(November 8, 2011) – The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon has selected Unity as its new charity partner for 2011. Unity will join Family Services and Junior Achievement (JA) of Wisconsin as the recipients of funds raised by the 2012 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, which will take place May 18-20, 2012.

The charities operate on three-year terms, with one new charity added each year and one exiting charity each year. Charity organizations become a strong member of the operational team, comprised mainly of volunteers, to put on the event. Unity was selected from a group of 17 applicants.

“We are honored to be chosen for such a large community event,” said Laura Jarosz, director of development for Unity. “With the additional funding provided by the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, we will be able to reach more people in the community with information about the resources available during serious illness and at the end of life, while raising money to support our growing charity care needs.” Currently Unity cares for over 850 patients each day, from infants to seniors, in 12 counties in Northeast Wisconsin.

The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon aims to give back to the community while presenting a world-class event for people of all abilities and bring visitors to our communities. The charity selection process focuses on identifying a partner that could effectively utilize the marathon’s platform while supporting a strong community need.

“Unity’s hospice and bereavement care encompasses caring for the mind, body and spirit of patients and their families,” said Brighid Riordan, president of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon board of directors. “The organization promotes dignity and comfort by delivering care to patients wherever they reside, whether it be in their homes, assisted living and nursing facilities, or as inpatients at a hospital.” Unity is committed to providing supportive care for all in need, regardless of their ability to pay.

In 2010 Unity provided nearly $1.4 million in charity care to patients. This support is comprised of costs not covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance for palliative, hospice and bereavement care services. The proceeds from the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon will further support charity care for patients who do not have insurance or other means to finance their care.

Marathon registration opened November 1 and event organizers report a six-fold increase in total registrations, and an even higher spike in distance events, as compared to 2010. Race director Sean Ryan attributes the dramatic surge in participation to both the course and the runner’s experience.

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“We’ve earned a reputation with runners across the country of offering a top-notch event that’s well organized and fun, right down to the brats and beer at the finish line,” said Ryan. “It’s a flat, fast course with amazing spectators and enthusiastic volunteers along the entire route. That’s appealing to new runners who will be doing their first distance event or to experienced athletes striving for a Boston qualifying time.”

The marathon board plans to determine caps for the 2012 distance events in January.

From now until December 31, registration for the marathon is $75, half marathon is $60, and the marathon relay is $225 per team.

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The 13th annual Cellcom Green Bay Marathon will take place on May 18-20, 2012. Over the past 12 years, the race has generated over $539,000 in proceeds for local charities. The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon seeks to create community spirit through a world-class marathon for people of all athletic abilities.

Construction at Lambeau to affect marathon route

 Registration for the 2012 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon is scheduled to open November 1. Runners can register for the full marathon, half marathon or marathon relay events beginning that day.

“The demand to run the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon has risen sharply in the last several years,” said Sean Ryan, race director for the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon. “There is an overall trend toward being more health-conscious, and our event is certainly benefiting from that lifestyle movement. We also see a lot of repeat participants. Once they come to Green Bay, runners want to come back. They like the support on the course, the organization and the flat-and-fast route that makes it a good first distance event for a new runner and a great Boston qualifier for someone looking to reach that goal.”

The courses have not been finalized for 2012, but the course has typically had a net elevation change around four feet. There is one major change planned for the route this season. Due to the construction scheduled for the south end zone of Lambeau Field, the 2012 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon routes need to be altered and will not take a lap around Lambeau Field during the final mile.

“The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon is an event that draws in the whole community and the Packers organization really enjoys being a part of the excitement,” said Aaron Popkey, assistant director of public relations for the Green Bay Packers, “We worked hard to find a way with the construction to get the runners through the stadium and weren’t successful for 2012. We look forward to having the course return to the inside of Lambeau Field in 2013.”

The final courses will be announced at the kick-off party in early January. The layouts may impact the final capacity, but right now race organizers are anticipating being able to add more runners.

From now until December 31, registration for the marathon is $75, half marathon is $60, and the marathon relay is $225 per team.

A lot of people are asking where they can find finisher results, finisher photos and finisher certificates for the 2011 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon events.  Rather than making you hunt around the website, we decided to put these handy links on the front page of the website…

Click here to see FINISHER RESULTS.

Click here to see FINISHER PHOTOS.

Click here to download and print FINISHER CERTIFICATES.

Thanks to everybody who participated in the 2011 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon!

Yesterday all participants in the full and half marathons ran an extra 800 feet due to incorrect course markings just after mile three. The certified courses for the half and full marathon were supposed to take a right off of Roscoe Street onto 14^th Avenue before turning right on Biemeret Street. Instead, runners were taken an extra 400 feet to 13^th Avenue, which added a total of 800 extra feet (.15 miles) onto the route.

We were alerted to the error after hearing multiple comments about inaccurate GPS readings at this particular point on the course. We know it’s common for runners who wear Garmin watches or other GPS devices to see differences in total distance due to the course being measured on the optimal, point-to-point line and runners straying from this line, but the consistency in these reports caused us to take another look.  We owe a thank you to those runners who weighed in on this matter.

We will be correcting this error in your results.  Gun times, chip times and mile 5 split times for all runners will be adjusted on our website by Tuesday afternoon. We have also talked to representatives of the Boston Marathon who have agreed to accept a database with adjusted finish times. Marathon runners can find their adjusted time by multiplying their current time by .9943. Half marathon runners can find their adjusted time by multiplying their time by .9886. Since these adjustments will affect ALL runners’ finish times, it will not change the overall or age group standings.  It may, however, impact whether you ran a personal record (PR) or a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time.  

On behalf of my entire staff, we apologize for the inconvenience and the extra distance that you ran on an already windy day.

Sincerely, 

 Sean Ryan
Race Director
Cellcom Green Bay Marathon 

Advance registration for the Cellcom 5K and WPS Kids’ Power Run closed at midnight on Sunday, May 8th.  Registration for the marathon, half marathon and marathon relay closed several months ago in early February at full capacity.  There will be NO OPPORTUNITY to register for the Cellcom 5K or WPS Kids’ Power Run from Monday, May 9th through Thursday, May 12th.  The only remaining opportunities to register for these events will be as follows:

Cellcom 5K Race Weekend Registration

Friday, May 13th (3 pm – 7 pm) in the Lambeau Field Atrium

***PLEASE NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO RACE DAY REGISTRATION FOR THE CELLCOM 5K.***

Race Weekend Registration Fees: $30 for adults, $25 for kids (ages 17 & under)

This event starts at 8:30 am on Saturday, May 14th on Lombardi Avenue in front of the Lambeau Field Atrium.

WPS Kids’ Power Run Race Weekend Registration

Friday, May 13th (3 pm – 7 pm) in the Lambeau Field Atrium

Saturday, May 14th (8 am – 11:30 am) in the Registration Tent, Lambeau Field parking lot just off Oneida Street

Race Weekend Registration Fee: $15

This event starts and finishes in the Lambeau Field parking lot just off of Oneida Street. 

Start times vary by age group.  CLICK HERE for more information.