Run CRANDIC marathon kicks off in 2018

NORTH LIBERTY — The cities of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are close to each other. Turns out, around 26.2 miles apart.

A new marathon between the cities, called 'Run CRANDIC,' was announced Thursday, with the first race set for April 29, 2018.

The marathon will start in the NewBo district in Cedar Rapids and finish at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.

'We wanted to have a pretty memorable beginning and a pretty memorable end,' said Josh Schamberger, the President of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. 'Kinnick Stadium is legendary, and the NewBo area has become a really popular attraction.'

Jennifer Pickar, the Director of Marketing for Go Cedar Rapids, said the new zip line over the Cedar River is about a block from the race start and should be up and ready to go for the race.

'This has been talked about for a long time,' Pickar said of the marathon. 'So, it's really cool to see it finally come to be.'

Marc Powers, the President of the Corridor Running Club, said the running community in both cities has wanted this forever.

'After a couple of decades of thinking about it, we've plotted multiple courses,' Powers said. 'It has been challenging to get to the right distance between communities.'

The bulk of the marathon will run down Hwy. 965, and Schamberger said half of the highway will be shut down that Sunday morning for the race.

'The logistics are incredibly challenging, which is why we haven't been able to pull this off, yet,' he said. 'There's no other route you can get from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City at marathon distance. Unless you use 380, and that's not going to happen.'

In addition to the marathon, there will a half-marathon that starts at the North Liberty headquarters of University of Iowa Community Credit Union, the event sponsor.

There also is a 5-kilometer race that will start at Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville.

'I'd be tickled if we had 500 people that ran in the marathon,' Schamberger said. 'We'll see if we get that. It is not make or break, thanks to the people of the (UI Community) Credit Union, and others. But it's a good number to shoot for.'

Powers said they are working to get the race certified, which would allow runners to use their times to qualify for bigger races, like the Boston Marathon.

But the process is 'very tedious.'

'They have to measure the course down to the inch,' Powers said.

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