By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Sports Commission is set to host the fourth annual St. Joseph Marathon at the end of next month, with the hope of having the largest group of runners yet.
The marathon will be ran on Saturday, September 26th and will feature a full marathon, half marathon, a 10K race or a 5K race that runners can participate in. Runners can also be part of a relay team across the marathon route. Registration for the race ranges, depending on the runners choice. Currently, registration fees range from just over $100 for the full marathon to just over $65 for the 5k. Registration fees do increase the closer it gets to race day.
Runners must be at least 16 years old to run the full marathon and relay and at least 14 years old to run the half marathon. There is no age requirement to run the 10K or 5K. Participants in the marathon will receive a branded shirt and towel, finisher’s medal, swag bag, race bib, timing chip, and free food and drink at the Post Race Chill Out present by Hy-Vee in Civic Center Park.
St. Joseph Sports Commission Director Brett Esely says the event is a continually growing event that is experiencing record registration.
"We are up over 200 registrants from where we've been the previous three years, which is absolutely phenomenal," Esely says on the KFEQmunnity show. "We have a goal to get to 700 runners this year, we're over halfway there, and traditionally our largest registration window has been six weeks out."
Esely says the event doesn't sell out and the dynamic pricing doesn't change that much to give more motivation to sign up earlier if a runner has scheduling issues or is potentially nursing an injury.
"So our registration window is typically the busiest now, we're looking forward to our biggest race ever, we try to grow this race every year, we're very senstive to the runners experience," Esely says.
The full and half marathons begin at 7am on September 26th. The 10K and 5K races start at 7:30am. The scenic route begins and ends at the Civic Center Park outside of City Hall. The marathon runs along the city’s historic parkway system to bring participants from the north to south end of town, passing by several St. Joseph landmarks.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.