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Marathon Details - Lakefront Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > WI > Milwaukee > Lakefront Marathon

Lakefront Marathon

Lakefront Marathon & Half Marathon

Milwaukee, WI USA

October 6, 2024

http://www.milwaukeelakefrontmarathon.org

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Race Details

Fast Boston qualifying course

Contact Information

Name:	Jon Mueller
Address:	Milwaukee's Lakefront Marathon C/O Badgerland Striders 6526 River Parkway Wauwatosa WI, 53213
Phone Number:	(414) 476-7223
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (172)

Course 4.4

Organization 4.7

Spectators 4.0

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Number of comments: 172 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 18 > ]

C. K. from Kalamazoo (10/1/2023) "Nice race, too hot this year" (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Pros: - generally nice course with a few rolling hills and views of Lake Michigan - easy to navigate smaller expo - good communication from race director - start was convenient with lots of indoor bathrooms - nice medal - appreciated return shuttle from finish to host hotels - plenty of water stops Cons - way to hot and humid this year, not that race director could control this, but was super tough for last part of marathon; maybe an earlier start could help?? - Hoan bridge was really tough way to end- no shade, lots of concrete, no water stops on bridge - not a ton of crowd support for a town of this side with almost no music/entertainment on course (except awesome polka guy at top of bridge)
W. C. from New York (10/8/2019) "True Marathon Event" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Lakefront is a pure Marathon. Not a running fest, no 1/2 marathon, no relay teams. My only complaint was the crowned roads and some bottle necking that started around mile 13.
G. K. from IL (10/16/2018) "Good course with no hassles" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran in 2018 with my two sons. We all agreed that the course was enjoyable and the organization excellent. Weather was 40 deg or so at start with a strong tailwind for much of the North to South course. Ran my best time in 3 or 4 years. At the end: way above average refreshments, a nice medal, and a quality shirt.
A. G. from Washington, DC (11/21/2017) "Easy, Point-to-Point with Heated Start Area" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Staff/volunteers and spectators were super friendly and helpful. Course was pleasant and interesting (including residential, wooded, and lake shore). I LOVE that they've got a school for holding area at the start (plenty of space, heat, and bathrooms. Parking & shuttles were easy, but could have used more info on the web ahead of time (I flew in and got full details at the expo). True, water stops weren't evenly spaced, but were as marked on the course map.
J. D. from Detroit, MI (10/4/2017) "sub par" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This race was filled with flaws and errors: brown gatorade, water stations that were not evenly spaced throughout the racecourse, not enough people stationed to hand out water, lack of crowd support, and flat out one of the most unorganized marathons I have ever ran.
Rob Klein from Paradise, Michigan (10/6/2016) "Running in the Rain" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This marathon has been around for thirty some years now, and two of the runners Sunday had participated in every one of them! That is a pretty impressive accomplishment. The race is named Lakefront, but you dont see much of Lake Michigan until near the end. The start-line is at Grafton High School, north of town, right off Interstate-43. The school was open to accommodate the runners, and there were a lot of runners. But it all started at the Italian Community Center, in the Lakefront area downtown, the day before. That is were the expo was held and where the runners checked in on Saturday. And that was the free parking area for Sunday, and where runners were picked up for the bus ride to Grafton. It was wet and raining lightly off and on during the pre-dawn. After we arrived at the school, it was still raining a light, Seattle kind of rain. So, many folks were hanging out inside the school. Near the start line they had semi-truck for bag-drop, for runners warm-up clothing. That was really nice. As start-time drew closer, the runners migrated out to the start-line area. After the National Anthem and the start of the wheel-chair athletes, we were off. This was a good sized marathon, so the runners were moving as a big group for a while. After leaving Grafton, we went through some farm land, crossed over the interstate highway, and then passed through suburb communities to the north. We passed through the campus of Concordia University too. Coming into Milwaukee on Lakeshore Drive, as we neared the Lake Michigan shore, there were some pretty impressive homes to see. Some were mansions. This whole time we were on roads that were either closed or had a