The Milwaukee Marathon is an annual marathon, and a Boston Marathon qualifying race, for runners of all ages and abilities that courses through downtown Milwaukee each spring. It offers three race distances: a full marathon (26.2 miles), a half marathon (13.1 miles), and a 5k (3.1 miles).[1]
The inaugural event, branded the PNC Milwaukee Running Festival,[2] was held on November 1, 2015, and saw great success, attracting 3,700 participants.[3] However, the course was mismeasured two years in a row in 2016 and 2017, with 2016’s being too long[4] and 2017’s too short.[5] The resulting backlash from runners and city officials threw the future of the race into question.
Seeing the potential to turn the Milwaukee Marathon into a world-class event, Rugged Races, a Boston-based race production company with marathon experience that organizes 90 races annually, bought the Milwaukee Marathon in August 2018 and immediately started to overhaul the event.[6]
History
The inaugural Milwaukee Running Festival Marathon was held in November 2015, but later editions were moved to earlier in the year to reduce conflicts with the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.[7] The second edition's route was incorrectly measured at 28 miles (45km), while the third edition in 2016 was run on a mistakenly shortened course of 25.4 miles (40.9km).[7][8] The event was cancelled in 2018 and resumed the following year under new management.[7]
In 2020, several marathons were cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] A month before the start of the Milwaukee Marathon, Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency, which was later expanded to a stay-at-home order through April 28.[9]
With the state restricting public gatherings, Milwaukee Marathon race organizers announced March 27 that the fifth annual running would be canceled, along will all other races taking place during the April 10–11 weekend. Despite the cancellation, race organizers refused to offer refunds - instead promising a 20% off code that could be used for the following year’s race. [10]
Rugged Races was acquired by Ventures Endurance Events LLC and rebranded as Ventures Endurance on June 17, 2021.[11] The company said they were working with the city of Milwaukee on a date and route for the race in fall 2021, and suggested the race would be run in October.[citation needed] The 2021 and 2022 editions were later cancelled.[7]
The Milwaukee Marathon returned for the 2023 season, scheduled to be held on March 25, 2023. A major snowstorm forced the cancellation of the marathon.[7]
Results
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: results need updating. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2021)
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