On September 24th, 2017, 5,000 runners will line up at the starting line in Moline, Illinois to run 26.2 miles for the 20th anniversary of the Quad City Marathon. The runners will go through the cities of Bettendorf, Davenport, Rock Island, Moline and even the arsenal island. Joe Moreno, the founder and race director says that one word to describe the impact of the marathon is “unite.” He believes that the run helps to bring together the Iowa and Illinois sides of the river into helping at one event and raising money for one charity. All the money raised at the marathon from both the Iowa and Illinois sides goes to the Prostate Cancer Initiative. Last year they raised over 30,000 dollars for this charity. Moreno is hoping to meet what they raised last year and more.
Moreno came up with the slogan this year: “More than a Marathon.” He says that the economic impact of the marathon is not measurable and that, “ The only thing we know for sure is that everyone fills up all the hotel rooms.” Besides filling up the rooms, the restaurants and local businesses get a lot of attention too. This is one of the busier times of the year for the community because of the tourism it brings to the Quad Cities. Moreno believes that this is a great way to expose new people to the things the Quad Cities has to offer.
Moreno says that this year there will be 1,500 volunteers and 80 committee members. Many of the volunteers come from our own school. The PV cross country teams get together to help out any way they can, whether that’s doing water stops, organizing things to help the event run smoothly, or even just cheering on the runners. Sydney Dewulf and Claire Decoster have run all 20 of the marathons and says that they enjoy seeing the bright faces of young athletes helping out. Dewulf mentioned, “It’s especially nice on those hotter days to have the young runners handing out water. It really motivates us to keep going.” Moreno says that the PV cross country teams are a good example when they approach other organizations for volunteers because the kids are so eager and willing to help that it encourages others to help.
The Quad City marathon is a great way that helps bring all aspects to our community together and unite them as one. Moreno and the thousands of others at the event are really appreciative of how many are willing to come out and support the runners.