lane closed, so the runners had a safe running lane. And there were course marshals along the entire course to help keep us on the straight and narrow. The views of Lake Michigan were spectacular. There were a few boats out on the water too. As we neared the finish-line, the course turned into Veterans Park, and the last few tenths of a mile were run inside the park. After crossing the finish-line we received our medals, a bottle of water, and were directed to the food tent area. Post-race food was more Gatorade, soda pop, chocolate milk, oversized soft pretzels, cheese crackers, brownies, and trail mix with M&Ms, nuts, and raisins, bananas and apples. They kept non-runners out of the recovery area and food tent. That was good. They had more food and drink that was for sale, outside the runner recovery area. The weather was rainy, but that turned out to be not such a bad thing. It had rained the day before and the rain was misty to light rainfall from the start-line. The rain and the overcast kept the heat factor down for the runners, and no issues needing sun-screen or worrying about sun-burn. Nearby, the buses were waiting to give the runners a ride back to the Italian Community Center. This was a nice course, it was well-planned, and hey took care of the runners. Well done!
m. s. from Madison, WI (11/1/2015) "As they say..a race by runners for runners" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is perfect for setting a time, regardless of the conditions. Point to point with very little to no uphill and a course that falls downhill most of the way. The wind is the only factor. Excellent organization at the start and finish takes care of all of a runners needs. I will run this marathon whenever I can.
S. D. from Hanover Park, Illinois (10/13/2015) "Great race!" (about: 2015) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I have run Chicago and Milwaukee. Milwaukee was a great marathon! The course was a little boring and a little crowded at times. The crowds were great, even though there were huge stretches with no one. It was very well organized. It was flat and fast. I highly recommend this marathon, especially for the price.
C. B. from Chicagoland (10/12/2015) "The organizers couldn't have made it easier" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What could be simpler? I picked up my packet with no waiting at the medium-sized expo on the day before. Marathon morning I stepped out of the door at the host hotel and there was a bus waiting to drive runners to the door of Grafton High School to wait for the start indoors. 15 minutes before the start we were asked to stroll out to the start line which was steps away. In between we handed our gear check bags to volunteers to be loaded on a truck. The course was beautiful and varied, with gentle rollers throughout, from rural Wisconsin, complete with cattle and horses, through suburbs and finally into Milwaukee. As pointed out earlier, as we moved into the city, the course was very narrow with significant traffic. The narrow course also put the negativity of a feud between the locals and Concordia in the face of the runners with seemingly endless temporary signs planted in the grass parkway. I personally don't need that during a marathon. I'll check into a cause on the first request, not the 200th. On the plus side, there were no half marathoners to deal with. Combining full and half marathons is just a bad idea and the Lakefront doesn't do that. Back to logistics: The pace group leader that I joined later in the race was fantastic in helping me to salvage a minor train wreck. Thanks Barry T. At the finish line where the announcer called out my name as I crossed (pretty cool), my gear was right there, along with the medal and heat sheet. Water took a bit longer, and I never did find Gatorade. Throughout, the volunteers were friendly, helpful, and very well-informed in answering questions. The marathon runs like clockwork and I really appreciated that. I like this marathon and will probably return for a fourth go.
C. T. from Minnesota (10/5/2015) "Well Organized but beware of a couple of things" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The organizers of this race do a fantastic job. The logistics were very well executed. I personally stayed overnight walking distance from the start and had a car left near the finish. The organizers otherwise suggest taking a shuttle from the finish area to the start. Either are good options and will result in a low stress situation. Having the school available at the start is a plus since morning temps are cool. Things I would beware of: 1) it's a difficult route for spectators to access so there aren't many of them. The first 1/2+ is rural. 2) a good stretch of the course as you near Milwaukee and into the city is run along a fairly busy road and the runners are designated to the shoulder by traffic cones. It's a narrow space and the road surface is quite rough and uneven. Overall, a good experience but consider these things when deciding.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 18 > ]



