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Sports
Catharine Richert

Midwest races see uptick in registrations after Twin Cities Marathon canceled

People run down the road.
Runners travel as a group on West River Parkway around 7 a.m. Sunday, participating in an unofficial race after the Twin Cities Marathon and TC 10 Mile race were canceled.
Courtesy of Leila Hussain

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Marathons in the region are seeing an unplanned uptick in registrations after the Twin Cities Marathon was canceled Sunday due to record-breaking heat.

Some runners, disappointed by the cancellation after training all summer, opted to unofficially run the Twin Cities Marathon and TC 10 Mile courses on Sunday. But some also have been signing up for other races scheduled this fall.

That includes the Whistle Stop Marathon in Ashland, Wis. It’s among the few remaining races in the Midwest this year that gives runners a chance to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Race Director Mary McPhetridge said they saw about 120 new registrations on Sunday after the Twin Cities Marathon was canceled.

“Qualifying is so important when you’ve been working so hard all year to get to Boston, so we want to make sure we can do whatever we can to help with that,” McPhetridge said.

The Whistle Stop Marathon is Oct. 14, and McPhetridge said there’s still room for more runners. The event also includes a half-marathon, 10K and 5K races. Registration closes Friday.

The Mankato Marathon, taking place on Oct. 21, has also seen in influx of hundreds of new registrations.

Joy Leafblad is the sports and special events director for Visit Mankato, which organizes the marathon. She said that in the hours after the Twin Cities Marathon was canceled, they saw nearly 300 registrations.

“We did open up our full marathon, and that filled up really quickly yesterday morning,” Leafblad told MPR News on Monday. “And so we quickly switched and added another 250 spots for a total of 650 on our full marathon course.”

Leafblad said late registrants may not get medals or a marathon T-shirt because additional orders may not arrive in time.

She said as of Monday morning, there were about 100 spots left for the marathon, which traverses three rivers and a historic trestle bridge.

This is a developing story. Check back at mprnews.org for updates.