Runners take part in the 2021 Mill Race Marathon on the streets of Columbus.
Republic file photo
Participation in the upcoming Mill Race Marathon is catching up to the number of runners who joined in the last race before interruptions caused by the COVID pandemic.
With fewer than 10 days to go before the 10th running of Columbus’ largest participatory event, organizer Joel Sauer said more than 2,000 runners have registered for the three events that will traverse the city’s streets on Saturday, Sept. 24.
“We’re still about 600 total behind where we were in 2019, the last ‘normal’ year” before COVID canceled the 2020 Mill Race Marathon and limited last year’s event to a half-marathon and a 5K, Sauer told members of a marathon planning committee during a meeting at The Commons on Wednesday.
Sauer said he was encouraged by the numbers and optimistic that a last-minute push might get event participation across the finish line even with, or perhaps even slightly ahead of, participation in the 2019 event.
Through Wednesday, Sauer reported that more than 200 runners have signed up for the 26.2-mile marathon, 1,025 have registered for the 13.3-mile half-marathon, and 835 have signed up for the 5K. That put the pace for the 2022 Mill Race Marathon events about 250 runners in total above the registration level at this point for the 2021 event, largely on account of the return of the full marathon.
“It’s not back, but it’s getting a lot closer,” Sauer said. Runners still may register for any of the races until the day of the event.
Meanwhile, Sauer told the committee that participation the in the Kids Fun Run on the eve of the marathon had returned to pre-COVID levels. A total of 735 children from toddlers to grade 6 are registered for the event on the evening of Friday, Sept. 23 at Mill Race Park.
The routes and format for this year’s 10th edition of the Mill Race Marathon has changed substantially from past years.
One of the most significant changes for participants is that all runners in the marathon, half-marathon and 5K will start at the same time from the start/finish line on Washington Street near Sixth Street.
Runners in all three races also for the first time will share the first 2.2 miles of the course. From the start/finish line, runners will proceed to Third Street, head west across the bridge, then loop back toward downtown on the Robert Stewart Bridge on Second Street.
Also, runners in the half-marathon and full marathon will spend a lot more time on shady portions of the People Trail and in residential neighborhoods north of downtown and around Donner Park.
All races will start at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 24, and the marathon course will close by 2:13 p.m., according to organizers’ schedules.
