The Lowdown On the Indoor Marathon World Record

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Held, with the assistance of indoor marathon winner Bryan Schneider, did some solid reporting on indoor marathon world records. According to Held's research, Schneider ran the 8th-fastest time ever in an indoor marathon last Saturday at the Pettit Center. But because of the large size of the track, it's not considered "official" by some guy who keeps those kinds of records. Hmmmm.....indoors is indoors, isn't it?

Time Warner Story On Race

Here's a link to Time Warner Sports' story on the indoor marathon. JP Cadorin did a great job putting this together and had some great comments from the winner and one of the other runners.

Race Director Comments

First, let me say that I have been humbled and amazed by all of the positive emails and comments about the race from the runners. This was a first-year event and this was the first time any of us had organized and planned a race. So to read all of these glowing reviews is heartening. We worked very hard for the better part of a year to put on this event. A group consisting of myself (Chris Ponteri), Jaime Lee from InStep, Dana Schultz (a volunteer) and Rob Multerer, who is the director of operations at the Pettit Center, met on a regular basis and worked out all of the details for the race. We had no idea they would come together this well on race-day. I offer my heartfelt thanks to Jaime, Rob and Dana for their dedication. You are the reasons this worked so well.

Of course the four of us cannot take all of the credit. Here is a list of people who all deserve to share in the success of the day:

*Don Weyer for his patient work in measuring and certifying the course
*Al @ Alan John Photography, the event photographer
*Matt Baum and Mizuno USA for their sponsorship
*The Outpost for providing the yummy post-race "bars"
*The Pettit Center staff, especially Randy Dean and Rob Multerer
*My wife Karen for her patience during these past few weeks
*My fellow InStep co-owners John Ochsenwald, Tom Labisch, Bob Corby and Calvin Deutsch, as well as the other employees (Meaghan, Serena, intern Mackenzie, Peter and others) who contributed their time and efforts to making the race a hit
*Sean Gavigan and his staff at PT Timing for scoring/timing and results
*All of the InStep Racing Team members and Badgerland Striders who volunteered their time on race-day
*All of the other volunteers who were there bright and early to help us
*Volunteer Kelly, who has been the subject of some of the most positive comments from runners who appreciated your positive attitude at the water table (and for complimenting me on my taste in music!)
*Tom Held and Mike Sears at the Journal Sentinel for their excellent coverage
*Lance Allan at Channel 4 for making sure we got pre-race coverage during his sportscast
*Channels 6, 12 and 58, as well as JP at Time Warner Sports for their race-day coverage
*Bryan Schneider, the race winner, for running a courageous race. The most amazing thing about an indoor marathon is you get to see the same runners 95 times, and with Bryan you could tell he was running his hardest every time by
*Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson, who not only ran in the race but also issued a County Proclamation in honor of the race before the start
*All of my co-workers and friends (especially secret agent 2911) for their patience and support
*Runner Geoff Harris for the research
*Runner Nic Giebler for the inspiration
*Runner Dave Jesse for helping out with the TV interview and being such a good guy (even if you were trying to trick me into thinking you were a 4:40 marathoner)
*Runner Bill Schneider for all of your input on the logistics and also the pace charts
*Ann at Ruma Sports for worrying about the medals and plaques so I didn't have to
*The guys from Curtis Ambulance for being on-site....just in case
*Pat Pretty at the Wisconsin USATF for help with sanctioning the race
*Dick Daymont, the race director of the Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon in Minnesota for all of your sage advice and wisdom. You are the premier indoor marathon race director in the land!
*Michelle at Active.com for your guidance in promoting the race outside Wisconsin
*Runner Matt Sveum for being the first person to register for the race
*Runners Paul Gionfriddo, Larry Macon and Dave O'Brien for your great attitudes. You are fantastic role models for the younger runners.
*Sharon Mirande for designing and creating the race logo
*Drew Olson at OnMilwaukee.com for "breaking the story" of the indoor marathon way back in August
*Runner Heather Kos for winning the women's race with a smile on your face; in fact, the entire day you seemed to be smiling, even when you arrived at 6 a.m. after a rough drive in
*Olu Siguwade for doing a bang-up job on the national anthem
*Volunteer Jeff Ferris for taking on any role we gave him, including substitute PA announcer. See you on Boston in April!?!?!?!
*The guy who last January suggested on the Badgerland Striders message board that someone put on a marathon at the Pettit Center to rival the one in Minnesota. That was my inspiration to create this unique event.
*Most of all I would like to thank the runners who participated in the event. The InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon was created for you and was a success because of you.

