Hundreds of runners passed under the golden arches of Keene State College to finish the Clarence DeMar Marathon on Sunday, Sept. 28. The 47-year-old race raises money for the community and brings families to the area to cheer on runners.
Clarence DeMar was a seven-time Boston Marathon winner, along with being a bronze medalist at the 1924 Summer Olympics. DeMar taught at Keene State College and coached the cross country team.
The marathon raises money for the Keene Elm City Rotary Club, which helps strengthen the community in the Keene and Monadnock region. Ann Looney is a member of the Rotary Club and worked the event as a volunteer. Looney helped with the marathon’s registration and commented on the large number of runners from all sorts of age groups.
“I don’t know what our final number was, but I think around probably around 800 [runners]. We had 400 and something children and 102 seniors,” Looney said.
The Rotary Club and Keene State athletes all chip in to volunteer and make the race what it is. Looney attributed a large portion of the event’s success to the cooperation from the city as well as Keene State for hosting the event each year.
“What we hear after the event is that people love it here. The college is always very welcoming, and they do a great job providing us with what we need to make the event be successful. The buildings, facilities, bathrooms, locker rooms for the runners,” Looney said.
Isabella Luhrs is a friend of one of the event’s organizers, Nancy Thompson, and said that the efficiency of the event is what makes it so great for everyone involved.
“It runs so incredibly smoothly. There’s a lot of work that gets put into it beforehand for it to run so smoothly, and everyone is happy to be here,” Luhrs said.
Although Luhrs worked the marathon for her first time, she added, “I’ll happily do it again, super well organized and friendly.”
Each runner who passes the finish line gets their name read off, along with a shoutout of where they are from. One runner, Isaac Cleveland, is a paramedic and firefighter who ran the marathon for the first time. Cleveland ran with a friend and said he plans to make a return to the marathon in a similar fashion next year.
“I absolutely loved it, just great vibes out there. My mom always wanted to run a marathon so I ran one for her, and she actually got inspired to run [this] half-marathon, but she rolled her ankle training for it. She’s going to run it next year and I’ll run it with her,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland was embraced by family and friends after the marathon, as hundreds of runners were after taking part in the nearly fifty-year-old tradition.
The marathon and half-marathon lit up the streets of Keene once again to celebrate the life of DeMar. Members of the city with the local Rotary Club pitched in to raise money for the organization, as well as securing a smooth and fun event for everyone.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
