One More Thank-You....

While I was pounding out 9 miles in the pitch black darkness of this morning, I realized that there was someone I forgot to thank in my race re-cap from the other day. That person is Dave Jesse. Dave is the only individual to have participated in every one of our races. Yep, every single one of them. That would include three marathons, two half marathons, two marathon relays and one 5K. Addtionally, Dave recruited a lot of runners and volunteers for our races, and also provided coaching services for our runners through DCS. Thanks Dave!

The Blogosphere's Reaction to the 2011 Indoor Marathon

For those of you who can't get enough of this crazy indoor marathon thing, here's more:

Marathon Relay blog post from Anne

Marathon & 5K blog post from Emily

Water table volunteer blog post from Jamie

Winner's race report from Mary

Journal Sentinel article from Tom Held

And this just in.....Lake Country News Sun reporter Dan Moran participated (and seemingly enjoyed) our marathon relay. Here's his column.

Indoor Marathon Race Directors

Thanks to Bill Flaws from Running In the USA for taking this picture of me and Dick Daymont, the race director of the Zoom Yah Yah!, which is the original indoor marathon (the Icebreaker was second). Dick ran our race on Sunday. It was his 92nd marathon and he hopes to have 100 down by July.

Icebreaker Comments

I would encourage the marathon and half marathon runners to leave comments about the race on Marathon Guide (of course only if they are positive!). This is probably our best way of spreading the word about our race. Thanks!

Icebreaker Recap

We had another successful event this year. The addition of the 5K race went well. It was low-key with only 41 runners and served as an excellent "dress rehearsal" for the weekend. Saturday was chaotic as usual with over 600 runners, including 400 marathon relay runners, taking part in the races. And then yesterday's marathon - our marquee event - went off without any problems.

I would like to congratulate all of the runners, including our winners: Dana Schulz (17:09) and Dawn Kussow (21:15) in the 5K; Eamon McKenna (1:09:26) and Julie Faylona (1:28:05) in the half marathon; Rodiez's Running Store in the marathon relay (2:16:58); Albertus Rohling (2:45:58) and Mary Flaws (3:15:56) in the marathon; and Steve Tietz (4:12:01) and Mary Flaws (4:49:05) in the Gold Medal Challenge. Albertus and Mary both finished 2nd in the marathon last year so it was nice to see them win, and Steve and Mary were repeat winners in the Gold Medal Challenge.

We had a very diverse field of runners which included many top area runners and people from 21 states and four countries (U.S., Germany, Denmark and the U.K.). The relay featured some national-class runners as well as a bunch of "weekend warriors" who were out there having a great time. The relay has turned into quite a show!

Everybody seemed to love the retro football jersey shirts that were given to the marathon and half marathon runners (although some of the women's shirts appeared to be a few sizes too small!). Hopefully next year we can find a way to come up with even cooler shirts.

If you are looking for photos of this year's event, go to Running In the USA. I would like to thank Bill Flaws for hanging around all weekend to take pictures and Mary Flaws for baking 60 dozen cookies in the shape of the United States that we gave out to runners all weekend. If you find any pictures that you like, you can purchase them right from the website.

I would also like to thank the race staff: Dana Schulz, Jaime Lee, Jeff Ferris, Brian Volkman and Bill Schneider, and Tracey Gessner and Anne Munkwitz from Fit Milwaukee. And thanks to Jenna Ochsenwald for your leadership role in packet assembly and packet pickup.

The sponsors also deserve our thanks: Running in the USA, Kwik Trip Stores, the Chiropractic Wellness Group, Serenity Now! Massage Therapy, GU, FRS Healthy Energy, the Give Shirt, Great Harvest Bread Company and of course the title sponsor, InStep Running & Walking Centers.

Special thanks goes to Rob Multerer, Randy Dean and the staff at the Pettit Center for making us feel so welcome. You went far beyond what was expected of a host venue.

We appreciated the folks from Bell Ambulance for hanging around all weekend and helping out with some medical concerns.

I would also like to thank:

• Brew City Promotions and Jason Hisey for coming up with the retro football jerseys
• Bay Six for the cool red tech shirts
• Jamin, Erin and Sean at PT Timing for an excellent job of scoring the race (as I always say, a race is only as good as the scorers)
• Larry at Technique Web for posting the results to the Indoor Marathon website in such a timely manner and for maintaining our website
• The 50+ volunteers who helped with packet assembly, packet pickup, the water tables and other areas
• The MedalCraft mint and Susan for the awesome finisher medals
• Ruma Sports in Union Grove and Anne for the awards
• TS Customs in Waterford for the signs
• Rusty and Laurie at Fleet Feet-Brookfield for promoting the marathon relay in your store
• Melinda Pedersen for picking out the coffee mugs and water bottles

Most of all I would like to thank the 800 or so runners who participated this weekend; this event would not exist without you. I know I have forgotten some others that played a key role in making this year's event such a success; there were many of you and your help is appreciated.

One of the highlights of the weekend was yesterday when Jenny Crain made an appearance at the race. For those of you who don't know Jenny, she is a world-class runner from Milwaukee who was seriously injured when she was hit by a car while running a few years ago. She has made a miraculous recovery and it was inspirational to see her at the Pettit Center yesterday with her mother and therapist. Thanks to runner and Lakefront Marathon race director Kris Hinrichs for your role in Jenny's surprise visit.

Based on the feedback I received from everyone this weekend, it was another successful event and we look forward to building on this next year.

Let the Races Begin!

It's race day! With a high of 6 degrees and wind chills at 25 below zero, I'd say this is perfect weather for running indoors!

Wall Street Journal Article

The Icebreaker Indoor Marathon is mentioned briefly in this great article about indoor marathons on the front page of yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Packet Pickup Info

Packet pickup starts Friday at the Pettit Center. Here are the hours:

Friday: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday: 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sunday: 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.

I received a call today from a Pettit Center employee, who said that some runners have been coming there to pick up their packets the past few days. The packets aren't ready and won't be until Friday.

For relay teams, remember that the team captain or another designated team member should pick up the packets for all team members at the same time.

Race Week Is Here!

Greetings runners! It's race week!! I hope everyone is getting as excited for the race as I am. As you can see, my prediction of a Packers-Bears NFC Championship game has come true. Let's hope everyone is done in 6 hours so we can all get home and watch the game! If not, maybe we can get the Pettit Center to pipe in the audio from the game over the speakers.

If anyone has questions on packet pickup, let me know. The times are posted on the website at www.indoormarathon.com under the Events tab. See everyone this weekend!

Indoor Marathon Podcast

I was interviewed today for The Marathon Show podcast. It was a ton of fun! Here's a link if you're interested in listening.

Volunteers Still Needed

We are still looking for volunteers for race weekend. We have lots of fun jobs available. Our water table is a riot....and lap counting can be fun despite what you'd think. If you're interested, email me at chris@indoormarathon.com.

Race Director Ramblings, Packers-Bears NFC Championship Game

Happy New Year everyone! The race is less than 3 weeks away. I hope everyone's training has been going well. My one thought and concern on this cold January morning is that my beloved Packers could be playing the hated Bears in the NFC Championship on marathon day. Even though the game doesn't start until well after the marathon will be over, I may need the entire day to mentally prepare for a game like that! Just the thought of it makes me excited. Hopefully I remember to show up on race-day!