NEENAH – It’s probably not everyone’s idea of a good-time family reunion activity, but for Joe and Nick Zimmerman it makes perfect sense.
The brothers and former Neenah residents will return to their hometown in September to run the Community First Fox Cities Marathon Presented by Miron Construction on Sept. 22. The event has been designated as one of four reunion races this year for the 50 States Marathon Club.
It is the third time the Fox Cities will host a reunion race — it also did so in 2006 and 2015 — and the Fox Cities Marathon is the only marathon in Wisconsin to host a reunion race.
“The course is flat and fast, for the most part, which marathoners love. We’re a Boston qualifier, so that helps. But I think overall they know it’s a well-run, organized race and has legs so to speak with the history with this being our 33rd year,” Fox Cities Marathon race director Julie Johnson said. “And the other thing is it also has to do with the community support. Knowing that the community supports it, that the community inspires it, and so many people come out to cheer people on, they feel that and it’s appreciated in many different ways.”
Joe Zimmerman enjoys 'personal challenge' of marathon running
Joe Zimmmeran, 54, moved to New York in 1999 and has lived in New York City since 2007. He ran the ThedaCare Half Marathon last year and has run the marathon course as part of some training runs when he’s been back home, but will be running the full marathon in his hometown for the first time.
He has completed more than 70 full marathons and is a member of the 50 States Marathon Club. His first marathon was the Chicago Marathon in 2000. He’s also competed in several ultra marathons.
“For me, it’s a personal challenge,” he said. “I realized really early on I’m never going to win in the strictest sense. I’m not going to be the one that breaks the tape. I’m not going to win the endorsements, the awards. But it is one of the few activities where you can be on the same course, at the same time, as the elites in the world. Albeit they’re only on for 2-plus hours and I’m on for 4-plus hours. For me, it’s my own personal race.”
Joe, who works as a chief compliance officer and privacy officer for an oncology biotech company based in Connecticut, still has a lot of relatives in the Fox Cities, so being part of the reunion race has special meaning.
“It’s a hidden gem in so many ways,” Joe said. “How courteous and hospitable people are, and that time of year is perhaps the best in terms of its beautiful temperature. It’s great for a run, great for spectators. And in a park that I grew up in. I remember the old rocket, where that was more steel and probably Tetanus shots that I had from that. To be able to end here, I see the hospital that I was born in. The city hall tower. The clock tower which I remember the effort to save that. Friends and family names on that on the plaque.
"I think the community should realize how much credit should go to the community and the organizers of the event that this race was chosen by the 50 States Marathon Club. They only choose four a year and it has to be a primo race that has all the right attributes.”
According to its website, the 50 States Marathon Club has 5,342 members who have combined to complete more than 375,000 marathons.
Joe Zimmerman has completed marathons in 48 states with only Alaska and Hawaii remaining. He plans to run with Nick and other family members in Alaska in August and then complete the cycle with a race in Hawaii next year.
“For me, it’s been a long trip. It will be 25 years of doing it. A quarter of a century, about half of my lifetime, spent in this,” Joe said. “It’s great. I’m really looking forward to it. It also is a wonderful way to see every state. And to see every state, people think distance running is a solitary sport. It’s very community. It’s a very social sport. So you’re spending time, sometimes hours with a person, talking about all of their background. It’s not just about running. It’s about everything in their life. So it becomes a very bonding experience. Bonding over the hardship or the pain or the fatigue or just the experience. So it’s a really great thing to be a part of.”
Nick Zimmerman ran a mile for over 1,000 days in a row
Nick Zimmerman, 51, doesn’t quite have the marathon experience of his older brother. His first marathon was also Chicago in 2000 and he has completed about 15 full marathons. Like Joe, he will be running the full marathon in his hometown for the first time after also doing the ThedaCare Half Marathon last year.
Nick, who is a public defender and has lived in Rockford, Illinois, since 2000, started running after college when he and Joe were living together.
“I just started getting into running and then kind of just continued on a long time,” he said. “It just keeps me, hopefully, in shape for the most part and like I said, I enjoy it. It’s a good time to decompress from whatever stress is going on in life.”
Despite living in Illinois for almost 25 years, Nick is no stranger to running in the Fox Cities. He and his college roommate created an ultra marathon event a few years ago that goes from Hortonville to Oshkosh on the Wiouwash State Trail.
“It was awesome. It was a great time,” he said. “It’s just a small group of us and all friends. … It’s 26.3 miles, so it’s only an ultra marathon in the sense that it’s .1 mile longer than a regular marathon. So I don’t know if that counts.”
Nick admits he “has no training plan” when it comes to getting ready for a marathon, other than running longer distances as the race gets closer to build up his endurance.
“I just run slow every day,” he said.
Joe says Nick is a faster runner than him, but Nick has a different take on that.
“We’re both equally slow,” Nick said with a smile. “Maybe I’m less slow.”
Nick also accomplished a remarkable feat of consistency by running at least one mile every day for more than 1,000 days before the streak ended during a trip.
“The streak was only broken — and I’ll brag about him — the streak was only broken when he was traveling internationally and wasn’t able to run on a 12-hour flight,” Joe said of his brother.
They both insist there is no sibling rivalry on the course and, for the most part, they stick together. During last year’s half marathon, Nick finished one second ahead of Joe.
“He’s quicker, faster but I have more endurance and distance runs under my belt,” Joe said. “But he’s a pretty formidable rival.”
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