INDIANAPOLIS — The month of May is special in many ways and it celebrates different events throughout the 31 days. One of the most anticipated events year after year is the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.
“The energy is so great here,” said Paige Kaiser, one of the participants from Greencastle. “There are so many people coming out to do it.”
It’s the race that runners look forward to all year long, and some got to experience the Mini-Marathon for the first time on Saturday, getting in on the tradition that’s been going on for nearly 50 years.
“It’s been awesome,” said Mitch Renfro, one of the participants from Fishers. Since it's our first time, you don't realize how big it's going to be until you get here and all that hard work has already paid off.”
“This is a once in a lifetime thing,” said Andrew Riemenschnitter, one of the participants from Carmel. “I just turned 30 and I am like 30 is the time that I am going to do it. It's going to be a blast!”
The 48th annual One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon celebrated another memorable year with runners coming out from all walks of life and all parts of the world. The youngest runner competing this year was 6 and the oldest 95.
“It’s great because we have a really good local turnout, a lot of repeat runners who have done this year after year,” said Lindsay Labas, the VP of Marketing and Communications with the 500 Festival. “We have four [runners] that have done every single Mini-Marathon and then we have people who just heard about it from word of mouth or some of the awards and accolades that we have won and they want to just come out and be a part of it.”
This year, runners came out from all 50 states, 15 different countries, and five continents. Organizers say it was the biggest year since the pandemic.
“We are really excited to see those attendance numbers increase a little bit from what they have been in the last couple of years post-COVID,” Labas said. “We think people are really starting to focus a little bit more on their health and being out there, living a healthy lifestyle, so we are excited to see everyone come together and get out there.”
The Mini-Marathon was voted as one of the best in the nation by both USA Today and Runner's Worldand this year's mini marathon participants couldn't agree more.
“I keep coming back each year,” said Ryan Beckham, one of this year’s participants. “I love it!”
“This is just a great event because anyone of any ability can do it and it's wonderful all along the way,” said Dave and Christian Stevens, a father and son duo who ran this year’s race together.
“Indianapolis is awesome,” said Heather Magamoll, one of the participants from Florida. “It has exceeded our expectations. The crowd has been awesome. The people are awesome. The hotels [are awesome] and we have so much fun here.”
“Honestly, [I love] the atmosphere,” Renfro said. “It’s cool being a Hoosier This is the kind of stuff we look forward to. When it comes to the race, we call it ‘the race’ because it's the only important race out there and it's fun to be a part of May.”
The highlights of the race included the beautiful weather, the live entertainment, the famous 2.5 mile lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and all of the fun costumes.
“I do this running as batman to make people happier and brighten their days,” said Kory Kennedy, one of the participants from Kokomo. “I love it! I love seeing kids smile, teenagers smile, adults smile, everyone is smiling! It makes their day much better and I love seeing them have a great time, as they see me run as batman.”
But nothing can beat the feeling of crossing the finish line.
“We trained together, we ran together, and we finished! We did it,” said Virginia Wilhelm and Jovey Hubbard, two best friends who ran together.
And if you couldn't participate this year, there is always next year.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to be around so many people and it's so accessible to everyone,” Kaiser said. “Just do it and experience it once. It’s worth it!”
The overall winner of this year’s Mini-Marathon was Jake Bertelsen from Powell, Ohio with a time of 1:04:29. Curtis Eckstein finished second, just 14 seconds behind Bertelsen, and James Ngandu finished third just two seconds behind Curtis. For the women’s division the overall female was Liz Fraizer from Greenwood, Indiana with a time of 1:12:22. For a full list of results, click here.