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  • Half marathoners run down a hill along the South Route Trail Saturday. Pat Christman

    hawthorne hill

  • Alex Voigt

    Alex Voigt

October 24, 2010

Mankato the perfect fit for a marathon

By Alex Voigt Free Press Staff Writer

— It seems as though even Mother Nature wanted the Inaugural Mankato Marathon to be a success.

I confess, I was one of the runners that was nervous about the weather leading up to race day. Weekend forecasts called for rain, wind and a noticeable drop in temperature. I visualized the race being an ordeal of atrocious head wind and runners stepping gingerly on the hill alongside Hawthorn Road, so as to avoid taking a tumble on the rain-slicked trail.

However, the reality of the race was considerably more pleasant. Aside from a quick drizzle before the start, there wasn’t any rain to speak of during the race, and the swirling winds forecasted were nonexistent.

Heck, the temperature was even warm enough where I opted to change shirts beforehand, switching from long-sleeve performance wear to a casual T-shirt.

Of course, the weather wasn’t the only enjoyable part of the race. The first-time marathon had plenty for Mankato to be proud of.

For the runners, it had a course that showed off all the highlights of Mankato: MSU, the Red Jacket Trail, Mount Kato, Sibley Park, the Minnesota River and a wonderful last few blocks on the downtown corridor of Front Street. A good marathon course also serves as a pseudo tour guide for out-of-town runners, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.

Oh, and marathon officials did all this while avoiding any major uphill climb during the race. No small feat in Mankato.

For the spectators, the marathon offered viewing spots galore to watch their loved ones run by. It was an encouraging sight to see cheering spectators around every corner, which gave runners a motivational boost — definitely needed for me after Mile 10 — and showed that the community was excited about its newest race.

For Mark Bongers, Anna Thill and the rest of the organizers that made the race possible, it served as the culmination of months of hard work and dedication. Bongers wanted the Mankato Marathon to be a premiere event for the area, and it was.

The expo and pasta feed sites were busting at the seams with patrons, the course was well regulated, volunteers were plentiful and helpful, and local businesses were quick to throw their support behind the weekend festivities. Getting marathon legend Dick Beardsley to sound off the start of the race and speak at the expo was just icing on the cake.

I’ve always thought Mankato would be the perfect area to host a marathon. It’s a decent-sized community, has a ton of local runners — Chris Crocker and the Multisport Club can attest to that — and has a wealth of running trails and back roads to design a course on.

More than that, local businesses have always been willing to show their support for local races, as the growth of the North Mankato Triathlon would indicate.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thought Mankato would work as a marathon sight. The 2,000-person registration limit filled weeks before race day, and there were runners signed up from all over the country.

Regardless of where the marathon goes from here, one thing is for certain: While walking away from the finish line, I wasn’t thinking about all the ways the first-time race could improve itself in the future.

I was wondering what took it so long to get here in the first place.



Alex Voigt is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at 344-6389 or at avoigt@ mankatofreepress.com. He also has a health and fitness blog at alexvoigtfitness.blogspot.com.

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