 race. You may know that USATF changed the rule in December to provide greater flexibility for local race committees. Runners competing for prize money and for USATF awards will be prohibited from using Mp3 players. Other runners are cautioned to consider the potential safety issues presented by their use but will be allowed to use them. If you decide to use them, please make sure that the volume is low enough for you to hear what is going on around you - for your own safety and that of other runners. We will closely monitor the course - runners who fail to heed the direction of race officials WILL be disqualified.

Last year many runners asked that we provide pace teams. We do expect to do this in 2009 - but we are still investigating our options. Stay tuned.

We are also very excited to report that the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon was named the Road Runners Club of America 2008 Road Race of the Year!!! This is a testament to the work of more than 1500 volunteers, the support of the Badgerland Stirders Running Club, and to the hospitality of our host communities. It is rare for a race this size to be managed and run entirely by volunteers - we think that you all see the difference.

We will be updating the web site as we finialize race details. In the interim, check back here for my quick up-dates.

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the Finish Line on October 4th