Revamped marathon route could be a showcase for city

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This article was published 19/06/2016 (3565 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are few things as inspiring as watching runners, faces tired but beatific, cross the finish line at the Manitoba Marathon.

It’s especially inspiring if you’re like me and the only marathon you intended to complete Sunday was of Orange is the New Black. 

Long before those sweaty hugs are exchanged after a run well done, so much about this event is energizing for a spectator. The scent of bug spray and sunscreen in the humid, early morning air. The focus and determination expressed in a knit brow or a clenched jaw. The families running together. The thousands of neon-coloured running shoes hitting the pavement to — what else? — the Rocky theme. The truly impressive quads. Like I said, it’s inspiring. To witness so many people from all walks of life accomplish huge personal goals is really quite stunning. It almost makes me want to take up running. Almost.

Participants in the 38th Manitoba Marathon got some added inspiration in the form of route. This year, marathoners ran the the 26.2-mile course in reverse.

This is a big deal: the route reversal is the biggest change to the Manitoba Marathon course in three decades. Rachel Munday, the Manitoba Marathon’s executive director, told me runners have been very enthusiastic about it. “When you turn it around, it’s a whole different course,” she said. 

But what if it really were a whole different course? What if the province’s premier running event blue-skied it and radically reimagined the route? 

Marathons are destination events as much as they are local ones, and the Manitoba Marathon is no exception. Many seasoned marathoners travel, running all manner of 26.2 mile courses around the world. The courses in major cities have something in common. The finish line of the Boston Marathon — the so-called Bucket List marathon — is in downtown Boston. The New York Marathon takes runners through all five boroughs and its final miles are in Central Park. The Chicago Marathon starts and finishes in Grant Park and takes runners through downtown. The Twin Cities marathon starts in downtown Minneapolis. Across the pond, both London and Paris’s marathons practically double as tourist attractions that take runners past many of those cities’ signature sites. 

That’s just a sampling, but I’m sure you’re sensing a theme. What if the Manitoba Marathon included downtown and its neighbours?

Imagine a course that took runners through The Forks, past the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Imagine being able to run down the Esplanade Riel and through St. Boniface. Think of the party possibilities for spectators a route through the Exchange District would provide. Runners already cruise down Broadway, past the legislature — why not include more of the core? How inspiring would that change of scenery be?

Overhauling the route would be a huge undertaking, to be sure, with a number of factors to consider, including shade, which is top of mind for marathoners. It’s an undertaking that the Manitoba Marathon isn’t opposed to. When I ask Munday if her organization has ever considered a more dramatic route revision, she gives an enthusiastic nod. 

“There’s a lot of areas of the city that haven’t been captured that didn’t exist 38 years ago,” she says. “Is there a possibility that we could change it? Absolutely. Is there a possibility that it’s going to happen overnight? No.”

But, she adds, “nothing is impossible.”

Annette Willborn has run 51 marathons, all over the world. I met her at the finish line, shortly after she crushed the half marathon. “I figured today was not the day for a full,” she laughed. She was drenched.

Willborn says marathons are a great way to experience a new city. “They all have their charms and delights. And they’re all the same distance so they’re equally tough,” she said. She has a soft spot for the Hamilton Marathon, where she set her personal best. “Boston of course is a highlight and a goal to strive for. I’ve really enjoyed running in Hamburg. My parents are from there. It’s a flat course — a wonderful, historic course. It ranks right up there for me.”

So how does Manitoba stack up? “Manitoba ranks right up there for being a flat marathon,” Willborn said. “The challenge is that the conditions are sometimes tricky. The Manitoba course compares very well.” She thinks taking it downtown could be a good thing, so long as there is an eye toward shade and flat terrain, which are among the Manitoba Marathon’s biggest draws. 

Jason Syvixay, managing director of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, said while his organization hasn’t had formal talks with the Manitoba Marathon, they would be welcome to the idea. “We are always seeking new ways to bring people downtown, especially with events.”

He points to the Winnipeg 10 and 10 Race, which happens in September as part of ManyFest, as “a good example of how a race can take people from all parts of the city and have them finish downtown, adding vibrancy to our festival but also the core.”

For her part, Munday is encouraged by the overwhelming response to this year’s marathon. “The full marathon sold out for the first time in over a decade, and the 10K sold out on Tuesday,” she said. “There’s been such a great response. There are lots of plans.

“We want to be the best marathon in western Canada, so that’s the goal.”

The 40th Manitoba Marathon is in 2018. Who knows? Maybe runners and supporters will be celebrating that milestone in the heart of our city. But, you know, no pressure.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @JenZoratti