The third annual Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and Half Marathon will take place Saturday, November 6 with the full marathon (26.2 miles) and half-marathon (13.1 miles) start and finish lines near the Indiana State House.
The Half Marathon goes through beautiful Historic Meridian Park. In planning the unique course, organizers sought out not only to create a beautiful and relatively flat route for the runners but also to show off many vibrant urban neighborhoods. Historic Meridian Park, Broad Ripple, Meridian-Kessler, Butler-Tarkington, the Old Northside, Fall Creek Place and others will be highlighted along the way. We hope this will be embraced as a source of neighborhood pride, not inconvenience!
The race begins at 8:00 AM, with the fastest runners expected to hit the Meridian Park area at approximately 8:45 AM. (The half marathon course includes Washington Boulevard from 29th to 34th Streets, 34th Street to Central Avenue, and north on Central Avenue; west of 37th Street to Pennsylvania Street, south on Pennsylvania Street to 30th Street then the half marathon runners will head south on Meridian Street from 30th Street to the Monument Circle.) IMPD officers will be along the entire course to help direct traffic and ensure the safety of the runners and spectators.
One factor that can make or break a performance: encouragement from the sidelines! Many runners hope to beat their personal records, whatever they may be, on November 6 and spectators cheering them on will be a big help toward achieving those goals. Race organizers hope that Historic Meridian Park residents will come out to provide vocal, enthusiastic support and at the same time witness an inspiring community event along with friends and neighbors. Play music, banjo or drums, anything fun. Please talk with your friends and neighbors about plans to get together and form a cheering team!
As of early October, more than 5,500 participants (from 45 states and seven countries including Australia, Brazil and United Kingdom) were registered to set their pace with the cool event. Proceeds from the marathon benefit the Indianapolis Public Schools, the IPS Education Foundation, Mind Trust and College Summit.
To view the entire course maps or learn more about the event and volunteer opportunities, go to www.monumentalmarathon.com. Please contact Julie Patterson, IMM executive director at monumentaljulie@yahoo.com with any questions.