# Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon

The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. It starts at the Italian Community Center on West Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee and finishes at Henry Maier Festival Park and has a total elevation gain of 626 feet (191 m). As of 2023, it is the largest marathon held in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon is somewhat unique among American marathons because it does not have a corporate sponsor and is not for charity; instead it is organized by the Badgerland Striders running group on a "for runners, by runners" model.
In 2008, the Road Runners Club of America recognized the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon as Road Race of the Year.

## Race history

The Wisconsin Mayfair Marathon, which started at the Mayfair Mall, was established in 1972 and was the progenitor to what became the Lakefront Marathon. The 1972 Wisconsin Mayfair Marathon was not a marathon race, but instead was a fundraiser for the US Olympic team on a 0.125 miles (201 m) track set up in the mall's parking lot. In 1972, 1,724 participants ran 14,980 miles (24,110 km) between June 11 and 17, 1972. The 1973 Wisconsin Mayfair Marathon became a marathon race.
In 1982, the Badgerland Striders running group reconstituted the Wisconsin Mayfair Marathon as the Lakefront Marathon. The 1983 race was known as the Lite Beer Lakefront Marathon.
Chip timing was used for the first time at Lakefront Marathon in 1999.
In 2005, the Badgerland Striders had to cap the number of participants for the first time limiting entries to 2,300.
Fauja Singh ran his 100th marathon at the Lakefront Marathon in 2008.
In 2009, pace groups were first a part of Lakefront Marathon to help runners meet their time goals. The same year, Wisconsin politicians Jim Sullivan, David Cullen, and Pedro Colón competed in the Lakefront Marathon. There was also controversy in the women's race that year when Cassie Peller, who ran 3:02:09, was disqualified for accepting outside aid by drinking water outside of official aid stations in violation of USATF rules. Peller admitted she took water from a young boy and was handed an unplanned water bottle by a friend around 19 miles (31 km), but claimed she didn't seek to have any unfair advantage. However, the second place finisher Jennifer Goebel was also disqualified for using an iPod in violation of USATF rules from 19 miles (31 km) to 21 miles (34 km) of the race. This elevated Corina Canitz, the third women's finisher, to be the winner with a time of 3:04:20; Canitz donated the $500 winner's award to a charity affiliated with Jenny Crain.
In 2010, the Lakefront Marathon was the Road Runners Club of America national marathon championship race. The same year, about 100 runners were obstructed by a train about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) into the race.
The marathon relay race at Lakefront Marathon ended in 2010. Race director Kristine Hinrichs explained the decision by saying the change helped focus on the marathon race.
In 2011, 62 runners tethered themselves together and ran the Lakefront Marathon with a finish time of 6 hours and 18 minutes to set the Guinness World Record for The Most People Linked Together To Complete A Marathon. The previous record was 54 runners. This was done as a fundraiser for elite athlete Jenny Crain, who was injured in a traffic accident, and raised at least $108,000. Crain joined "Team Jennipede" for the last 0.2 miles (320 m) of the race in her wheelchair.
Slight changes were made to the race course in 2011 to better show off views of Lake Michigan.
In 2022, the Lakefront Marathon was canceled due to permit issues. An unofficial marathon and half marathon called Not Lakefront Marathon took place on October 2, 2022, and 700 to 800 runners participated in it from 20 states.
Until 2023, the Lakefront Marathon was run on a point-to-point course from the Grafton High School in Grafton, Wisconsin, to Veteran's Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a course that was recognized for being flat and fast. The route change was necessitated by road construction on the original course. The new route has more elevation gain on the course including 125 feet (38 m) on the Hoan Bridge.
In 2024, the driver of a vehicle experienced a medical emergency and struck a marathon participant.

## Race weekend

The marathon and half marathon both start at 7 am.

