Green Bay Reporter

The Green Bay Cellcom marathon returned with a bang on May 15.

After a two-year absence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, runners of all levels and ages were on hand to take part in different events and partake in all the festivities that came with the daylong event.

In addition to the cancellations brought on by the pandemic, WBay.com reports the full marathon was also not an event option at the 2019 Cellcom because of flooding and extreme heat across the area, meaning, for true long distance runners, it has been four years since they were able to run the event in Green Bay.

“Congrats to all my fellow runners braving the heat and the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon organizers for putting on the race and returning from years of adversity,” runner Dave Schroeder tweeted.  

'Together Again' was the theme of this year's race, with the loop around Lambeau Field during the 26.2 mile run again serving as a huge draw for this year’s field of roughly 3,600 runners. Some runners also choose to continue running in Green Bay because they started with the one-mile loop in Lambeau and love the tradition.

While the winners at this year’s marathon were not Wisconsin natives, as in years past, there was no shortage of overall excitement.

“You look at that excitement that race day brings, you can’t get that with a virtual event,” said Cellcom Green Bay Marathon spokesperson Tammy VanDenBusch, who has worked on putting the race together since 2010. “Runners train a lot by themselves, so coming together kind of brings the sport together. It really kind of empowers you to want to run more. It’s exciting to be back together.

In the end, Vincent Toroitich from Texas walked away as the overall winner with a time of 2:19:52. GreenBayPressGazette.com reports that the 31-year-old Kenyan was in the lead for most of the run.

In the women’s division, Texas native Damaris Areba emerged victorious with a time of 2:23:36.