To the Journal editor:

Thank you! Thank you Marquette Marathon and half marathon organizing race committee and race director Jeri Mommaerts for putting together a quality running event which showcased the beauty of Marquette County.

Thank you to the cities of Ishpeming, Negaunee, townships of Negaunee and Marquette, and the city of Marquette for their cooperation and encouragement to enable this event to be held.

Thank you to the Michigan Iron Industry Museum for providing a staging and starting area for the half marathon and to all those that worked to build the Iron Ore Heritage Trail to create a beautiful course for this event.

Thank you to all the Marquette Third Street businesses that supported the Third Street finish and allowed for Third Street to be closed down for several hours.

Thank you to all the emergency and police personnel who provided support to ensure the safety of all the participants.

Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time in the weeks and days before the race and especially on race day. The number of volunteers needed was greater than the number of runners in order to make this a quality event.

Thank you to all the sponsors (a complete list may be found at the marquettemarathon.com) with special recognition to the title sponsors: Marathon, Eagle Mine, Half Marathon, Blue Cross Blue Shield Network of Michigan; Marathon Relay, Mommaerts Mahaney Financial Services Inc. Kids Fun Run, Marquette Pediatric Dentistry, PC; and 5K, Blackrocks Brewery.

Thank you to all the news media that covered the promotion leading up to the event and for reporting and recording the highlights and results of the races, especially The Mining Journal, WLUC-TV and WJMN-TV.

Through the efforts so many people and entities, runners from across the country and around the world were gathered to compete in this fine event and take in some of the attributes that are offered by Marquette County. Over 21 percent of the marathon finishers recorded Boston Marathon Qualifying Times (BQ) including several local runners.

Finally, thank you to all the spectators that came out and cheered on all the runners. From this small group of local runners, representing the sentiments of all who ran, thank you.

Bill Sved

on behalf of The Muffin Runners