Marathon Facts You Didn’t Know About Cleveland

This year is the 40th running of the Cleveland Marathon. As a 2017 Cleveland Marathon Ambassador I will be running the 8K portion of the race on Saturday, May 20. With 40 years of racing, comes rich history. Today I’m sharing some fun Cleveland Marathon facts. I was surprised and inspired by many of these numbers.

Marathon Facts

• 40th running of the Cleveland Marathon will take place in 2017
• 138 portable restrooms dot the course
• 1978 is the year the Cleveland Marathon began
• 2,000 volunteers participate annually
• 17,500 bananas available for runners to eat
• 18,000 runners participate annually
• 21,000 water bottles are given out on race day
• 350,000+ runners have participated since the race’s inception
• $18+ million generated in 2012 by the Cleveland Marathon for the City of Cleveland

Related blog posts:
• Official 2017 Cleveland Marathon Ambassador
• My Running Journey: A Look Back
• Why I Stopped Taking My Multivitamin
• New to Running? 5 Items You Need to Have

A few other interesting Cleveland Marathon facts include:

• Notable and historic landmarks dot the marathon course, including: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Lake Erie shoreway, FirstEnergy Stadium – Home of the Cleveland Browns, Playhouse Square Theatre District and more
• The original course began at Cleveland State University and led runners west to Bay Village, Ohio and back
• The Half-Marathon was added in 2005, the 10K has been in place since 1978, the 8K was added in 2016 and the 5K was added in 2009

If you are considering running the Cleveland Marathon this year and haven’t registered yet – do so soon! Registration fees increase on Friday, April 7. Race weekend is about a month and a half away now, but there is still time to train. In 2017, runners can choose from the following distances:

• Full Marathon (26.2 miles) – Sunday, May 21
• Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) – Sunday, May 21
• 10K (6.2 miles) – Sunday, May 21
• 8K (4.9 miles) – Saturday, May 20
• 5K (3.1 miles) – Saturday, May 20
• Kids’ Run (age 12 and under) – Saturday, May 20

Right now, I’m in the midst of my training for the 8K portion of the race. I ran the half-marathon in 2012 as a race ambassador. You can read my Cleveland Half Marathon ace recap and Cleveland Half Marathon review to learn more.

Disclosure: As a 2017 Cleveland Marathon Ambassador, I will receive complimentary entry into the race of my choice, an ambassador shirt, along with special access to pre and post-race events, in exchange for writing about my training for this event.

Source: Cleveland Marathon Media Center