Photo Courtesy Jason Gessner, Flickr CC
Runners will be coming in from over 20 states to the Pettit National Ice Center January 29-31 for the 8th annual Icebreaker Indoor Marathon. Festivities include a 5k race on Friday night, a half marathon and a marathon relay on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. This year’s events are now sold out with over 800 runners expected to take to the Pettit Center’s running track.
“The Icebreaker continues to be the highlight of the winter running season for our local runners and many throughout the Midwest,” said Chris Ponteri, the founder and race director of the Icebreaker in a press release. “It has been a nationally-recognized premier running event and will continue to be so this year.”
The 5k will start at 7 p.m. on Friday and feature a field of more than 80 runners. The half marathon on Saturday morning will have two heats with 130 runners in each. The first will start at 7 a.m. and the second at 9:30 a.m. Sunday’s full marathon will feature 130 runners with the starting gun firing at 8 a.m. The marathon relay, featuring over 100 teams and 400 runners, will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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The 445-meter track at the Pettit National Ice Center is one of the longest indoor running tracks in the United States. Runners will need to complete 94 laps for the marathon and 47 for the half marathon. The 5k is about 11 laps.
“We are delighted once again to host the IceBreaker Indoor Marathon series and the national recognition it brings to the Center,” said Randy Dean, Executive Director of the Pettit Center in the release. “Our speed skaters and public skaters enjoy the racing atmosphere, too!”
