Icebreaker Indoor Marathon

An indoor marathon that is certified as a Boston qualifier and ran on a 443-meter track, article from the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel…

Icebreaker Indoor Marathon adds a 5K and a Boston certification

By Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel

July 30, 2010

Gearing up for its third year, the InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon has added features appealing to both the entry-level and elite-level runners.

First, the three-day running event set for Jan. 21, 22 and 23 in the Pettit National Ice Center will include a 5K run on Friday night, expanding the offerings from the half-marathons on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday.

Even more important, the indoor marathon on the 443-meter track has received the Boston Marathon stamp of approval as a qualifying event for that Holy Grail of running.

 "Receiving qualifying status for Boston will not help us attract more runners because we will fill all of our available slots," said Chris Ponteri, the Icebreaker founder and director. "However, it will help us attract some faster runners and more importantly it gives us additional credibility.

 "It's one more reason why we are the premier indoor marathon in the country."

Registration for the InStep events opens on Sunday at 8 a.m., via Acitve.com.

The 5K field limit will be 100. Each of the half-marathons will be capped at 125, the marathon relay will max out at 100 teams and the marathon itself will have a limit of 130.

The Gold Medal Challenge, the half-marathon and full marathon combination, will be limited to 40.

Fees remain the same as in 2010 - $60 bucks for the half-marathon and $90 for the full marathon, and that includes the Active.com registration charges. The new 5K will cost $30.