The Stillwater Marathon was given approval by the Stillwater City Council yesterday, according to the Star-Tribune. In a previous post I talked about some of the problems the event faced, including 15 other marathon races within a month (either way) in the local area.  Many thanks to the commenters who added and subtracted some races for me.

The article didn’t give many details except that

… the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize St. Croix Events Inc. to conduct the first Stillwater Marathon on May 24. Organizers there also plan to offer a 20-mile race, a half marathon and a 12K run. The total number of participants would be capped at 5,750 runners.

The Stillwater race is set for the same day as the Med-City Marathon in Rochester.

The Team Ortho and Stillwater marathons will make the metro area home to three such races, joining the annual fall Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, which winds through Minneapolis and St. Paul.

It will be interesting to watch how these races do this spring.  One of the commenters indicated that the perception of the event’s quality will have a huge impact.  On this front, as of writing this post the marathon’s website is still “under construction.”

I want to be clear, I have no ill-feelings toward the marathon, I just know a lot of people where hurt and disappointed after the Indy Classic Marathon debacle of last year.  I wish the event directors much success with this.  I hope that this quote from the Star-Tribune pans out well for all the races:

Despite the idea that Minnesota is now expected to be home to four marathons within a month of each another, race organizers aren’t flinching about the crowded field.

“There are so many runners out there, I don’t think this will matter,” said John Larson, executive director of Team Ortho Foundation, which is organizing the Minneapolis Marathon. “Each race has unique features, whether it’s different pasta parties or the unique flavor of the city.”

[tags] Marathon, Stillwater, Minneapolis [/tags]