St. Joseph Marathon’s origin story
By Kendra Simpson
St. Joseph is gearing up for the second annual St. Joseph Marathon. The marathon draws in hundreds of residents and visitors, but few know the origin story of the race or of those who started it all.
Last year, the marathon saw more than 500 participants sign up to join one of four races: a 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon. But the origin story of the race goes back much further than just a year. Over a decade ago, a group of women volunteers, called the Junior League, created the Pony Express Run.
“We had a lot of runners in the League at that time so it was an easy way for us to put something together to maximize the community and to be able to fundraise in itself,” Junior League President Tona Williams said.
The Pony Express Run began in 2012 as just a 5 and 10k, but then expanded into a full marathon. After seeing the success of the run for 10 years, the St. Joseph Sports Commission came to the Junior League and asked to combine efforts for the 2023 race.
“It was just like perfect timing,” Williams said. “Brett Esely came to the Junior League and said ‘Hey, we would like to take the marathon and do it as a huge citywide and national marathon.’ And we were like ‘That sound like an absolutely perfect plan.’ So the pieces just fell into place for us to, you know, give them the knowledge and what we had and for them to just take it and make it into such an amazing and even bigger event than we could have ever hoped for.”
And thus, the St. Joseph Marathon was born, brining in not only visitors from the region, but also supporting several local organizations that help people in town every day.
“It still helps us as we are still one of the benefactors for the marathon, which helped us then to turn around and support the community efforts that we do. Like running Cinderella’s Closet, giving back and volunteering,” Williams said.
Cinderella’s Closet provides free prom and homecoming dresses. The Junior League is also in charge of several other programs such as Hope Totes and providing community assistance and literacy grants. The nonprofit supports other organizations in town such as the Noyes Home and the YWCA.
“We are actually a really great city, a really great community,” Williams said. “We just have so, so many things to offer that people just don’t even realize.
The St. Joseph Marathon will take place Saturday, Sept. 28, and travel throughout town, causing several road blocks possible traffic congestion. For those wishing to avoid the race, steer clear of the parkway system entirely as well as Noyes Boulevard, Francis Street and Fourth street. Residents should plan accordingly to avoid high traffic areas and race routes.