Milwaukee Marathon Explained

Bgcolour:	lightblue
Date:	March or April
Location:	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Type:	Road
Distance:	Marathon, Half Marathon, 5k
Est:	October 31, 2015
Record:	Men: 2:22:51 (2015) David Tuwei Women: 2:44:09 (2015) Pauline Mutwa
Homepage:	http://runmilwaukee.com/

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 28miles, while the third edition in 2016 was run on a mistakenly shortened course of 25.4miles.^{[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. 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

2021

Race postponed, no date announced.

2020

Races canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic^[12]

2016

1 Mile^{[13] [14]}

Men's Leaderboard							Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (m:s:ms)	Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (m:s:ms)
1	Male Overall	Brian Gooley	24	Milwaukee	WI	4:18:68	30	Female Overall	Angie Smith	32	Wauwatosa	WI	5:58:63
2	Male Overall	Brian Robertson	30	Milwaukee	WI	4:33:20	31	Female Overall	Melissa Schneider	14	Muskego	WI	6:01:14
3	Male Overall	Matt Thull	41	Milwaukee	WI	4:39:58	33	Female 17 & Under	Aubree Kubicki	10	Green Bay	WI	6:09:13
4	Male 25-29	Blake Johnson	27	Milwaukee	WI	4:41:25	36	Female 17 & Under	London Chase	9	Wauwatosa	WI	6:24:58
5	Male 25-29	Ben Peterson	25	Sussex	WI	4:45:76	37	Female 40-44	Lisa Nondorf	41	Ridgeway	WI	6:32:27

5K^[15]

Men's Leaderboard							Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (m:s:ms)	Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (m:s:ms)
1	Wheelchair	Kaying Thao	27	Milwaukee	WI	8:59:90	30	Female Overall	Asha Pumphrey-Bush	30	Cudahy	WI	20:18:62
2	Wheelchair	Ethan Burkhart	15	Libertyville	IL	13:50:90	31	Female Overall	Caren Mangarelli	46	Milwaukee	WI	20:28:44
3	Male overall	Jesse Duvall	22	Union Grove	WI	17:01:58	33	Wheelchair	Kari Craddock	12	Richland Center	WI	20:35:76
4	Male Overall	Michael Sevier	37	Milwaukee	WI	17:08:68	36	Female 18-24	Katie O'Reilly	24	Maumee	OH	20:40:94
5	Male Overall	Mark Caballero	24	Sussex	WI	17:17:95	37	Female 17-24	Meghan Caballero	24	Ridgeway	WI	21:0725

Half Marathon^[16]

Men's Leaderboard							Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (h:m:s:ms)	Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (h:m:s:ms)
1	Wheelchair	Christian Clemmons	21	Champaign	IL	0:58:55:38	6	Female Overall	Gabrielle Anzalone	23	Madison	WI	1:15:24:13
2	Wheelchair	Steven Smith	30	Plover	WI	1:03:17:85	9	Female Overall	Cynthia Jerop	21	St. Paul	MN	1:16:43:51
3	Male Overall	Austin Bauer	24	Decorah	IA	1:09:35:50	10	Female Overall	Nicole Shortslef	31	South Milwaukee	WI	1:17:36:17
4	Male Overall	David Luy	24	Brookfield	WI	1:10:58:50	11	Female 18-24	Elizabeth Berkholtz	23	Milwaukee	WI	1:17:52:25
5	Male Overall	Kyle Fraser	36	Sussex	WI	1:15:14:44	16	Female 25-29	Flannery Cerbin-Bohach	29	Decorah	IA	1:23:22:07

Marathon^[17]

Men's Leaderboard							Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (h:m:s:ms)	Place	Division	Name	Age	City	State	Time (h:m:s:ms)
1	Male Overall	Adam Bohach	32	Decorah	IA	2:26:24:67	11	Female Overall	Denise Manthy	43	Wauwatosa	WI	3:14:40:30
2	Male Overall	Alexander Cushman	23	Madison	WI	2:32:33:67	21	Female Overall	Sonya Jongsma Knauss	41	Sioux Center	IA	3:19:44:81
3	Male Overall	John Mania	23	N/A	N/A	2:33:15:14	28	Female Overall	Shelby Koontz	21	Milwaukee	WI	3:22:15:53
4	Male 25-29	Joseph Skurski	25	Shorewood	WI	2:33:55:75	36	Female 30-34	Patricia Schaefer	34	Springfield	IL	3:25:12:96
5	Male 30-34	Tyler Swagerman	32	Shorewood	WI	2:48:13:45	43	Female 35-39	Ruth Lunz	38	Milwaukee	WI	3:27:57:5

2015

1 Mile^[18]

Men's Leaderboard					Women's Leaderboard
Place	Number	Name	Age	Time (m:s)	Place	Number	Name	Age	Time (m:s)
1	6	Ronald Hedman	23	4:30	15	103	Sofie Schunk	23	5:36
2	13	Brian Robertson	29	4:32	18	102	Anna Mayhewrozek	39	5:41
3	10	Dakota Pruitt	22	4:40	22	506	Meghan Teich	23	5:55
4	9	Ben Peterson	24	4:42	23	509	Morgan Toone	12	5:56
5	15	Matt Thull	40	4:51	28	101	Marissa Lovell	20	6:06

5K^[19]

