First-rate marathon designed to highlight the best features of the city |
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Green Bay
MARATHON By Greg Marr What's the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of Green Bay, Wis. The Packers, right? The
frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and all that. It has a meat-and-potatoes reputation, this smallest city in the NFL.
For the Silent Sports crowd, their thoughts might first turn to skiing at Reforestation, the Bellin 10K or sea kayaking the bay. Gloria West looked at Green Bay and what popped into her mind was: marathon.
Yes, that Gloria West, the same one who started the Fox Cities Marathon and helped the Pacesetters
Running Club get up and running. West has completed the Australian Ironman, won the the Athens Marathon in 1995, overseen dozens of events and directed the national series for Danskin Women's Triathlon Series. She is the recipient of the Triathlon Today "Top 10 Triathlons in the Midwest" award, as well as the Wisconsin Governor's Council on Physical Fitness award.
A veteran of over 30 marathons, West dropped completely out of race directing a few years ago to
concentrate on earning a degree in community health. As an intern, she taught yoga and running at the Green Bay Correctional Institute, using running as a positive addiction for the inmates.
While in Green Bay, her thoughts would drift to marathons as she looked out at the scenic diversity of the city and the surrounding area. She wondered why no one had organized a marathon in Green Bay.
"Actually, I know why," she says with a laugh. "They're a lot of work! But I kept flirting with the idea,
playing around with it. I kept tabling it until I went to Chicago last year."
West was extremely impressed with the energy and excitement of Chicago's marathon.
"It's amazing compared to what it was eight years ago. You can feel the energy. It was such a fun weekend that I came back and said, 'We're putting on a marathon.'"
In less than six months, West turned her idea into a full-fledged, high-quality marathon, something most race
directors would consider virtually impossible in so short a time. Approximately 3,000 runners are expected in Green Bay on Sunday, June 25, for the first Green Bay Marathon, half-marathon, 4-mile walk/run and 1/2-mile kids race.
"We found a major sponsor, Cellcom, which was great," West says. "And that allowed me to do it." There's that, of course, and West's experience as a runner and an organizer.
A tie to the Packers is inevitable in a city the size of Green Bay, where streets are named for former coaches. Rather than try to avoid the football angle, West is embracing it. Runners will find many Packers reminders: crossing the Ray Nitschke Bridge, running down Holmgren Way, crossing Lambeau Avenue, entering Packer Drive then running through Lambeau Field, the home of the Packers, across the field through the goal posts and out the other side.
"We're getting a lot of Minnesotans signed up for the race," West says, "a lot of Viking fans. They're not shy, either. They say they're going to wear purple (the Vikings' color) and make a big deal about being Viking fans."
On the other hand, someone from Chicago called and asked if he could run "even though he's a Bears fan," West says.
"We're having a lot of fun with this. We're calling the run the longest, largest, earliest tailgate party."
West thinks the community is embracing the marathon in part because the Packers fell from football's elite last year. In a city so strongly associated with one thing, West believes the Packers misfortunes had many in the city realize that Green Bay needs to be a little more diverse and look at other sports in other seasons. What better way to do that than have ESPN come in and film an event that runs, literally, throughout Green Bay and its environs.
"While it was an unfortunate season for the Packers and fans, I really think them being a little off helped us to do this," West says.
More than the football angle, what will probably make this a memorable marathon is the rest of the course. West beams when she talks about it.
"The course is designed to promote the greatness of Green Bay. Every four or five miles is something
different. I've done over 30 marathons, and I like a course that offers some scenic diversity, not the same thing mile after mile. You have to be able to preoccupy yourself, detach yourself. You can do that on this course."