I know I have forgotten some people and I will update this post as they come to me.

Thanks.

Chris Ponteri, Race Director

Running in the USA Posts Pictures of Race

Bill and Mary Flaws from Running in the USA were at the race yesterday, taking pictures and cheering on some of their friends. Bill was kind enough to post pictures on their website. You can check them out by clicking here. Thanks Bill & Mary!

Slide Show Of Race

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had excellent coverage of the race in its online edition (I can't say the same with the print edition; I take issue with a caption under the picture of the starter; the picture was critical of the starter for shooting the starting gun a fraction of a second after I said "go"). Here is a link to the article and slide show they published online.

Also, there was a photographer at the race yesterday taking pictures of all of the runners. He will make the pictures available for purchase on his website soon. I will post a link here and possibly send out an email to all runners with the link.

Final Results

Here's a link to the results.

For age group winners, we will be mailing your awards soon.

Thanks to everyone for a great race. Race director comments will come once I am thawed out!

Race Sold Out

The InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon is officially sold out. All 100 spots have been filled. Registration for next year's race will open in the summer.

Course Certification

The indoor marathon course is now officially USATF certified for distance. The final lap count is 95.3701. The certification number is WI-09001-DM.

Race-Day Packet Pick-Up

One more day!! Hopefully the temps will get a little warmer tomorrow so everyone's legs don't freeze on the way in to the Pettit Center.

We will be starting race-day packet pick-up and chip distribution around 6:30 a.m. tomorrow in the Pettit Center lobby. If you get there earlier (the building opens around 6) you may not be able to get your packet until we are ready to begin distributing them.

The race starts at 8 a.m.

Channel 4 Story

Here's a link to the story Channel 4 aired on the indoor marathon last night.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/bloggers/lanceallan/37692059.html

Indoor Marathon In the News

We continue to get some good publicity for the indoor marathon. Last week the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a story on the race, and that got picked up by the Associated Press and published in newspapers throughout the country. Runner's World magazine also ran the story in its online edition. Now the TV stations are getting in on the act.

Channel 4 Sports will be running a story on the indoor marathon sometime tomorrow; we are not sure which newscast. They were at the Pettit Center to interview us this afternoon. Thanks to Lance Allan for setting this up.

Rob Multerer from the Pettit Center and Jaime Lee from InStep Running & Walking Centers will be on Fox 6 News tomorrow morning with Mark Cancannon sometime around 9 a.m. to discuss the marathon.

Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel also wrote a post on his running blog today about the potential for a world indoor marathon record to be set on Saturday. Now that would make a good story.

We expect a lot of media folks to be there on Saturday so make sure to shine your running shoes before the race!

Race Music

The set list is complete so no more song requests will be accepted. We have about 6 hours of music loaded and ready to go. The best thing about taking requests is that nobody can complain to the race director about the music! My only disappointment with the set list is that I was not able to find "Stand Up for the Champions" by Right Said Fred (the song played at the start of the Lakefront Marathon).

Spectator Information

Admission will be $2.

There are bleachers in the Pettit Center.

Spectators should dress warm.

The concession stand will be open and will be serving coffee, breakfast items and lunch items.

There is plenty of parking in front of the Pettit Center.

There will be open speed skating until 1 p.m. and open ice skating after 1 p.m. For the open speed skating, skaters must be wearing speed skates and be experienced in that event.

Questions......email contact@runinstep.com

Shirts

The good news is that the shirts are in. The bad news is that they are not what we had expected. Due to a mix-up with the shirt vendor (Mizuno), everyone will have to settle for short-sleeve shirts instead of the long-sleeve ones we promised. They are still nice technical running shirts and, if you're like me, you probably have many more long-sleeve ones than short-sleeve ones. However, you may have to wait until July to wear this one! Sorry about that.

Runner Stats

With eight days remaining until the indoor marathon, there are 86 registered runners. We expect the race to be close to the 100-runner limit by race-day.

