IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich (WZMQ) – With just 15 days until the Iron Mountain Half Marathon, race director Sara Pericolosi shared exciting details about the upcoming event, which benefits the Northwoods Air Lifeline, the Dickinson County Cancer Loan Closet, and this year will also benefit the Kingsford Area Little League team. The races are all set to take place on September 21. Anyone registering the day of should be there by 8:30 a.m. CST.
“So this year’s half-marathon has the same start and finish as last year, right here in beautiful downtown Iron Mountain,” Pericolosi informed. “We will be leaving at 9:00 AM on September 21, and then at 9:15, we’ll have our 2-mile and 5K. We also have a 10K, which will be leaving at 9 a.m. as well.”
Pericolosi highlighted the strong support from sponsors like Steve Mariucci, the John Fornetti Dental Center, and Bellin Health Systems, Inc. saying, “This year, Mariucci is coming back as a premium sponsor, so he has continued his commitment to our downtown area and to our community. Alongside him, we have our platinum sponsors, which is the John Fornetti Dental Center. They’re going to be bringing back the ‘Smile Mile’ this year, so everyone can expect on that first mile to see GDove Photography as well as a live Facebook feed as you’re running by from the John Fornetti Dental Center. We’re really excited to have them as a partner.”
Bellin Health Systems will also return as a platinum sponsor. “Bellin Health is back again this year, so when you cross the finish line and go over to the Bellin tent, they’ll have nurses there if you need any type of bandages or things like that, and they’ll also have bags again for this year’s farmers market,” Pericolosi said.
As for registration, Pericolosi noted, “Our half-marathon came so close to selling out that our race board opted to order more medals, so right now we still have openings for our half-marathon. All of our distances are open. We’re really looking for kids this year—for some reason, we don’t have as many signed up yet. I’m really hoping that in the next 15 days, we’ll start to see more students come out.”
The event is designed to bring the community together, and Pericolosi emphasized its local involvement: “This year, our races are designed by a local senior from the Dickinson-Iron Tech Center, so we’re really excited to promote that continued partnership. Their graphic design class is going to be printing all of our volunteer shirts, and so this is really coming together as another community event. We have high school bands and cheerleaders that’ll be here. We have sports teams from different schools that’ll be manning the water stations.” The Kingsford High School tennis team and the Norway-Vulcan Area Schools JV Volleyball teams will man the water stations. Run Iron Mountain is also grateful to have the Kingsford Football Team help take down the finish line.
Post-race celebrations will also get a fresh look this year. “You’ll notice this year that our after-race party is moved right up the street to the beautiful Sandstone Terrace Rooftop Bar,” said Pericolosi. “They’ll have music playing starting around 10:30, 11 o’clock, and then they’ll have live music as we move into the night.”
Pericolosi also noted changes to packet pick-up and race-day registration: “Packet pick-up this year is different. On Friday night, it’ll be at Oddfellows, and then Saturday will actually be right at the Renewed Life Chiropractic Center, which is right in the start/finish-line parking lot. Similar to last year, we’re going to offer day-of registration. We just ask that people register by 8:30.”
With plenty of community involvement and strong sponsor backing, the Iron Mountain Half Marathon is set for another successful race day.
To register for the races, visit:
