Race organizers are excited to announce that over 3,000 runners from all fifty states, Botswana, Canada, and Mexico have registered for the November 4th Salina Crossroads Marathon. “We are excited for Salina to have one of the premier marathons in the Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Nebraska region. With the registrations we anticipate getting these last five weeks we are well positioned to be the largest marathon in Kansas this year,” said Co-Race Director Daniel Craig. “Last year we focused on having a well-organized event starting with excellent pre-race communication, a fun vendor fair, well-marked course with lots of volunteers, and an amazing post-race celebration with lots of photo opportunities. Cash Hollistah and Hannah Holt did an amazing job with race announcements, fun music, and calling out the runner’s names as they finished which helped to create an amazing experience that has been instrumental in the growth that we are seeing for this year’s race. This year we have 1,378 runners from outside of the state of Kansas, which is a big increase from the 134 we had last year. Oklahoma is our leading state with 431 runners registered. There are 2,673 runners registered from outside of Salina with Wichita leading the way with 249 registered runners.” VisitSalina, a program of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce, calculated the impact of the 2023 Salina Crossroads Marathon at $1,685,600 of estimated economic impact.
The Salina Crossroads Marathon anticipates needing over 200 volunteers for the 2023 Salina Crossroads Marathon. The registration link is posted on the Salina Crossroads Marathon website: https://www.runsalinacrossroads.com/. "Volunteers are what separate the very best marathons from other races. We were blown away by both the number of individuals who volunteered for last year's race as well as their passion and commitment to ensuring that every runner had an amazing experience. We often highlight the number of participants and the economic impact that races have, but the volunteerism aspect is equally important to local communities like Salina." said Craig. Sponsorships and vendor fees allow for 100% of the race entry fees to be given to four local youth sports organizations. Vortex Companies is the 2023 Salina Crossroads Marathon Title Sponsor and over 50 organizations are providing support for the race. This amazing support from the community has enabled the Salina Crossroads Marathon to be one of the few marathons to provide 100% of the entry fees to a cause. The four organizations that the entry fees will be going to in 2023 are the Salina Family YMCA, Kansas Youth Sports, USD 305 School Marathon Foundation, and Salina Area Youth Sportsmanship Initiative.
The 2023 Salina Crossroads Marathon weekend will feature seven events: marathon, half marathon, 5K run, 5K walk, half marathon relay, marathon relay, and new half-mile kids run. “One of our goals with the Salina Crossroads Marathon is to create a high quality event with fun race options for the entire family,” said Craig. “We hope that the 5K run, 5K walk, team relays, new half mile kids run, and opportunities to volunteer and cheer on the runners will enable the entire community to come out and be a part of an amazing marathon weekend. The City of Salina has been amazing to work with. Sgt. Chad McCary and Brent Buchwald helped us to create a flat, fast, and scenic course and we are excited for some of the improvements to this year’s course. Staff at the City of Salina have also provided a lot of assistance in working through the special event permit process that allows us to provide some of the elements such as music along the course and an amazing post-race celebration that helps set us apart from other marathons in Kansas.”
About the Salina Crossroads Marathon
The Salina Crossroads Marathon began when two local runners (Chris Lehecka and Daniel Craig) started visiting about what it would look like for Salina to have a high-quality marathon and half marathon race. The City of Salina helped develop a fun and scenic course that minimized disruptions to traffic and parking in Downtown Salina. The Salina Crossroads Marathon planning committee includes individuals in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors as well as local runners. The goals of the Salina Crossroads Marathon are to have a high-quality race that can bring in runners from across the United States, provide 100% of the race entry fees to local organizations, and provide fun family friendly events so the entire community can come be a part of a USATF Certified and Boston Qualifying Marathon weekend.
For more information about the Salina Crossroads Marathon check out the website at runsalinacrossroads.com or follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1469896640070189.