The 2014 Twin Cities Marathon Recap

Nathan Freeburg October 6, 2014 Marathon, Race Review, Twin Cities in Motion, Twin Cities Marathon

The 2014 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon is in the books! The weekend of events featured a 50-yard Toddler Trot, 1/2 and 1 mile walk/run, 5k, 10k, and 10 mile in addition to the marathon. It is one of the most comprehensive age and distance appropriate events of the year.

As many people know, Sunday was the 10 mile and marathon. On a chilly 37 degree morning, 17k+ runners headed to the site of the old Metrodome to test their limits.

Some for the first time, others trying to qualify for Boston (more on that later). Others simply trying to best their own personal records, or run to support one of many great causes.

As always, the staff at Twin Cities in Motion did an outstanding job. From registration, to race communication, the expo and of course race day. They truly know how to host a world class event.

Arrive at the Race

I hopped on a Green Line train in St. Paul around 6:15 am and was surprised that it was completely full of runners. One woman (not running), asked, “what’s going on?” To which a dozen people responded, almost in unison, “we’re running the marathon/10 mile!” It was a hilarious way to start the day.

Arriving at the starting line felt like we were beginning our race at some huge outdoor music festival. With music blasting, and no indoor waiting area, you could see excitement everywhere! As more and more runners began to arrive, it looked like a massive ant colony returning to their hill.

Runners arrived from every direction, dressed in all sorts of creative apparel to stay warm. Garbage bags, very old sweats that would soon be discarded, and I even saw Batman with a cape. Runners clumped up in small groups all over the area, trying to stay warm.

The Course

If you have never run the Twin Cities Marathon, you should. There’s a reasons it’s called the most beautiful urban marathon in the country. It wanders from downtown Minneapolis, around the lakes, through neighborhoods, the river and up Summit ave finishing at the state Capitol. There’s always something interesting going on, and the crowd support is solid almost the whole way. For a more complete overview of each mile, read this.

I was fortunate not to need any of the porta potties, but they appeared to be everywhere. I completely relied on the volunteers for water and Powerade however. Each volunteer must have recently taken a masters class on the proper way to hand a cup of fluids to a runner. Either I just got luck (14 times), or they’re that good! Huge thank you to the 5,000 race day volunteers.

The Elite Finishers

Esther Erb of Richmond,Va. took home the women’s title in 2:34:01. Tyler Pennel of Blowing Rock, N.C., in his first ever marathon, ran away with the men’s title in 2:13:32. It was again the USA Marathon Championship, and each winner came home with a $25k prize.

The USA Masters Marathon Championships was also held this weekend. Mbarak Hussein, the 49-year-old from Albuquerque NM won the men’s title with a record-setting fifth win in 2:22:27. He had to finish fast because his wife Liana had just gone into labor with their first child. Sheri Piers, 43, defended her title in the women’s race with a 2:42:46.

In wheelchair competition, defending champions Josh George of Champaign, Ill. and Susannah Scaroni of Urbana, Ill. defended their titles. George clocked 1:39:16; Scaroni finished in 1:57:21.

10 Mile

Jon Peterson of Minneapolis defended his men’s title in in the 10 mile with a time of 48:12, and Allison Mendez of Austin, Texas won the women’s race in 56:27. If those times seem just a tad fast, there was a little snafu when the lead vehicle turned a few blocks early, cutting the course short by .14 miles. On Facebook and Twitter at least, most runners were very gracious about the mistake. Good for TCM for admitting it!

The 2014 Twin Cities Marathon by the Numbers

Here are a few interesting numbers and statistics about the 2014 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. All numbers provided by Twin Cities in Motion.

Registrants

Male: 6,215
Females: 5,413
Wheelers Registered: 12
Masters registered: 7,119
Minnesota registered: 7,909

Age

Entrants 70-years-old and over: 44
Oldest male registered: Jerry Johncock 86
Oldest female registered: Jeannine Julson 86
Youngest male registered: Alex Nater 13
Youngest female registered: Lucy Panko 16
Average age of runner female: 39
Average age of runner male: 35
Number of Charter Club members: 30
First Time Marathoners: 31%

All fifty states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico are represented in the marathon. The top five states represented were:

Minnesota 7,909
Wisconsin 802
Iowa 364
Illinois 304
Texas 168

Twenty-two countries are represented, the top five are:

United States 11,551
Canada 150
Mexico 131
Costa Rica 10
Guatemala 4
Switzerland 4

Top 10 Marathoner Occupations:

Health Related Occupation
Education
Student
Administrative/Manager
Finance/Account/Banker
Sales
Engineer
Marketing/Public Relations
Attorney/Judicial
Government/Public Safety

* These statistics do not include professional athletes.

Marathon Support

9,000: Bagels, bananas, bars, or units of anything TCM provides to participants
11,028: Gallons of Powerade® and water on course
439,000: Cups for Powerade® and water on course
25: Medtronic Global Heroes (marathon & 10 mile)
5,000: Race-Day volunteers
343: Year-Round volunteers
18: Twin Cities In Motion staff members
7,805: Seconds in the men’s course record of 2:10:05
57: Sponsors
60: Massage Therapists
195,650: Finishers in the history of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon since 1982
48,800: Safety pins to attach marathon race numbers.
42,000: Spectator Guides
12,000: Participant Guides
12,000: Race bags
6,000: Yards of ribbon for finisher medals
417: Port-O-Potties
409: Intersections crossed
200+: Places of worship passed.
6: Days between start of set up and end of take down at finish line

The temperature on race day had a low of 37 and high of 48. By comparison, that’s about 7 – 10 degrees colder than last year. Perfect racing conditions.

Of the 11,908 entered in the 2014 Twin Cities Marathon, a record setting 8,867 finished. The average finishing time was 4:18:34 (4:08:43 men, 4:30:31 women).

My 2014 Twin Cities Marathon Race

As many of you know, I set a big audacious goal at the beginning of the year to qualify for the Boston marathon. Last year I set a significant pr, and needed to shave about 10 minutes off that time to do so.

I’ve been working with a coach all year towards this specific goal at the Twin Cities Marathon. I felt strong, confident and a little anxious getting to the starting line.

I’m excited to report that I finished the marathon in 3:09:33 – 27 seconds under the qualifying time! I have another post in the works where I’ll break down in detail how the race went (it wasn’t smooth or perfect, but I learned a ton about myself, racing and the importance of complete preparation).

Thank you to everyone who send messages via email, twitter and Facebook. Huge thank you to CaringBridge. It was great to be on the team!

Your Race

How did you do at the Twin Cities Marathon weekend? If you ran one of the events, share your experience below (good or bad). It will be fun for us to celebrate, or commiserate with you.