THUNDER BAY – SPORTS – The Miles with the Giant Marathon has run its course for the last time it appears.
A media release from the Board of Directors was released this morning:
“The volunteer Board of Directors of the Thunder Bay Marathon-Miles with the Giant deeply regret to announce that they will be discontinuing organizing the event. After 5 years the board’s decision was based on a lack of significant growth as the main factor.
“The event, which featured a full marathon, half-marathon, 10K, 5-person relay and 5K family fun run, began in 2010 and became an Athletics Canada qualifying event in 2012. It has however stagnated at approximately 950 total registrations (participants) for each of the past 3 years. The board’s efforts to attract more participants included a very strategic marketing program including attending marathon event shows in Duluth, Winnipeg and Sudbury; and additionally assisting the City of Thunder Bay Tourism efforts to promote the event in other markets in Northwestern Ontario, Canada and the midwestern United States.
“Our volunteer board of directors team has put in a tremendous amount of work over the past 5 years and maintaining that effort is no longer sustainable. The team had great expectations of growing the event to 1500 – 2000 participants by this time and making this a destination for runners. These expected results were not achieved despite our efforts. To continue to organize this event at the present registration levels is simply not feasible.
“The two main revenue generators for the marathon are the numbers of registrations (participants) and sponsorships. Both of these have seen challenges from a financial perspective while costs/expenses have maintained their current levels. The cost/expense levels are necessary to ensure the safety and security of the participants and to the community in the event each year.
“The Board of Directors would like to thank the many sponsors, participants, charities and to the over 200 volunteers that helped to make the Miles with the Giant a success for 5 years. We extend a huge thank you to the City of Thunder Bay for its terrific support. We touched virtually every department of the City to provide this event for our runners and walkers enjoyment and could not have done it without them.
“We would also like to extend our thanks to the entire community for their support and more importantly, our runners and walkers thank you for cheering them on during the race. The encouragement was very much appreciated by all.”