## Past marathon results

| Date | Men's winner | Time (h:m:s) | Women's winner | Time (h:m:s) |
| September 20, 1981 | Steve Benson | 2:14:09 | Mary Bange | 2:55:31 |
| October 7, 1990 | Tom Antczak | 2:25:38 | Kris Clark-Setnes | 3:04:56 |
| October 13, 1991 | Tim Renzelmann | 2:22:22 | Linda Walker | 2:43:15 |
| October 10, 1992 | Lee Zubrod | 2:26:03 | Debbie Revolta | 2:51:39 |
| October 11, 1993 | Randy Damkot | 2:29:00 | Liz Krznarich | 2:56:43 |
| October 9, 1994 | Mitchell Craib | 2:25:27 | Ann Schaefers | 2:47:31 |
| October 8, 1995 | Randy Damkot | 2:22:35 | Jane Murphy | 2:44:31 |
| October 13, 1996 | Rick Stefanovic | 2:33:52 | Kathleen Green | 2:58:13 |
| October 12, 1997 | Brian Pahnke | 2:33:08 | Jennifer Holzem | 2:58:47 |
| October 11, 1998 | Randy Damkot | 2:25:25 | Mary Peckarsky | 2:49:48 |
| October 10, 1999 | Dan Held | 2:23:22 | Keri Wells | 2:49:49 |
| October 8, 2000 | Randy Damkot | 2:26:07 | Janeth Salazar-Ohst | 2:52:24 |
| October 14, 2001 | Randy Damkot | 2:29:04 | Kathy Waldron | 3:01:28 |
| October 6, 2002 | Rick Stefanovic | 2:41:04 | Kit McCaffrey | 3:05.26 |
| October 5, 2003 | Chris Roberdeau | 2:26:39 | Rebecca Ward | 2:56.46 |
| October 3, 2004 | Shane Carr | 2:35:34 | Aaron Clark | 2:58:30 |
| October 2, 2005 | Bob Cisler | 2:32:22 | Meghan Macardy | 3:03:06 |
| October 1, 2006 | Paul Laeseke | 2:32:26 | Rebecca Suehring | 2:53:29 |
| October 7, 2007 | Matthew Lavine | 2:37:31 | Corina Canitz | 3:01:02 |
| October 5, 2008 | Brent Alexander | 2:28:24 | Corina Canitz | 3:00:48 |
| October 4, 2009 | Ryan Meissen | 2:24.53 | Corina Canitz | 3:04:20 |
| October 3, 2010 | Scott Jansky | 2:31:41 | Nacole Fredrickson | 3:01:39 |
| October 2, 2011 | Nick Szczech | 2:22:17 | Amber Druien | 2:54:15 |
| October 7, 2012 | Paul Zdroik | 2:27:08 | Jacqui Aubert | 2:55:06 |
| October 6, 2013 | Ryan Meissen | 2:28:23 | Melissa Burkart | 2:45:30 |
| October 5, 2014 | Nick End | 2:27:38 | Melissa Gacek | 2:43:41 |
| October 4, 2015 | Kyle Fraser | 2:27:38 | Melissa Burkart | 2:43:41 |
| October 2, 2016 | Dave Eckhart | 2:27:22 | Brooke Slayman | 2:51:17 |
| October 1, 2017 | Matt Borneman | 2:31:44 | Jenny Zwagerman | 2:54:11 |
| October 7, 2018 | David Luy | 2:21:24 | Kameron Burmeister | 2:45:21 |
| October 6, 2019 | Sammy Kibet Rotich | 2:17:10 | Liz Berkholtz | 2:45:27 |
| October 4, 2020 | canceled due to coronavirus pandemic | canceled due to coronavirus pandemic | canceled due to coronavirus pandemic | canceled due to coronavirus pandemic |
| October 3, 2021 | Matt Barrett | 2:22:35 | Samantha Slattery | 2:48:00 |
| October 1, 2022 | canceled due to inability to secure permits | canceled due to inability to secure permits | canceled due to inability to secure permits | canceled due to inability to secure permits |
| October 1, 2023 | Seth Massot | 2:24:51 | Damaris Areba | 2:37:39 |
| October 6, 2024 | Abraham Kipkemei | 2:21:53 | Alexis Mather | 2:46:42 |