Here are some stats on the 86 runners:

• 59 are male; 27 are female
• 68 are from Wisconsin; 7 are from Illinois; 2 each are from Texas and Virginia; 1 each are from Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia and Minnesota.
• The average age of the runners is 41.3 years old

Top runners include Joe Kurian of Madison, who finished 5th in last October's Lakefront Marathon in 2:35:19, Bryan Schneider of Madison, who is Kurian's training partner and came in second in last year's Paavo Nurmi Marathon in 2:43:15, Matt Sveum of Wauwatosa, who has finished several marathons in the 2:45 to 2:55 range, and John Zupanc of Omro, a former top 20 finisher at the Boston Marathon and who at age 55 ran last October's Lakefront Marathon in an impressive 3:04:01. On the women's side, Aimee Kurian of Madison was the first female finisher in last year's Mad City Marathon in 3:09:05.

There are also several runners who have indicated that they will be finishing in the 5-6 hour range, so there should be a wide range of paces going around the track......therefore, the word of the day will be "patience"!

More Updates

Packet Pick-Up - We are going to start packet pick-up on Wednesday at the InStep 3rd Ward location. We had originally planned to start on Monday, but we don't think everything will be ready by then. You can also pick up your packets at the Pettit Center starting at 6:30 a.m. on race-day. See the InStep website for address and hours of the 3rd Ward store.

Restaurants - There are quite a few people coming from out of town for the race (we now have 10 states covered!). Here are the names of three good Italian restaurants in the vicinity of the Pettit Center and the host hotel (Crowne Plaza): Ristorante Bartolotta , Barbiere's Italian Inn and Maggiano's Little Italy. There are also numerous excellent restaurants and bars in downtown Milwaukee. With a little research on Trip Advisor, you can find something for everyone. You are also welcome to drop by the Pettit Center on Friday night and say hello to the volunteers, who will be there setting up for the race!

Kid's Run - We will be holding a Kid's Run at 7:30 a.m. (not 7:00 a.m. as was originally planned). Kids will be able to run one lap around the track. Participants will receive a coupon for free popcorn at the concession stand. There is no pre-registration; kids can enter the track when the announcement is made that the kid's race is going to begin.

Race Rules - Updated and final race rules will be available by request early next week and will also be included in your race bags. I will be going over the rules a few minutes prior to the start of the race.

Lap Count - We now have a tentative lap count (95.3), but that has not been finalized and certified. We expect that to be completed sometime next week. At that time, the race length will be certified by the United State Track & Field Association. I will post something when we have the final lap count.

Water Bottles - We are encouraging all runners to to bring their own water bottles. We will be providing each runner with just one bottle. We will have water and Powerade available at the race, and will be filling up your bottles for you. We will also have tables on which runners can store their bottles. Cups will not be allowed or provided due to spillage concerns.

Storage - We will have an area on the side of the track for runners to stash clothing, gel packs and other items. Each runner will have their own designated area.

Clothing - This is especially for those of you who have not run at the Pettit Center....beware that it is chilly in the track area. You may want to bring sweats, hats, gloves, etc. to wear before and after the race. Some runners (your race director included) typically wear a light hat and gloves while running at the Pettit Center. Shorts are also fine, and a long-sleeve shirt (or two) works well. Remember, there will be plenty of opportunities (approximately 95!) to shed clothing during the race.

Any questions, please email contact@runinstep.com.

Chris Ponteri, Race Director

Updates

With the indoor marathon fast-approaching, we would like to give some updates on various matters relating to the race:

Course Measurement: The course is in the process of being certified by a USATF official. We are not sure when this will be completed but can assure everyone that it will be done by race day. Other than that, we don't know when. As soon as we have the exact distance and lap count, we will post that info right here.

Water Bottles: Although we will be providing each runner with at least one water bottle, we encourage all runners to bring their own bottles. All beverages MUST be taken in water bottles. Due to spillage concerns, cups will not be provided or allowed. We will have markers on hand for race-day so runners can write their bib numbers on their bottles. We will also have designated places for you to store your bottles during the race, and will also have volunteers on hand to fill your bottles with Powerade and water during the race.

Out of Town Runners: If you are coming from out of town and want any restaurant recommendations or directions to or from the Pettit Center, hotels, airport, etc. please email us at contact@runinstep.com

Song Requests: We have received a number of song requests from runners, but would certainly welcome more. If you have any requests for a song to be played during the race, email us at contact@runinstep.com. Otherwise....don't complain about the music!!

If anyone has other questions, either check the Questions & Answers post below or email us.