The Cleveland Half Marathon is partnering with Lee University’s Great Strides Walk and the 65 Roses 5K for a collaborative event on Saturday, Sept. 12, on the Lee campus. The half marathon, originally scheduled to take place on May 16, has been postponed due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We are excited to join forces with Lee University’s longstanding event,” said Brittany Katz, owner of Terra Running Company and organizer of the Cleveland Half Marathon.

The Cleveland Half Marathon, now in its fourth year, is once again sponsored by the Cleveland Bradley Chamber of Commerce. The race will take participants on a scenic tour of Cleveland city, beginning and ending on Lee’s campus, with an out and back stretch on Cleveland’s Greenway. “Previous participants of the half-marathon will be thrilled to know the hill on Highland Avenue will be abandoned from the route this year,” says Ms. Katz. 

The 65 Roses 5K course will be the first 3.1 miles of the half marathon.  Both races will finish in front of the Paul Conn Student Union. 

Race finishers for both the 5K and half-marathon will receive a commemorative medal depicting the Lee University Chapel. Awards will also be given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place male and female runners in 13 different age divisions in the half-marathon and 12 different age divisions in the 5K. All participants will receive a technical shirt. 

"We appreciate the community’s understanding during these unprecedented circumstances and look forward to celebrating running and health with all of Cleveland on Sept. 12,” said Dr. Bill Estes, 65 Roses race director.  “The 65 Roses has partnered with Terra Running Company and Brittany Katz for the past four years, and combining the two largest race events in Cleveland to support Great Strides and celebrate the local running community seemed to be a natural fit for 2020.”

Great Strides is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s largest national fundraiser and each year rallies hundreds of community participants and Lee University students to raise money for the foundation.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a nonprofit donor-supported organization dedicated to attacking cystic fibrosis from every angle. Its focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF, and ultimately find a cure. In the last 30 years, the life expectancy of a child with CF has doubled, and research is happening daily to find a cure and develop drugs available to those living with CF.

Participants who have already registered for the 2020 Cleveland Half Marathon and 5k are automatically registered for the Sept. 12 event. To register for the event, go to http://www.clevelandhalf.com/.

For more information about the Cleveland Great Strides Walk and 65 Roses 5K, visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/cf.

For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit https://www.cff.org/.