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C. K. from Kalamazoo (10/1/2023) "Nice race, too hot this year" (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Pros: - generally nice course with a few rolling hills and views of Lake Michigan - easy to navigate smaller expo - good communication from race director - start was convenient with lots of indoor bathrooms - nice medal - appreciated return shuttle from finish to host hotels - plenty of water stops Cons - way to hot and humid this year, not that race director could control this, but was super tough for last part of marathon; maybe an earlier start could help?? - Hoan bridge was really tough way to end- no shade, lots of concrete, no water stops on bridge - not a ton of crowd support for a town of this side with almost no music/entertainment on course (except awesome polka guy at top of bridge)
W. C. from New York (10/8/2019) "True Marathon Event" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Lakefront is a pure Marathon. Not a running fest, no 1/2 marathon, no relay teams. My only complaint was the crowned roads and some bottle necking that started around mile 13.
G. K. from IL (10/16/2018) "Good course with no hassles" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran in 2018 with my two sons. We all agreed that the course was enjoyable and the organization excellent. Weather was 40 deg or so at start with a strong tailwind for much of the North to South course. Ran my best time in 3 or 4 years. At the end: way above average refreshments, a nice medal, and a quality shirt.
A. G. from Washington, DC (11/21/2017) "Easy, Point-to-Point with Heated Start Area" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Staff/volunteers and spectators were super friendly and helpful. Course was pleasant and interesting (including residential, wooded, and lake shore). I LOVE that they've got a school for holding area at the start (plenty of space, heat, and bathrooms. Parking & shuttles were easy, but could have used more info on the web ahead of time (I flew in and got full details at the expo). True, water stops weren't evenly spaced, but were as marked on the course map.
J. D. from Detroit, MI (10/4/2017) "sub par" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This race was filled with flaws and errors: brown gatorade, water stations that were not evenly spaced throughout the racecourse, not enough people stationed to hand out water, lack of crowd support, and flat out one of the most unorganized marathons I have ever ran.
Rob Klein from Paradise, Michigan (10/6/2016) "Running in the Rain" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This marathon has been around for thirty some years now, and two of the runners Sunday had participated in every one of them! That is a pretty impressive accomplishment. The race is named Lakefront, but you dont see much of Lake Michigan until near the end. The start-line is at Grafton High School, north of town, right off Interstate-43. The school was open to accommodate the runners, and there were a lot of runners. But it all started at the Italian Community Center, in the Lakefront area downtown, the day before. That is were the expo was held and where the runners checked in on Saturday. And that was the free parking area for Sunday, and where runners were picked up for the bus ride to Grafton. It was wet and raining lightly off and on during the pre-dawn. After we arrived at the school, it was still raining a light, Seattle kind of rain. So, many folks were hanging out inside the school. Near the start line they had semi-truck for bag-drop, for runners warm-up clothing. That was really nice. As start-time drew closer, the runners migrated out to the start-line area. After the National Anthem and the start of the wheel-chair athletes, we were off. This was a good sized marathon, so the runners were moving as a big group for a while. After leaving Grafton, we went through some farm land, crossed over the interstate highway, and then passed through suburb communities to the north. We passed through the campus of Concordia University too. Coming into Milwaukee on Lakeshore Drive, as we neared the Lake Michigan shore, there were some pretty impressive homes to see. Some were mansions. This whole time we were on roads that were either closed or had a lane closed, so the runners had a safe running lane. And there were course marshals along the entire course to help keep us on the straight and narrow. The views of Lake Michigan were spectacular. There were a few boats out on the water too. As we neared the finish-line, the course turned into Veterans Park, and the last few tenths of a mile were run inside the park. After crossing the finish-line we received our medals, a bottle of water, and were directed to the food tent area. Post-race food was more Gatorade, soda pop, chocolate milk, oversized soft pretzels, cheese crackers, brownies, and trail mix with M&Ms, nuts, and raisins, bananas and apples. They kept non-runners out of the recovery area and food tent. That was good. They had more food and drink that was for sale, outside the runner recovery area. The weather was rainy, but that turned out to be not such a bad thing. It had rained the day before and the rain was misty to light rainfall from the start-line. The rain and the overcast kept the heat factor down for the runners, and no issues needing sun-screen or worrying about sun-burn. Nearby, the buses were waiting to give the runners a ride back to the Italian Community Center. This was a nice course, it was well-planned, and hey took care of the runners. Well done!
m. s. from Madison, WI (11/1/2015) "As they say..a race by runners for runners" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is perfect for setting a time, regardless of the conditions. Point to point with very little to no uphill and a course that falls downhill most of the way. The wind is the only factor. Excellent organization at the start and finish takes care of all of a runners needs. I will run this marathon whenever I can.
S. D. from Hanover Park, Illinois (10/13/2015) "Great race!" (about: 2015) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I have run Chicago and Milwaukee. Milwaukee was a great marathon! The course was a little boring and a little crowded at times. The crowds were great, even though there were huge stretches with no one. It was very well organized. It was flat and fast. I highly recommend this marathon, especially for the price.
C. B. from Chicagoland (10/12/2015) "The organizers couldn't have made it easier" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Lakefront Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What could be simpler? I picked up my packet with no waiting at the medium-sized expo on the day before. Marathon morning I stepped out of the door at the host hotel and there was a bus waiting to drive runners to the door of Grafton High School to wait for the start indoors. 15 minutes before the start we were asked to stroll out to the start line which was steps away. In between we handed our gear check bags to volunteers to be loaded on a truck. The course was beautiful and varied, with gentle rollers throughout, from rural Wisconsin, complete with cattle and horses, through suburbs and finally into Milwaukee. As pointed out earlier, as we moved into the city, the course was very narrow with significant traffic. The narrow course also put the negativity of a feud between the locals and Concordia in the face of the runners with seemingly endless temporary signs planted in the grass parkway. I personally don't need that during a marathon. I'll check into a cause on the first request, not the 200th. On the plus side, there were no half marathoners to deal with. Combining full and half marathons is just a bad idea and the Lakefront doesn't do that. Back to logistics: The pace group leader that I joined later in the race was fantastic in helping me to salvage a minor train wreck. Thanks Barry T. At the finish line where the announcer called out my name as I crossed (pretty cool), my gear was right there, along with the medal and heat sheet. Water took a bit longer, and I never did find Gatorade. Throughout, the volunteers were friendly, helpful, and very well-informed in answering questions. The marathon runs like clockwork and I really appreciated that. I like this marathon and will probably return for a fourth go.
C. T. from Minnesota (10/5/2015) "Well Organized but beware of a couple of things" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Lakefront Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The organizers of this race do a fantastic job. The logistics were very well executed. I personally stayed overnight walking distance from the start and had a car left near the finish. The organizers otherwise suggest taking a shuttle from the finish area to the start. Either are good options and will result in a low stress situation. Having the school available at the start is a plus since morning temps are cool. Things I would beware of: 1) it's a difficult route for spectators to access so there aren't many of them. The first 1/2+ is rural. 2) a good stretch of the course as you near Milwaukee and into the city is run along a fairly busy road and the runners are designated to the shoulder by traffic cones. It's a narrow space and the road surface is quite rough and uneven. Overall, a good experience but consider these things when deciding.

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Marathon Details - Lakefront Marathon