By Jamie Paige
The CVPost
The marathon is one of the crowning achievements in the world of runners. It’s an athletic feat that demands perseverance, and often it’s accompanied by extraordinary stories.
The Eau Claire Marathon, to be held this year on May 3, certainly is no exception.
Last year one of those extraordinary stories featured Eau Claire firefighters running the 26.2 miles in full gear to honor Denise Waterman, a fellow firefighter stricken by cancer. Sadly Waterman died just two weeks before the marathon, but her comrades ran the race nonetheless, bearing their 50-pound loads and carrying her uniform to the finish line.
One of the extraordinary stories surrounding this year’s Eau Claire Marathon involves special festivities that will honor the memory of a local schoolteacher and athlete who died tragically last fall.
Cheri Uelmen’s Fantastically Fun Kid’s Run will honor the Eau Claire first-grade teacher, fitness instructor and runner who died as the result of a bicycle accident in September.
Running in memory of Uelmen
The event honoring Uelmen will be held in Eau Claire’s Carson Park on May 2, the day before the marathon. It will feature a half-mile course for children ages 2 to 5 and a one-mile route for those between the ages of 5 and 10.
“Cheri was active and loved to see kids being active and getting involved,” says Eau Claire Marathon Race Director Pat Toutant, whose daughter Emily is Uelmen’s daughter-in-law. “This course is going to be fun and challenging, just how she would like it.”
Toutant taking on the role of race director last year, with Emily serving as co-director, is another remarkable story associated with the Eau Claire Marathon.
When Karen and Kevin Dreschsel, the former race directors, stepped aside, citing the increasingly difficult task of coordinating a race that had grown significantly in size over its first few years, it was announced the marathon was dead.
But a few months later, the Toutant family stepped in to assume the enormous challenge of ensuring there would be a marathon in which the thousands of runners and their stories could be played out.
Their inspiration? A passion for running and a desire to hold a meaningful event in a place they’re proud to call home.
“What we wanted to do right away was make this race something that gives back to the community in many ways,” Toutant said.
That mission already has been accomplished in a big way. Last year, Toutant’s first as race director, the marathon raised an estimated $31,000 for Eau Claire-area charities. This year they expect to increase that figure, and the giving already has begun.
Last month race organizers donated 276 pairs of running shoes to “Girls on the Run,” a program meant to uplift the self esteem of young girls by encouraging them to become physically active.
“There was such great excitement when the girls got their shoes,” Toutant said. “Once they got that excitement, they wanted to do something, you heard them talking about running.”
Toutant also takes inspiration for his work from memories of the firefighters carrying their heavy loads – both physical and emotional – through last year’s marathon.
“To watch that take place was such an inspiration,” he says.
New route set for marathon
A new course has been laid for this year’s Eau Claire Marathon featuring new and exciting changes, Toutant says.
“The big change is that the race will now go through the heart of the Third Ward and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire,” he says.
In past years a section of the course near downtown Eau Claire ran along the Chippewa River Trail. While scenic, that stretch of the race left limited availability for spectators to cheer on the runners.
This year, Toutant says, “It’s going to be a beautiful course with lots of spectators.”
While proud of the race’s past and excited about its present, Toutant also is looking to its future.
“We want to keep growing as much as the course and the city allows us to,” he says.
“I love showing it off. If we can keep it a win-win, we want every runner to feel like the this is a class race built for him or her.”
Toutant is counting down the hours until the gun goes off at 7:30 a.m. on race day.
Until then, he and his family will continue to work hard so that participants can create new memories and stories of determination and perseverance as they run through the beautiful landscapes of Eau Claire.