Star Tribune
An essential guide for Twin Cities Marathon runners and their fans ahead of race day
With laces checked, bodies rested and bibs adjusted, about 8,000 runners will take on the 26.2 miles from Minneapolis to St. Paul this Sunday in the 42nd running of the Twin Cities Marathon.
Unseasonably warm weather notwithstanding, Sunday’s marathon and popular TC 10 Mile and other race weekend events signal autumn in the metro and Minnesota like few other public events. As many as 25,000 runners all told will be in the embrace of tens of thousands of spectators out in enthusiastic force to get them to their respective finish lines.
As for the marathon, there will be live music at strategic spots, artwork-in-real-time installations and “cheer squads” as added fuel — all areas that Twin Cities in Motion (TCM), the marathon organizer, takes as seriously as the fine details of logistics like starting corrals and gear drops.
TCM president Dean Orton said the emphasis remains on experience over clock time while coming up with races that appeal to a spectrum of runners and their supporters.
“The more we can understand the passions and the reasons people who are out there challenge themselves, it is inspirational [for our work],” he said.
What time do the races start Sunday?
TC 10 Mile
• 6:55 a.m.: Professionals start
• 7 a.m.: General start
Marathon
• 7:58 a.m.: Wheelers start
• 8 a.m.: General start
What is the weather forecast?
Sunday morning has a slight chance of rain. Saturday’s overnight low is in the high 60s. Otherwise, the National Weather Service says Sunday will feel like August: highs will be in the low to mid-80s, with mostly sunny skies and a dew point of 63 degrees. TCM has alerted all participants to take precautions, like staying well-hydrated, because of the warmth. It is operating all the races under red-flag conditions, meaning “extreme caution, with potentially dangerous conditions.”
What are some popular spots to watch marathoners?
TCM recommends these locations:
• Mile 2 area: along Douglas Avenue. Former Minnesota state Supreme Court Justice (and Vikings great) Alan Page has become an institution for his support, too, delivered by sousaphone. TCM has organized about 40 cheer zones as part of a Cheer Challenge to honor Page and his late wife, Diane, for their longtime marathon backing.
• Miles 4 and 5: The West Bde Maka Ska Parkway between Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska.
• Miles 12 to 14: Runners need the cheers as they approach the half-marathon just off Cedar Avenue and along the eastern shoreline of Lake Nokomis.
• Miles 15 to 21: The West and East river parkways bracketing the Mississippi River.
• Mile 22 to the finish line at the Capitol: Summit Avenue is an especially good time and place to cheer runners digging deep to get it in, but be mindful of access and others looking to spectate.
How can I best follow runners’ progress online?
• During: Ahead of the race, download the TCM app, for Apple and Android, and search for runners (marathon and TC 10) to track live. There also are weekend schedules, course maps and a selfie filter to share race day photos.
• After: Go online to search results (find by person or by event) at MTECResults.com.
How else can I follow along?
KARE 11 is live-streaming both Sunday races at kare11.com/marathon, on its app (including its new KARE 11+ app for Roku and Fire TV) and on its YouTube channel.
What’s new this year? What is worth knowing?
• Gear bag drop-off change: TC 10 Mile runners can’t drop bags at the start on race morning. TCM lost its transportation partner for the race, and 10-milers must drop their bags ahead of time at the Health & Fitness Expo at the RiverCentre St. Paul. Marathoners still can drop a bag at the start line Sunday for transport to the finish line.
• Video-cheer: Run supporters can upload a video to a Cheer Channel that will broadcast as their participant crosses in front of a big screen at the 30-kilometer mark (Mile 18.6). Submissions must be uploaded by 9 p.m. Friday.
• More live art: There are more live art exhibitions this year. Community artists will work on massive canvases during the marathon “to capture the soul of the event,” according to TCM, and will also be present Saturday at the Capitol during the family events. Some of the locations, besides the expo, start and finish line areas, are Bde Maka Ska Parkway at the Xerxes Ave. intersection; Minnehaha Park near Godfrey Circle; and Summit Avenue at the Syndicate Street intersection.
• Planting trees: TCM has partnered with the Department of Natural Resources and the Future Forest Fund to plant one tree on state public lands for every participant in the marathon weekend races, from Saturday’s Diaper Dash to the headliner Sunday from Minneapolis to St. Paul. Orton said the emphasis fits with marathon’s description as “The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America” — to help sustain the beauty in outstate Minnesota, too.
Who are some runners to watch in the marathon and TC 10?
• Dominic Ondoro: The Kenyan is back in pursuit of more Twin Cities glory. A four-time marathon winner, he holds the course record of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 51 seconds, set in 2016.
• Hellen Jepkurgat:The runner from Kenya isn’t a stranger to Minnesota racing. She was second in the 2017 Twin Cities Marathon (2:31:50) to winner Jane Kibii, and won Grandma’s Marathon the same year (2:32:09).