Men's Leaderboard						Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (m:s)	Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (m:s)
1	Male 30-34	4941	David Wheeler^[20]	Waukesha, WI	16:11	9	Female 18-24	4880	Sofie Schunk	Albuquerque, NM	18:13
2	Male 18-24	5043	Sebastian Miller	Muskego, WI	16:19	12	Female 35-39	4570	Susan Buerger	Hartland, WI	19:08
3	Male 40-44	5046	John Mroz	Muskego, WI	16:43	16	Female 18-24	4595	Acacia Dishman	Milwaukee, WI	19:42
4	Male 17 & Under	5130	Nicholas Holmes	Glendale, WI	16:55	22	Female 18-24	4913	Meghan Teich	Milwaukee, WI	20:31
5	Male 17 & Under	4896	Billy Smith	Hook, UK	17:12	28	Female 30-34	4919	Sun Torke	Milwaukee, WI	21:14

Half Marathon

Men's Leaderboard						Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (h:m:s)	Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (h:m:s)
1	Male 25-29	3048	Sammy Rotich	Kenya	1:06:02	13	Female 25-29	3383	Jebichi Yator	Kenya	1:16:49
2	Male 30-34	3423	Benson Cheruiyot	Valparaiso, IN	1:06:15	16	Female 25-29	3370	Lauren Woodring	Bethel Park, PA	1:17:49
3	Male 18-24	1189	Evans Chelange	N/A	1:06:29	19	Female 30-34	3557	Nicole Shortslef	Waukesha, WI	1:18:48
4	Male 25-29	2742	Danny Machmueller	Milwaukee, WI	1:08:32	21	Female 25-29	2871	Holly Nearman	Monroe, WI	1:19:58
5	Male 30-34	3329	Nathan Weiland	Waunakee, WI	1:09:37	32	Female 18-24	3552	Lauren Schroeder	Milwaukee, WI	1:24:37

Marathon

Men's Leaderboard						Women's Leaderboard
Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (h:m:s)	Place	Division	Bib	Name	Native To	Time (h:m:s)
1	Male 35-39	983	David Tuwei	Kenya	2:22:51	7	Female 25-29	1144	Pauline Mutwa	Minneapolis, MN	2:44:09
2	Male 35-39	612	Sammy Malakwen	Kenya	2:23:53	16	Female 40-44	620	Denise Manthy	Milwaukee, WI	2:54:21
3	Male 25-29	111	Zachary Bruns	Milwaukee, WI	2:27:14	17	Female 25-29	155	Amanda Cohen	Milwaukee, WI	2:55:02
4	Male 25-29	102	Thomas Breitbach	Madison, WI	2:27:34	25	Female 45-49	126	Corina Canitz	Brookfield, WI	2:58:34
5	Male 35-39	872	Robert Schneider	Milwaukee, WI	2:42:00	68	Female 50-54	82	Mary Bolich	Plymouth, WI	3:14:43

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Milwaukee Marathon Wisconsin's Premier Marathon, Half & 5K. Milwaukee Marathon. en-US. January 22, 2019.
2. Web site: Inaugural PNC Milwaukee Running Festival expects 4,500 participants. www.bizjournals.com. January 22, 2019.
3. Web site: Milwaukee's first city-limits marathon draws thousands. www.jsonline.com. en. January 22, 2019.
4. Web site: Elite runner logs 28 miles - and still wins. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. en. January 22, 2019.
5. Web site: Error leaves PNC Milwaukee Marathon course short. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. en. January 22, 2019.
6. Web site: Milwaukee Marathon acquired by Boston race production company. August 2, 2018. BizTimes Media Milwaukee. en-US. January 22, 2019.
7. News: Nickel . Lori . March 25, 2023 . Nickel: Was this the final straw? The Milwaukee Marathon has been canceled. Again. . . March 25, 2023.
8. News: Nickel . Lori . November 6, 2016 . Elite runner logs 28 miles – and still wins . Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel . March 25, 2023.
9. Web site: Gov. Tony Evers issues 'Safer At Home' order closing non-essential businesses. wisn.com. en. March 23, 2020.
10. News: Milwaukee Marathon switches to virtual race amid coronavirus pandemic . April 7, 2020 . NBC . WTMJ-TV . March 27, 2020 . Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
11. Web site: Rugged Races and RAM Racing Become Ventures Endurance. endurancesportswire.com. en. June 17, 2021.
12. News: Milwaukee Marathon set for April 11 has been canceled due to COVID-19 . April 7, 2020 . FOX . WITI-TV . March 27, 2020.
13. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Results 1 Mile. pttiming.com. July 10, 2017.
14. Web site: RaceResults 360 Milwaukee Running Festival – Nov 6, 2016. edge.raceresults360.com. July 18, 2017.
15. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Results 5k. pttiming.com. July 10, 2017.
16. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Results Half Marathon. pttiming.com. July 10, 2017.
17. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Results Marathon. pttiming.com. July 10, 2017.
18. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Miler Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukee, WI 10/31/14 Mile Run. entries.pttiming.com. July 10, 2017.
19. Web site: Milwaukee Running Festival Results Oct 31, 2015. results.chronotrack.com. July 10, 2017.
20. Web site: "It’s awesome to have options like this:" Thousands take part in inaugural "PNC Milwaukee Running Festival". November 1, 2015. FOX6Now.com. July 17, 2017.