KALAMAZOO, MI — On your marks, get set, know where and when to go.
The Zeigler Kalamazoo Marathon released a schedule of events and course maps Monday, March 14, for this year’s 5K run and walk, 10K run, and half marathon. All of the events will take place Sunday, April 24, in downtown Kalamazoo.
Related: Kalamazoo Marathon returning in 2023, with shorter runs planned for April 2022
It will be the first time the races are run downtown, organizer Chris Lampen-Crowell told MLive previously. Lampen-Crowell is co-owner of Gazelle Sports, and a former Western Michigan University distance runner.
This year will also mark the first time the races are run under the Ziegler sponsorship, after years of Ascension Borgess serving as the event’s title sponsor.
One race that won’t be run this year, but will return in 2023 is the full marathon.
The 40th year of the event in 2019 was also the last year the marathon was run in-person as the Borgess Run for the Health of It Kalamazoo Marathon. In 2020, race registrations were filling up, but the pandemic caused organizers to go virtual instead, Lampen-Crowell said. The 2021 event was canceled as the COVID-19 pandemic wore on.
“We are very aware of this race’s legacy in Kalamazoo (and) it was very important for us to help bring it back for the community,” said Aaron J. Zeigler, president and owner of Zeigler Auto Group.
Zeigler, a veteran marathoner, called race weekends a family affair. He commented that his daughter has run and won the 5K, and his wife and son have participated as well.
“There’s so much excitement around the races, and to show up on a Sunday with nine or ten thousand other people. It doesn’t matter if you’re running the half marathon … or the 5K,” Ziegler said.
A full weekend of events for this year’s event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, April 22, with a free 1K kid’s fun run and expo at Mayors Riverfront Park.
Registration is open now for all races and begins at $30 for the 5K run/walk, $40 for the 10k and $80 for the half marathon. Registration costs will increase $5 per race on April 1.
Race packets for kids will be available for pickup Thursday, April 21, at Gazelle Sports, 214 S. Kalamazoo Mall.
Race packets for runners in the three Sunday races will be available for pickup at the main sponsor expo, scheduled for 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday, April 23, at Arcadia Creek Festival Place, 145 E. Water St.
All races will start and end at the intersection of East Water and North Edwards streets, adjacent to Arcadia Creek Festival Place. The half marathon will begin at 7:30 a.m. on race day, followed by the 10K at 7:45 a.m. and the 5K run/walk at 8 a.m.
Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University are located near mile 2 of the half marathon route, with the Zeigler Zone near mile 6, the Bacon Station near mile 10, the Living Strong on Long Road Mile near the 11th before the course finally heads back towards Burdick Street and the Kalamazoo Mall for the finish line at the “Stryker Finish Festival.”
To view all three courses online, visit www.zeiglerkalamazoomarathon.com/events.
“The vision for this event is really to build a healthy culture in Kalamazoo for everybody,” Lampen-Crowell said. “It really is an event that celebrates coming together and moving and creating fitness opportunities, not just for that day or that weekend, but actually leading up to it and then continuing for the rest of the year.
“The essence of this event is really about community health.”
In addition to Zeigler Auto and Gazelle Sports, sponsors for this year’s event include Ascension Borgess, Greenleaf Hospitality, Imperial Beverage, Stryker, Pfizer, AVB and Discover Kalamazoo.
Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are still available. For more information on either, please contact race director Carrie Drake at 269-350-4828.
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