Eau Claire Marathon

As a proud UWEC alumnus, this race delivered. The finish through campus was emotional. Excellent race organization and runner support, which should receive extra kudos for delivering through COVID. Only cons are a few abandoned stretches that get a little lonely, and the slower half marathoners clogging up the roads once the full catches them.

I registered to run this marathon in the spring of 2020. It was deferred to autumn 2020, then to the spring of 2021, then to the autumn 2021. So there was lots of time to look forward to this event. It is scheduled to go back to the spring, for 2022. This was my first visit to the community itself. I have driven Highway 29 through the area many times before, but it was nice to get downtown this time. Eau Claire has lots of waterways and lots of bridges. The start and finish line were in a downtown area. Packet pickup was in a Phoenix Park, right next to where the start-line was to be set up, and the finish line was across a bridge (river) from the park. There was parking available - both on the street and in parking garages. Though parking can sometimes be difficult in downtown areas, this seemed to work out okay. For me, I parked up the hill from the finish line - close to the old high school, then walked to the staging area for the start. It worked out fine. While I would not call this a large size event, there were just an incredible number of volunteers working. Of course there are vendors at the expo always trying to make a buck selling their stuff. Parking was available close to the park, and packet pick-up was a breeze. There were staff and volunteers available to answer questions too. Emi Uelmen was the race director, and while I did not meet him in person, I was acquainted with him thru e-mails trying to get re-registered for 2021 (deferred runners from 2020 still had to re-register and pay a smaller fee). I got my registration completed kind of late, and the RD was most helpful. I found reasonably priced motel accommodations near ground zero for the marathon. That was nice. When I arrived at the park on race day morning, it was still fairly dark out, and the bridges there near the park were lit up with neon-type lighting. It was spectacular, and I have never seen anything like it before. It is worth seeing if you ever spend the night in Eau Claire. It was a bit cold for shorts and a tank-top during the pre-race time (mid-50's) but this event did not offer bag-drop because of the on-going China virus pandemic issues - so I heard from a volunteer. It would have been nice to have a sweatshirt on until the race started, but it was not that big of deal. It was going to be in the mid-70's by mid-day, and we would warm up after we started to run. Many roads were closed for this event, so it was (had to be) coordinated very well with the community and law enforcement ahead of time. And by the way, Law enforcement did a great job throughout. The race started on a bridge adjacent to the park, and the road was closed to automobile traffic. The early part of the race was on the roads thru the downtown area - which were all closed. I do not have a good feeling for what percentage of this course was on roads and how much was on paved bike & foot path, the there was a mixture of both. Also there was an out-and-back stretch on a gravel road that was about 2 miles or so. We passed mile-post 10 & 11 on that stretch. After that, we rounded a corner and there was the airport, and then the half-way point. We actually went around the perimeter of the airport, but on the back side, we could not see the airport complex. There were a couple of pretty long straight stretches getting us back in to town. We got to see a bit more of the city, then we transitioned on to the campus of University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Transitioning through the campus, there was a group of perhaps 30 students playing volleyball - I think, and when they saw me coming, they stopped and all cheered for me as I passed. It was thunderous. What a sensation. After I was past them, they went back to their game. How cool! This course had a 6-hour time limit for road closure and for volunteer time commitment, so after 6 hours, the roads re-opened (but the staff assured us slower runners that the timing would continue, and that they would wait for everyone on the course to finish; I think that there were 3 or 4 people still behind me). That was well done. I reached the 6-hour point on the university campus. When I exited the campus, a busy road was open - that I had to cross. I had to wait for automobile traffic to clear. Then, beyond that, I had about a mile to go. I did not see any signs at that point and was running alone. So I had to be careful. I saw a water station down the road being dis-assembled, so I headed toward that. Volunteers were just closing up shop, so they pointed me toward the finish line (to the traffic light, then right, then over the bride and left - with the finish line straight ahead). It was perfect! At the finish line they gave out the medals and handed the runners a plastic bag with post race food (chips, cookies, water, a stinger wafer&). It seemed like nothing was left to chance with this marathon. Everything was very well done. There was lots of planning, coordination, and hard work. And there were lots of fans along the way for a smaller sized community event. And the kids on the university campus were simply amazing. This was not a flat course; there were ups and downs along the way, but no aggressive hills. I highly recommend this marathon! It might not one of the cheaper marathons out there, but it was a very worthwhile experience.

The year I ran this course, it was extremely scenic. The bridge crossings were wonderful, and it even ran onto a dirt road briefly which I enjoyed as it felt good on the legs. Spectators were few or far between, mostly due to the course location, which did not bother me. Towards the end, spectators picked up around mile 21, which is really nice for when you're feeling low. Pacer was a great running partner. Good enthusiasm and attitude. The organization of the race was amazing. Very well taken care of from the expo, the start, aid stations, traffic control, and the finish line.