FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Belleville Main Street Marathon and Inaugural Half Marathon
About 300 runners descended on downtown Belleville, IL, last weekend for
the 6th Annual Belleville Main Street Marathon and Inaugural Half Marathon,
which was held Saturday, September 24.
FULL MARATHON WINNERS
The top 3 male finishers of the full marathon were local residents, with
Jason Seger, 45, of Maryville placing first with a time of 2:59:11.
Jeremiah Gibbons, 42, of St. Louis placed second with a time of 3:00:05,
and Ben Cornell, 40, of St. Louis placed third with a time of 3:14:38.
In the women's full marathon, Mattie Carter, 26, of Greenville won with a
time of 3:19:55, Jordan Lauber, 42, of St. Louis, finished in second with
a time of 3:54:02 30, and Lisa Hill, 55, of Arlington, TN, placed third
with a time of 3:57:24.
HALF MARATHON WINNERS
In the men's half marathon race, Jack Hunter, 44, of Arlington, VA, won
with a time of 1:21:43, Lee Brendel, 45, of Webster Groves, MO, place
second with a time of 1:23:32, and Inigo Ibarra, 46, of Wildwood, MO,
finished third with a time of 1:26:08.
In the women's half marathon, Kristin Frisella, 26, of St. Louis won with a
time of 1:40:28, Ashley Schardan 38, of Granite City placed second with a
time of 1:47:32, and Bree Badgley, 38, Belleville finished in third with a
time of 1:48:11.
Six of the full marathon finishers qualified for the prestigious Boston
Marathon. The Belleville course starts downtown and stretches to the Signal
Hill neighborhood to the west and the Belleville East YMCA to the east. The
race is organized by the Belleville Running Club and Toolen's Running
Start.
"We added the very popular half marathon distance in 2022, which increased
our registration numbers by almost double," said Sarah West, co-director of
the event. "To allow for controlled growth, we capped the half marathon at
250 and sold out 2 months before the race date. We are very pleased with
the response to the half marathon and plan to increase the number of
registrants for the 2023 event."
Race day weather was gorgeous with clear skies and cool temperatures at the
start, although it did warm up a bit for the second half of the marathon.
More than 200 enthusiastic volunteers, a tremendously cooperative city and
police force, and well-organized emergency and medical personnel made for a
successful race, said race organizers and runners.
"What a great event BRC (Belleville Running Club) and the Toolen Family put
on!!! We are so fortunate to have a first class event in our backyard!,"
posted one runner on the event's Facebook page.
Another runner stated, "It was really a great experience! Organized and the
best cheering stations!"
"Every year, we are blown away by the tremendous community support for our
event, from the hundreds of volunteers to the many businesses and
organizations who sponsor the race to the residents who come out to cheer,"
West said. "What a wonderful community we have, and that is what makes this
race so great.
"We are already looking forward to the 2023 race. We attract runners from
all over the United States, and this year, it appears that our event
attracted even more local runners, including from the St. Louis area," West
added.
For more information about the Belleville Main Street Marathon and Half
Marathon, please visit www.bellevillemarathon.com.
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