Over 10,000 running shoes hit the pavement of downtown Moline on Sunday, as the annual Quad Cities marathon entered its 17th year. Local and international runners from countries as far as Kenya and the Netherlands converged to run the 26.2-mile trail that crosses two bridges, state lines and four cities.
Sammy Malakwen of Kenya won the race with a 2:15:42 time and the top female contestant was Ruth Kimutai of Kenya with a 2:42:27 time.
Out of the top five male and female contestants, Canadian Laura Batterink was the only runner not of Kenyan decent.
The event is a destination for both seasoned and new runners, and events like the 5K Run/Walk and Marathon Relay help to broaden the race’s appeal to a wider audience of runners across various skill sets.
For Quad Cities native Alissa Haase, who participated in the relay with coworkers, the relay gave the opportunity for team building and to experience the energy of the event.
“The people are great, the spectators are great along the whole course, so that’s really fun,” said Haase. “They keep you motivated and keep you going and…just going across the two bridges and over the river and the different cities and two states, it’s really wonderful.”
Since its start in 1998, the event has focused on branching out to the Quad Cities area through donating part of the proceeds to charity organizations such as this year’s beneficiaries, the prostate cancer advocate center Us Too and the Erika Kate Hope Alliance, which aids families of children with life-threatening heart conditions.
“Originally the charity was the local YMCA and the proceeds went to the local youth program,” said race director Joe Moreno. “I realized that we want to expand and reach out even farther [into the community] and impact more of the community, so we eventually ended that and (paired) with two other organizations.”
With the presence of nonprofit organizations and local businesses, the event is primarily run by volunteers like Cathy Whiteside, who has been volunteering and participating in the event every year.
“We help out at a lot of the races and Joe Moreno is a good friend of ours,” said Whiteside. “We’re here partially to help out with Joe and partially because it’s pretty cool that in this size of a community we have a marathon so we do anything we can to support it.”
This year, the race faced particular hurdles with three different construction zones along the marathon trail. Moreno said the race grows each year, though.
“This year, we had some major obstacles with the bridge being closed down for construction and another two places on the bike path,” said Moreno. “These construction companies bent over backwards to make sure that the race went on. I think that everybody here realizes the importance and significance of this event to the community.”
Despite those obstacles, the race has continued to grow over the past 17 years. As participation from the community increases, the marathon has also developed into a tightly knit community where runners, spectators and participants all connect to make the event possible.
“Well the thing I like about it is the participation by a lot of folks, the recognition,” said Us Too Advocate Bill Palos. “They acknowledge that I’ve been doing this for so many years, and you get the chance to meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends.”