St. Joseph Marathon grew out of previous event
By Kendra Simpson
Hundreds of runners are set to hit the streets of St. Joseph on Saturday for the second annual St. Joseph Marathon, an event that has its origins in a philanthropic effort.
Last year, the marathon saw more than 500 participants sign up to join one of four races, including a 5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon. But the origin story of the race goes back much further. More than 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 5K and 10K. After seeing the success of the run for a decade, the St. Joseph Sports Commission approached 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 sounds 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.”
Thus, the St. Joseph Marathon was born, bringing 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 also leads programs such as Hope Totes and provides community assistance and literacy grants. The nonprofit also supports other organizations in town including 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 on Saturday, Sept. 28, and travel throughout town. Several roads will be blocked so traffic delays are possible. For those wishing to avoid the race, steer clear of the Parkway System entirely as well as Noyes Boulevard, Francis Street and Fourth Street.
