Issue #1 - November 2009

Entry Fees Increase on December 1

If you are planning to run one of the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon events on May 1, sign up online by November 30 to take advantage of the lowest prices available (paper registrations must be postmarked by November 30). The current fees are $70 for the marathon, $45 for the half-marathon, $120/team for the relay, and $20 for the 5K. The price for each event will increase by $5 on December 1. The price for the Youth Run remains $10. Sign up at http://www.illinoismarathon.com/registration.php

New Courses Unveiled

Certification is complete for the 2010 courses, and you can view and download the course maps HERE. Notes co-race director and course architect Mike Lindemann, “the new course preserves the best parts of the 2009 course, especially Meadowbrook Park, but takes in more of Urbana. If we meet our caps for the full and the half, the new course will better be able to handle the larger field.” The course starts in the middle of the intersection between First Street and St. Mary’s Road, which is a little north of where the course started this year. Marathoners and half-marathoners will enter Meadowbrook Park from the north, right before mile 8. The Champaign portion of the course is virtually the same for the marathoners. Half-marathoners will not run through downtown Champaign in 2010. All the races still finish on the 50-yard line of Memorial Stadium. Marathon, half-marathon, and relay runners will enter the stadium from the north, while the 5K runners will enter through the tunnel on the south side.

The Provena Illinois 5K Run starts at 7:00 a.m. The Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon and Half-Marathon and the Illinois Alumni Association Relay start at 7:30 a.m.. The Busey Illinois Youth Run starts at 2:30.

Women’s Running Pioneer Kathrine Switzer Featured as Guest Speaker in 2010

We are pleased to tell you that Kathrine Switzer is our special guest for the 2010 Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon. Switzer gained world-wide notoriety as the woman who challenged the all-male tradition of the Boston Marathon by being the first woman to officially run the race in 1967.

The “Boston Incident” changed Switzer’s life and, consequently, the lives of millions of women (and men!) everywhere, because it inspired her to create opportunities that challenged myth and misconception about women’s physical limitation. Switzer went on to dedicate her multi-faceted career to creating opportunities and sports equality for women; in particular, she developed programs in 27 countries for over one million women, and these led to the inclusion of the women’s marathon as an official event in the Olympic Games. She also became a world-class athlete, running 35 marathons, won the 1974 New York City Marathon, and ran her personal best of 2:51.33 by finishing second in the 1975 Boston Marathon.

Switzer proudly states, “I can’t wait to come to the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon! It is the Land of My Ancestors! I grew up climbing the rope in the barn and picking beans and getting lost in the endless cornfields of Illinois and I so look forward to coming back. My parents both graduated from the U of I and were the first people in my family to get a university education, so being in Champaign-Urbana is really special to me. I feel like I’m coming home. We’re gonna rock ’em, and I am so happy to meet all of you and cheer you on to a PR!"

Today Switzer is an Emmy Award- winning TV commentator of marathons, journalist, and frequent speaker at major marathon events in the U.S. and abroad. Her latest book is the critically acclaimed Marathon Woman. Visit Kathrine at the expo and the Pasta Dinner and hear from the woman who spearheaded the women’s running movement.

Biaggi’s to Sponsor 2010 Pasta Feed

Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano, which served delicious hot pasta to our marathon and half-marathon finishers in 2009—and will do so again in 2010—has added a new chapter in their partnership with the race. Biaggi’s is now also our Pasta Feed sponsor. The pasta feed will take place on Friday, April 30 at the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), 201 E. Peabody Drive on the University of Illinois campus. There will be three seatings for the pasta feed: 4:00, 5:30, and 7:00, and you choose which seating you want when you sign up. The menu is house salad, bread, choice of meat lasagna or penne marinara, white chocolate bread pudding and chocolate chip banana bread, and ice tea/lemonade. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for kids. Be sure to sign up for the pasta feed when you register. Each seating will be open to approximately 450 people.

Need a Hotel for the Race?

Hotels are filling up for our 2010 race weekend so make your reservation today! View the hotel list and book online by following this link: http://www.illinoismarathon.com/hoteltravel.php. Call 269/978-2418 or email hotels@gopremierevents.com with questions.