Milwaukee Marathon

Milwaukee Marathon

Milwaukee Marathon

( 33 reviews )
78% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Milwaukee,
    Wisconsin,
    United States
  • April
  • 3 miles/5K, 5 miles/8K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, Other
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Jonathan McWalter

Wisconsin, United States
27 55
2017
"Wonderful Course, But Failed Race Management"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Jonathan McWalter's thoughts:

I ran the half marathon distance last year with this race so I had hoped for a similar experience with the 10K this year. The reasoning behind the 10K was that I was going to be coming off of running the Chicago Marathon (my first marathon) one week earlier and wasn't sure where my legs would be. Smart choice by me. :)
I'll start by saying the race management team does a good job of sending updates and emails talking up the race and encouraging participation. They are very good at doing that. Also, they have a large presence on Facebook and Instagram, from what I saw, with many ads promoting this race. Now, we'll come back to them in a little bit where there will be a better explanation for just the two stars.
The expo was quite lively and I imagine that had to do with the fact it was pouring rain and all in all a crappy day outside. The place was packed with people picking up packets, checking out the Saucony center, the State Farm tent or listening in to a course expert go over the marathon course. Packet pickup was a breeze, even with my getting my packet and a relative's, who was running the half distance. I wasn't able to stay as long as I would have liked but I did get to enjoy checking out the Harley-Davidson cycles on site!
The course itself was relatively low impact. Pretty flat with slight incline/decline moments but nothing huge. It takes you from the start point thourgh some city streets over to the lakefront and past the Milwaukee Art Museum. You head past the marina and then take a U-turn just before Lafayette Hill by the Colectivo Coffee shop. After that you are retracing your steps for the most part to get back to the finish line. Other than being a dreary day with sprinkles and such, the course is truly a nice one to run. At the finish, you are welcomed with your medal, water, pretzels and bananas.The swag with this race is a nice long sleeve tshirt, various coupons and a free beer ticket. This year the beer was provided by Milwaukee Brewing Co and they provided excellent choices. There were four food trucks and a Fuel cafe providing free samples of coffee.
Now to the bad part of the race management. I had to grab my medal on the run as I continued running through the finisher area to get to a clear spot to keep running since the 10K course was marked short. I crossed at 5.72mi instead of the necessary 6.2. This is the second year where this race has had an issue with course markings and distance. This is going to be a giant detriment to the future of this race, I believe. One year is bad luck or just a mistake, but two years is not a good reputation to have, especially when you market yourself as a Boston Qualifying race. No good. Even with that, I would say this is a race running but it needs new management first. This city deserves this race and it really shows off the beauty of the city. It's just too bad that it has been marred by a giant error.

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