Marquette Marathon


The Marquette Marathon is an annual marathon in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. The course runs point-to-point, starting at Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum in Ishpeming, follows the Iron Ore Heritage Trail and ends at the Superior Dome in Marquette. It is held annually on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The race is one of the fastest Boston Marathon qualifiers in the USA, with a descent of almost in the first. The section along the Iron Ore Heritage Trail is on a gravel-covered path through the forest, but the later part of the course features views of Lake Superior.
As of 1990, the Marquette Marathon was the only marathon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As such, it may have been the first marathon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The Marquette Marathon brings nearly $500,000 to the Marquette community according to the Marquette Marathon committee, which is consistent with studies of the economic impact of smaller marathon events.

Race history

The Marquette Marathon was first run in 1977 with 49 finishers. Since then, it has gone by several names and used different course routes. The first iteration of the Marquette Marathon was run from 1977 until 1982; the renamed Northern Shufflers Marathon was between 1984 and 1996. The race director in 1979 may have been Pat Nardini. The 1983 version of the race was known as the Marquette National Bank and Trust Marathon and featured a course from Negaunee, Michigan to Marquette that was described as "hilly from start to finish." The 1988 Northern Shufflers Marathon ran from the Wawonowin Golf Club in Ishpeming, Michigan and ended at Northern Michigan University.
In 1992, an organizer of the Northern Shufflers Marathon in Michigan organized the "Northern Shufflers Delaware Marathon" so that interested runners could complete a marathon in every US state as Delaware did not then have a marathon. The race started and finished at the University of Delaware fieldhouse. A total of 62 runners from 37 states took part in the one-time event.
The Marquette Marathon was restarted in 2010, and the current course, finishing at the Superior Dome, has been run since 2021. Before this change, the race finished on North Third Street near Blackrocks Brewery.
In 2020, the race was canceled due to COVID-19. However, nine runners ran the course in an unofficial virtual race.
The Marquette Marathon was part of the Great Lakes Marathon Series, a circuit of 25 marathon races near the Great Lakes, from 2013 until 2019.

Race weekend

The race expo is held on Friday of Labor Day weekend at the Superior Dome. There is a one-mile kids' race called the Pebble Run on the same day.
On Saturday, the Marquette Marathon starts at 7:30 am; the Marquette Half Marathon starts in Negaunee, Michigan at 9:00 am; and the Wildcat 5 km race starts and finishes at the Superior Dome.

Winners

DateMen's winnerTime
Women's winnerTime
Adam Martin Caldwell2:19:27.9Courtney Rouse2:59:54.8
Noah Jacobs2:34:26.8Violet Butts2:59:45.8
Chris Scott2:33:51.6Elizabeth Dollas2:54:48.1
Alex Dennis2:39:05.9Liza Breznau2:59:15.8
Samuel Parlette2:35:47.2Tiffany Kari3:05:11.8
Joe Ketarkus2:59:58.3Mandy Dye3:10:17.7
Alex Prasad2:43:03.6Sarah Kasabian-Larson2:57:17.8
Brad Vincent2:49:51.2Janet Becker3:06:01.5
Nate Hoffman2:36:41.1Elizabeth Whiting3:00:49.4
Vince Bechard2:35:51.7Christina Carradine3:15:03.3
Jon Rock2:29:04.6Elizabeth Jones3:06:56.5
Matthew Paullin2:44:17.2Christina Mishica3:13:28.9
Luis Cruz2:45:05.4Elizabeth Jones3:13:38.5
Ricky Alvarez2:37:57.8Elizabeth Jones3:01:52.7
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Judd Johnson2:43:59Wanda Cousineau3:08:10
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Chris Danielson2:42:11Rhonda Henderson3:58:31
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Chris Danielson2:38:10Laurie Hallifax3:23:18
Doug Kurtis2:15:31Sally Sakalos3:15:16
Doug Riske2:32:16Sheila Joosten3:12:24
Chris Danielson2:32:46Eunice Carlson2:50:53
Chris Glowacki2:39:17Eunice Carlson3:00:31
Scott Lachniet2:35:14Denise Green3:39:45