Half Marathon a winner for community
By Heather Ruenz
Editor
Despite sounding noticeably tired Monday morning, less than 24 hours after the Half Marathon that took more than a year to plan had come to an end, Jeff Knight was also inspired.
“The entire community really put on an amazing event. So many people did so much and it wouldn’t have been possible without every one of them,” Knight, president of the Greater Whitewater Committee and member of the Discover Whitewater Series executive committee, said.
Sunday’s event, which featured a Half Marathon, a Half Marathon Relay (two-person team), a 5K run/walk and a Fit Kid Shuffle, was created to promote tourism in the city.
There were 563 registered runners, deemed a great response for its inaugural event, according to Knight, but perhaps even more amazing is the number of volunteers involved.
“We had more than 400 volunteers help with the event in all sorts of ways and they were amazing,” Knight said, adding that having two experienced race directors – Stacey Kincaid and Melissa Sebastian – was a blessing.
Perfect weather and race conditions also blessed the event, which went off without any major medical emergencies or issues with safety.
Sponsors for the event – 63 in all – helped in countless capacities according to Knight, from supplying volunteers or equipment to donating items for the goodie bag each participant, and volunteer, received.
The following five local entities were chosen as charity partners for the event: W3 Working for Whitewater’s Wellness, Bethel House, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletics, The Whitewater Aquatic Center, Whitewater Unified School District.
Spectators also supported the charity partners by purchasing, and ringing, cowbells along the race route. The bells were sold at various locations throughout the city in the weeks leading up to Sunday’s event.
Though a date has yet to be set other than a late-September target, the Greater Whitewater Committee voted two weeks ago to host next year’s Half Marathon.
For more information visit runwhitewater.com or search and like Run Whitewater on Facebook. Complete race results can be found on the website.
Read the full story and see more photos from Sunday’s event in this week’s Whitewater Register.
