APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Mid September is perhaps the one time of year Julie Johnson looks forward to the most.
“I used to be able to run this race and the course and it was one of my favorite course but now to be the organizer along with a great team, I’m so excited,” Marathon Director Julie Johnson said. “This just blows me away.”
This is the 32nd year for the Fox Cities Marathon. There are more than 2,000 participants between all the races. Add that to the nearly 2,000 volunteers, and it’s easy to see how this is truly a community event.
“We have people handing out medals, we have people helping with first aid, we have cheer teams out on the course on Sunday, we have people who are DJing out on the course on Sunday,” Johnson said. “So there’s something for everybody.”
Johnson, like many others, understands how special this marathon is.
“There’s very few that really pull the whole community together, and this is one of them,” Ross McDowell said. “From a fall experience, from local northeast Wisconsin, you can’t get much better than this.”
McDowell is prepared for this weekend’s 10K. In previous years he’s run the half marathon. As a runner, he says the stage is set Friday night at the health and wellness expo.
“My team and I bring a lot of energy and excitement to a lot that we do,” Kimberly Stoeger, Owner of Nutritional Healing said. “We have free samples that we’re handing out of healthy electrolyte drinks, fruits and greens, there’s a DJ in there, there’s clothing.”
The expo is where runners pick up their bibs and other materials, but it’s not the only place where there’s Friday night fun to be found.
“I do it like every single year because of how fun it is,” Piper Moser said. “I just like to see everything, like you get to run on this huge thing- baseball field.”
And because organizers are so committed to making the weekend about community, Friday night puts a big focus on the kids with the Diaper Dash and Toddler Trot taking place at Fox Cities Stadium. For sisters Piper, Lainee and Finley, there’s no better place to be.
“My favorite thing about coming here was all the games that they provided for us and the slide they just made and all the different characters,” Lainee Moser said.
From Neenah to Combined Locks, Sunday’s marathon goes through the entire Fox Cities community.
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