The Visit Casper Marathon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend with a marathon relay, half marathon, 10 K, and a 5 K event.
“When it was first started 20 years ago, it was started by a group of runners that belonged to the Casper Windy City Striders and they decided to put on a marathon, and it was pretty much the same route each year, and not really a lot of growth,” said Marlene Short, the race’s director.
The event partnered with Visit Casper several years ago and was rebranded to reflect the partnership. It’s grown in size and scope since 2003 and is now a Boston Marathon qualifying event, which Short said attracts more runners as well. Runners from 39 states and one each from Mexico and Australia, will be in Casper.
“In the last several years, we averaged about 300 to 350 runners, and this year, we have almost 400 runners registered, and we usually pick up 40 to 50 more during marathon weekend at packet pickup, so I think we're going to have a significant amount this year,” Short said.
The pandemic did affect the race as they had to cancel their 2020 events.
“We were down about 25 percent, and I reached out to other race directors across the country, and they said that they were just seeing this huge decline as well,” she said. “Some of it was due to fear of travel or people hadn't been out [and] able to get out and train.”
However, Short said that seems to be turning around with the numbers that are registered so far this year.
“For just a year or two after COVID, race registrations were down and I think people are starting to get back into running and seeing the value in [it],” Short said. “We're a relatively small marathon compared to a lot of others that are out there, so we have a really small hometown vibe, but a big race mentality.”
Short said she would love to see the marathon continue to grow and she thinks it has the potential. A group of about 12 volunteers help to plan and put on the marathon events each year, with around 90 total volunteers giving their time to ensure that all aspects of the race run smoothly this year. Responsibilities include putting up roadblocks and marking the course for the races, among others.
“It's not just a run to us, it's an opportunity to show up our community to people from out of state and also to host our local runners that run it each year [and] about 40 percent of the participants are from Casper each year,” Short said. “They definitely see the value in it and we just want to continue to do it for many years to come.”
A 5K event is set for Saturday, June 3 that’s sponsored by the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. Gruner Brothers Brewing is hosting a .262-mile beer run on Friday night. A guns and hoses event for first responders will pit local police and fire departments from around the state to compete against each other. This event began three years ago and was won by the Natrona County Fire District for the past two. Five or six relay teams are set to compete this year. The marathon, marathon relay, half marathon will all get underway on Sunday, June 4 at 6 a.m. with the 10 K following at 7 a.m.