Grand Rapids Marathon
| Grand Rapids Marathon | |
|---|---|
 The Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon Logo | |
| Date | October 23, 2016 |
| Location | Western Michigan, ending in Grand Rapids |
| Event type | Road |
| Distance | Marathon |
| Established | 2004 |
| Official site | grandrapidsmarathon |
The Metro Health/Grand Rapids Marathon is a 26.219-mile (42.195 km) race run every October in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA since 2004. It is a USATF certified course.[1] The Grand Rapids Marathon picked up Metro Health as a title sponsor in 2008. The full marathon gives runners a tour of downtown Grand Rapids and then heads out of the city and into the trails of Millennium Park. It is considered a flat, fast course and is a qualifying opportunity for the Boston Marathon.[1]
The race director is Don Kern.[2]
The marathon utilizes "celebrity" pace teams, based on the times of famous people who had run marathons. The current pace teams include Oprah Winfrey (4:29), P. Diddy (4:14), Will Ferrell (3:56), George W. Bush (3:44), William Baldwin (3:24), and Pi (3:14).
Apart from the main event, there is also a kids marathon, 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon relay and fitness expo.
The course record of 2:26.41 was set by David Mart (Zeeland, Michigan) in 2013.[3]
The 2015 overall winner was Brendan Molony (Kalamazoo, Michigan) with a time of 2:31:15. The 2015 female winner was Angela Swain (Evanston, Illinois), who achieved a time of 2:57:56. Also in 2015, John Gries (East Lansing, Michigan) won the half-marathon with a time of 1:09:51, and Nicole Michmerhuizen (Ann Arbor, Michigan) was the female winner with 1:20:09.[3]
The next running will be held on Sunday, October 23, 2016 and is expected to be a 6,000-person event.
References
- ^ a b Kern, Don. "GRMarathonFAQ". Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ Kern, Don. "GRMarathonCommittee". Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Active Results". Retrieved 2013-10-29.
