On Nov. 10, Edward Hospital sponsored the first Naperville Marathon and Half Marathon, an event coordinated by NaperEvents. The marathon served as a qualifying race for the 2015 Boston Marathon.
Signups for both races began on Jan. 28 and each race sold out in 14 hours, according to Dave Sheble, one of Naper Event’s race directors and cofounders for the event. In total, 3500 runners participated.
Career and Technical Education teacher Gwendolyn Wellsran in the Naperville Marathon and said that she set an alarm to remind herself to register for the race.
“The race was great,” Wells said. “I would definitely want to do it again.”
Wells, who has participated in 18 marathons prior to the Naperville Marathon, thought that the Edward Hospital Naperville Marathon and Half Marathon was an organized race.
“It was very well planned,” Wells said. “I [also] liked where the location was.”
Both the half and full marathon runners started at North Central College and ran the first 8.5 miles together before the half marathon runners split off on different routes to finish their race back at North Central College.
“The full marathon [was] like a tour of Naperville,” Sheblesaid. “The half marathon [served as] a tour of the central and western part.”
This was the first marathon held in Naperville, but KeithHartenberger, public information officer for Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, hopes to continue the race.
“This is actually a three year sponsorship [between Edward and Naper Event],” Hartenberger said. “It’s certainly something I’d like to continue for a long, long time to create a long-lasting tradition for Naperville and the running community.”
The marathon wasn’t only for the running community, however. According to Sheble, Naper Events also aligns itselfwith 28 charities. Through these charities, the organization has raised over $216,000.
Over 900 volunteers helped out at the marathon, including staff volunteers from Edward who ran medical and aid stations.
Sheble believes that Naperville is an ideal place to hold amarathon because of its community excellence.
“Naperville is a world-class city,” Sheble said. “And it deserves a world-class race.”
