Runners take part in annual Lakefront Marathon on Sunday
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Runners took to Milwaukee's Lakefront on Sunday, October 6th for the annual Lakefront Marathon.
"It’s exciting! It’s exhilarating! I’ve been training, you know, you put a lot of work into it. You wanna see how it pays off!" Gail Campbell said.
The 33rd annual Lakefront Marathon began in Grafton on Sunday morning, with some 3,100 registered runners prepared to push themselves.
"It’s a beautiful run and you go through a lot of different habitats, and you have an urban area and kind of a rural area, and it’s gorgeous!" Paul Kmiecik said.
John Mueller is the race director, and Sunday was his first time working in this capacity -- and it came during the first Lakefront Marathon since the Boston Marathon bombings.
"A little more police presence at the start and finish. We had to make sure that we asked the runners to just use our official race bags, and no personal bags were brought up," Mueller said.
Mueller says residents along the route were asked to help keep a lookout for any suspicious activity.
"We always had the runners safety in mind—is one of our foremost priorities, but this year—we had to just put a lot more emphasis into it and just make sure that we were taking that little extra precaution," Mueller said.
With the precautions in place, the runners reached their 26.2-mile goal, greeted by their peers and plenty of cheers.
"It feels awesome having everybody encouraging you at the finish line—motivating you to get through the finish line, and to alternately, run a good time," Matt Kruger said.
Sunday's top time among women running was Hudson, Wisconsin's Melissa Burkart, who finished in two hours, 45 minutes and 31 seconds. Burkart finished the seventh fastest time in the 33-year history of the race.
The fastest finisher among the men was 35-year-old Ryan Meissen of Mukwonago, with a time of two hours, 28 minutes and 26 seconds. He ran at a pace of five minutes, 40 seconds per mile. This is the second time he has won the Lakefront Marathon.