For Joe Moreno and his Quad Cities Marathon Race Committee, planning an event post-pandemic is no small feat. And with the return of live racing this year, the 2021 Quad Cities Marathon will take over downtown Moline, Rock Island, Davenport and Bettendorf on Saturday, September 25th and Sunday the 26th. And Moreno is confident that the QC running community will be happy with all he has planned next weekend. “This year has prompted us to go back to the basics,” said Moreno. “It’s not a year to come up with some razzle-dazzle thing. The goal is just to get things back to normal and make it a good experience for everybody.”
Moreno’s definition of basic may be a bit different than most as for the first and last time, the 5K route will have an option to run across the I-74 bridge joining with the ½ and full marathoners. “It’s an out and back,” explained Moreno. “And the idea is just for the fun of it. I wouldn’t consider that fast with that ramp incline. That’s pretty long and that defeats the fast and flat, so stay on the traditional course on River Drive for the flat and fast and this one for the scenery.”
And for those that aren’t familiar with the event, scenic routes for all the distances and QCM goodies are something runners never have to worry about. “It’s the fact that we have so much on our menu to choose from,” said Moreno. “The marathon, the half, the Rudy’s Mile, the kid’s micro-marathon, the relay, the post-race party, the perks, the bling, the expo. It’s not just one race and it’s over with. There’s a lot of angles to this.”
With the Quad Cities Marathon being Moreno’s fourth and final event for the year, the biggest angle he and his team will be focusing on is the appreciation they have for all those that have supported him and his crew throughout the years and just helping make it so that everyone can run with family and friends. “It’s a comeback year,” explained Moreno. “Number one, we are lucky to be able to run and number two, we are grateful to have people come back and knowing that it’s not going to be a record-breaking year. I mean we could look for other things, but that is the big thing right there, that we are out here racing again.”
For more information or to register for the 2021 Quad Cities Marathon visit, https://www.qcmarathon.org/.
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