The 2025 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon will again host the Best of the Midwest Invitational. The offer is part of its professional athlete program. The Best of the Midwest Invitational will offer support and dedicated prize money to aspiring marathoners from twelve Midwestern states. This is for marathon runners who seek to join nationally and internationally ranked marathoners.
Along with the established professional athletes invited from around the nation and world, Midwestern athletes accepted into the Best of the Midwest Invitational field will be featured in the “race within a race.” They will compete for a prize purse totalling $20,000. The prize purse is part of a $79,000-plus total marathon prize purse. This includes wheelchair athletes who will receive full professional athlete amenities.
A few who benefited
Last year, Molly Bookmyer of Ohio and Matthew Richtman of Illinois used the program to advance their marathoning to new heights.
Bookmyer, who won the marathon outright in a personal best 2:28:52, parlayed the success into an invitation to this spring’s TCS London Marathon, a World Marathon Major, where she finished 12th overall.
“Running marathons is all about taking advantage of the opportunities that we have,” Bookmyer noted. “Winning TCM and finishing with a new personal best gave me the opportunity to reach out to the elite coordinator of the TCS London Marathon. Without the win or the personal best, I may not have been given the opportunity this spring. Winning TCM set me up for success in 2025!”
Richtman, who was runner-up in the Best in the Midwest field in 2024. He was also fourth overall in the marathon running 2:10:45. Richtman used his debut marathon success at Twin Cities to his advantage at this spring’s Los Angeles Marathon. In Los Angeles he was the surprise winner in 2:07:57.
Over 30 years of support
Carving out a special place for aspiring Midwesterners at a top Midwestern marathon is natural for the Twin Cities Marathon. Midwestern runners have long seen the event as a place to establish their name in the running world.
In 1991, Janis Klecker used a victory at her hometown marathon as a step to becoming an Olympian in 1992. Just as 2019 Twin Cities Marathon runner-up Dakotah Lindwurm claimed a spot on the U.S. team for Paris last summer. Past men’s champions like Phil Coppess (Iowa), the longtime men’s course record holder, and Bill Donakowski (Michigan) were consistent contenders on the U.S. road racing circuit in their time.
Athletes wishing to apply for the Best of the Midwest Invitational can learn more and apply here.