• Tyler Jermann: A Minnesota Distance Elite athlete since 2017, he ran a 2:16:50 at Grandma’s in 2022. His personal best is 2:12:40 during The Marathon Project race in 2020, an event created for elites after the COVID-19 pandemic affected the world’s major marathons.
• Breanna Sieracki: An eight-time All America during her collegiate career at Minnesota Duluth, Sieracki has a marathon PR of 2:33:26. Since joining Minnesota Distance Elite in 2017, she has competed in a variety of races, from cross-country distances to the mile to half-marathons.
• Mare Dibaba: The former world marathon champion from Ethiopia also won Olympic bronze in the event (2:24:30) at the Rio Games in 2016 in Brazil. She’ll toe the line at the TC 10 on Sunday.
• James Ngandu: The Kenyan is one of the men’s favorites in the 10-mile race. He has a personal best of 46 minutes, 27 seconds.
A driver who hit and killed a man who ran into a busy Minneapolis street has been spared prison and was sentenced on the lesser of two charges.
Camoreay L. Prowell, 38, of St. Paul, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in Hennepin County District Court to failing to stop for a traffic collision in connection with the death of Wilson G. Chinchilla, 26, of Minneapolis, on Oct. 19, 2022, on West Broadway near N. Logan Avenue.
Judge Hilary Caligiuri set aside a 13-month term and placed Prowell on probation for three years. He has about 3½ weeks left to serve in jail. As called for in the plea agreement, the more serious charge of criminal vehicular homicide was dismissed.
When asked about dropping the higher charge, the County Attorney’s Office said in a statement, “This office weighs the specific facts of each case to determine the appropriate resolution. In this instance, the charge for which Mr. Prowell was sentenced [Thursday] is correct and appropriate.”
The complaint said that Prowell was driving at the time after his license had been canceled. Court records in Minnesota revealed he’s been convicted three times for drunken driving and at least twice for driving after his license had been revoked.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police found Chinchilla’s body in the left lane of westbound West Broadway. Video surveillance showed that he ran out of a nearby home moments earlier toward the street.
Witnesses told police that a speeding SUV hit Chinchilla, slowed briefly as it continued west, then made a U-turn and returned to the scene of the crash. Prowell stopped, looked at the body and left.
Mychel Stowers was released on parole from prison about seven months ago after he pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder in 2008 for fatally shooting a man in a drug deal gone wrong. According to charging documents, Stowers was living at a halfway house and granted a pass to visit his ex-wife at her North End apartment on the same day that she was killed.
Mychel Stowers’ description also matched the man witnesses saw fleeing Damara Stowers’ apartment moments after the shooting. One witness said they heard no fights or arguments before four gunshots rang. They heard another gunshot five seconds later, and another witness reported seeing a heavyset man with a white shirt and blue shorts run south afterwards.
The apartment’s owner said they were preparing to evict Damara Stowers, adding that her ex-boyfriend, a stocky man in his 30′s or 40′s, was living with her.
Police heard reports of a carjacking minutes later, finding a man shot in his leg on 99 Acker Street. Surveillance footage reviewed by authorities show someone approach that man and point something at him before a flash appeared. The man fell and the shooter ran away, but returned moments later to take the man’s vehicle and leave. That man was treated at Regions Hospital for a broken femur from a gunshot wound.
Authorities believe the gun used to carjack that man on Acker Street was the same used to kill Damara Stowers in her apartment.
There have been 25 homicides in St. Paul so far this year, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune database. There were 28 by this time last year.
The Minneapolis Police Department is on track to rack up $26 million in overtime this year — about $10 million over budget — as the number of extra hours officers work continues since a flood of officers left the force after George Floyd’s 2020 police killing and unrest that ensued.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara provided the OT figure to City Council members during a budget presentation Thursday in which he added that the department has about 210 vacancies.
“We’re using overtime every day to do the most basic functions of a police department,” he said. “It is critically low staffing right now.”
Last year, MPD paid nearly $23 million in overtime — about half of that “critical staffing overtime,” in which officers are paid double their hourly wage.
Overtime is being driven by a wave of resignations and retirements at the department, which had 578 sworn officers as of Thursday, down from nearly 900 in 2019, a 36% decrease that has left it with one of the nation’s lowest ratios of officers to residents.
MPD was averaging about $7 million in overtime prior to 2020, when it shot up to $11 million and has increased every year since, reaching $23 million last year.
Mayor Jacob Frey has proposed a $230 million budget for MPD next year, a 6% increase from 2024, or $13.7 million. Of that, $13 million is budgeted for “constitutional policing” to comply with a state human rights settlement. State and federal officials are forcing the police department into court-sanctioned monitoring for civil rights violations.
Most of that goes to personnel, which comprises 77% of the budget, according to MPD Finance Director Vicki Troswick. The mayor proposes 966 full-time total MPD employees next year, compared to 935 this year. Of those, 731 sworn officers are budgeted for 2025. The city charter requires the city to employ 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, or 731 officers, although the city has struggling to reach that number amid a nationwide law enforcement staffing shortage.
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