Besides Lambeau Field, highlights include the National Railroad Museum on Fort Howard Drive, a three-mile stretch following the Fox River, the St. Norbert College campus, Ridgeway Boulevard (a wide,
shady boulevard with a slight, long incline and long, winding decline going through a quiet residential area of De Pere), Allouez Kiwanis Park, the Resch Family/East River Trail on the west bank of the East River (a wide asphalt trail, lined with trees and meadows that follow along the East River north to Green Isle Park), Preble Hills/Baird Creek Parkway, the Green Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and, finally, Admiral Flately Park Trail.
Ninety percent of the course is flat and fast. The start and finish line are at 585 feet above sea level. The peak elevation is 730 feet at the top of Swiss Hill Drive. Other than a rise of 130 feet over miles 19 and 20, the course stays reasonably flat. The course has been measured and USTF certified.
Besides a good course and strong organization, a good marathon needs to be more than a run, as West
noticed in the atmosphere at Chicago. There also needs to be strong volunteer support and a blend of elite and recreational runners. Green Bay seems to have the right elements.
There are 26 stations with water and a sports drink, mile markers and splits given at every mile, four medical stations, plenty of porta-potties, pacing teams available, race-day shuttles from the official host
hotels to all starting lines and back to the host hotels after, and plenty of food, drink and music at the finish line.
Another nice touch is a service provided by Cellcom Cellular Phones: Convenience stations every six miles to allow participants to call home from the course. A Cellcom Biking Team will also dial-up and hand you a Cellcom phone to talk to someone while you run.
The course will remain open until the very last runner crosses it.
"It has to remain open," West says. "I want this marathon to be for all ages and abilities."
And there is plenty of interest in the marathon.
"We started some Marathon 101 classes and I expected 100 or 150. We had 300 at the first meeting."
As for awards and premiums, the majority of participants – those who'll never stand on a podium after an event – will be happy with their inaugural commemorative T-shirt, finisher's medal and goody bag. For the
elite, there's more: $50,000 going to the top 15 female and male overall finishers and the top five female and male masters in the marathon. The Nsight Go-The-Long-Distance Corporate Team award-winning team will be sent to the Helsinki Marathon. Awards in age groups, every five years, go three deep, female and male, in the marathon and half-marathon; the overall top three female, male and wheelchair; four-mile event
top 10 female and male overall; and recognition to the top finisher in the Clydesdale/Athena division.
Proceeds from the various events benefit Cerebral Palsy Inc., Children's Hospital Foundation and the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.
Marathon weekend begins on Saturday, June 24, with the Museum to Museum 1/2 Mile Children's Run at 8 a.m. All children receive a T-shirt and goody bag. The Prevea Health Expo runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at
Port Plaza Mall in downtown Green Bay. The Titletown Brewing Company pasta dinner is at 7 p.m., with guest speakers Mark and Amanda Brunsvold.
On Sunday, June 25, at 6:45 a.m., Marathon and Half-Marathon wheelchair athletes and walkers start, followed by the runners at 7 a.m. The Cellcom 4 Mile Walk/Run starts at 7:10 a.m. and runs from Port Plaza Mall through Lambeau Field to a finish in the parking lot. Shuttles return participants to the Port Plaza Mall.
West isn't concerned about what might be considered too many marathons on a crowded race schedule. To the contrary – she thinks there is plenty of room, depending on the time of year. Grandma's Marathon, for instance, is the week before Green Bay, but West doesn't see that as a problem.
"I don't want anyone to think we're trying to compete with Grandma's. What we're offering is something
for those 5,000 people who want to get into Grandma's but can't. I think that's why we're seeing so many people from Minnesota."
Besides, she says, "marathons are on the rise. The thinking used to be that you could only do one in a year. That's changing. People are realizing they can do more than one. It's not uncommon now for people to do one in the spring and one in the fall. We're just offering another opportunity."
For information on the 2000 Green Bay Marathon and its other events, contact them at A-1129 Port Plaza Mall, Green Bay, WI 54301; 920/432-6272, 1-800/889-1859. The marathon has an excellent website filled with information – much of the information for this story came from it – at www.greenbaymarathon.com.
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