Belleville Main Street Marathon certified as Boston qualifier

Some of the 24,000-or-so runners who will qualify for next spring’s 121st running of the Boston Marathon could do so on Main Street in Belleville.

The inaugural Belleville Main Street Marathon to be held Sept. 24 has been certified by USA Track and Field as a qualifier for the more famous race held on Patriot’s day each year in Boston.

About 75 runners have so far registered for the Main Street Marathon. Organizers believe that certifying the course will help drive the number of participants up — this year and beyond.

“We were hoping to get to 100 originally, but now that we’re a qualifier we think we’ll get to 150,” said marathon co-director Mike Toolen. “Our goal is to grow every year as the marathon becomes known. In two or three years, we think we can have 1,000 runners or more.”

The Main Street Marathon is being organized by the Belleville Running Club and Toolen’s Running Start.

The 26.2-mile course will start at 1st Street and proceed west on what some claim to be the longest street called “Main” in the country. Other portions will include the Richland Creek Greenway Trail and MetroLink Bike Trail.

“The marathon course is fairly flat, containing only a few hills on the scenic course running along Main Street,” Toolen said. “There will be plenty of water stops, medical assistance and cheering volunteers and spectators.”

Runners must finish the course in the time prescribed for their gender and age group in order to qualify for entry into the Boston Marathon. Even those runners may not make the cut if there are more qualifying runners than the Boston field can accommodate.

Last spring, 4,562 runners who met the base qualifying standard were nudged out of the field by those who had better times. Registration for the Boston Marathon begins Sept. 12.

The runners’ web site findmymarathon.com lists 580 races as qualifiers for the 2017 Boston Marathon, which will be held April 17. Sixteen of those are in Illinois, but mostly around Chicago. Others are in Springfield and Harrisburg.

The St. Louis Marathon, also a qualifier, already was held April 10.

“That’s thing about qualifiers. If you want to participate in one you have to travel,” Toolen said. “So we’re convenient to runners in the Midwest and you won’t find an entry fee that will beat ours anywhere in the country.”

The non-refundable fee for entries received before Aug. 31 is $65. Late and race-day entries will cost $75. Proceeds will benefit the Belleville Parks and Recreation and the Backstoppers, which assists families of fallen police officers and firefighters.

Divisions for the marathon include top overall male and female plus a masters division.

Those divisions are further broken down into age groups as prescribed by the Boston Marathon: 19 and under, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64; 65-69, 70 and over.

All participants will receive a participant’s medal and the top three overall winners and top three finishers in each age division will receive awards. Following the race, there will be a post-race party, and at 1 p.m. an awards ceremony will be held.

Local businesses Robert “Chick” Fritz Inc. and Underwood Chiropractic have signed on as event sponsors and clinical staff from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital have signed on to assist with injuries.

More sponsorships and volunteers are needed, Toolen says.

“We’ve probably got 200 volunteers, but could use about 100 more,” he said. “We’ll have police officers, but not at every intersection, so we’ll need some strong volunteers to serve as course martials.”

Sarah West, public relations director for the Belleville Running Club and marathon co-director, says the race-day crowd can make or break the event.

“The residents of Belleville and surrounding communities are fantastic about getting behind and supporting community events, such as Art on the Square, Belleville200, and Tour de Belleville, to name a few,” she said. “That type of support makes Belleville an ideal place to hold a marathon, both for the runners and the organizers. Runners love a course filled with spectators.”

Runners may pick up their race packets at the United Methodist Church, 721 E. Main Street, from noon to 7 p.m. the day before the marathon.

Those interested in running or volunteering may visit bellevillemarathon.com.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Belleville Main Street Marathon certified as Boston qualifier."