ASHWAUBENON (NBC 26) — The EPIC Events Center has taken over Green Bay's marathon and
half-marathon weekend after 25 years of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. The races will weave through Green Bay and Ashwaubenon neighborhoods on Sunday.
- Organizers promise a different experience from previous versions of the race, with music and entertainment throughout the course.
- A free Guns N' Roses performance caps off the morning
- Parts of Cormier Road and Holmgren Way will close Sunday morning and early afternoon for the races, but other roads on the course will only have one lane closed
- Full course maps can be found here
- Packet pick-up and last-minute signups are Friday evening and Saturday at EPIC, and Saturday evening at Badger State Brewing Company — full details can be found here
- Previous versions of the race went through Lambeau Field — read on to see if this year's race will pass through the stadium.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with additional details and quotes added for web)
Green Bay's marathon and half-marathon are back this weekend, but with a new title sponsor and a bit of a new course. The start finish line will be just feet from where we're standing right now on Cormier Road — and here's what you'll need to know if you're running or driving around town on Sunday.
Watch Ashwaubenon neighborhood reporter Karl Winter's full story here:
The course is being marked, and the signs are ready to go.
The EPIC Events Center has taken over hosting the marathon, half marathon, and 5K after 25 years of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, and is making the race its own.
"It's not, not the same event that was here for 25 years," EPIC Events Center vice president Brian Stenzel said. "It's a brand new one, brand new look and feel. So it's a great foundation to start with."
"Entertainment on the course is going to be kind of the differentiator this year," race director Ryan Griessmeyer said, "kind of breaking it up a little bit with some live bands and DJs — just a fun course with a lot of entertainment."
The first-ever EPIC Marathon & Running Festival will be capped off by a free concert.
At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler will play all the band's hits.
"If you're a spectator or a volunteer or not even a part of the event, you just want to come down and see the show, you can do that as well," Stenzel said.
Outside of the entertainment, this year's race courses are a bit different. They'll still tour the streets of Ashwaubenon and Green Bay (and Allouez, in the case of the marathon), but unlike previous iterations of the race, runners will not do a lap around Lambeau Field.
The race director says there's a chance that it returns, if the race is successful.
"There's a giant hope of bringing it back in the future," Griessmeyer said. "We're kind of waiting on some answers on that now, but it'd be great to showcase what Green Bay has to offer with the Packers.
Stenzel was more coy about the possibility.
"Logistically, it's hard to get through Lambeau Field, so we like to be in the shadows of it," he said. "We can still experience it, but trying to get through Lambeau is always kind of tough logistically. So I don't know if we'll ever go down that route or not. We'll see what the future entails."
Griessmeyer is also the president of Race Day Events and has been the race director for the past three years, when it was still the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon.
He says parts of Cormier Road and Holmgren Way will be fully closed Sunday morning for the races, but other roads on the course will only have individual lanes closed.
"Thank you to the community, the police, fire, EMS, and just all the villages and cities that helped make this happen," he said.
Griessmeyer says about 2,200 people had signed up for the races as of Thursday afternoon, and he expects a few hundred more before race day.
The half marathon is the most popular distance.
Stenzel says success in year 1 of the new event will be: "Just smiles on everybody's faces. If everybody gets out there, has a good time, loves the event, loves what we did with it, that's a success in our mind."
If you're on the fence about running a race this Sunday, remember there are no race-day sign-ups, so you'll have to register before packet pickup ends. Packet pickup runs Friday evening and Saturday at the EPIC, and Saturday evening at Badger State Brewing. And if you're running on Sunday, come up and say hello! Your Ashwaubenon neighborhood reporter will see you out there.
