As preparations are underway the 2023 Buffalo Marathon, we wanted to take a moment to extend our appreciation to everyone involved this year and provide a recap of this year’s events.
The Buffalo Marathon has grown from a small road race into a weekend celebration that kicks off summer in Buffalo. This has been possible with the continued support of everyone involved. Together, public agencies, sponsors, vendors, board members, committee members and volunteers have become a family working tirelessly to produce a world class event that our community can be proud off. In the last 21 years the weekend has grown into 17 events over three days. We have been able to give back over 1.3 million dollars to 58 organizations who support the race with volunteers.
Take pride in the recap below, it wouldn’t be possible without you!
Friday
– Friday Happy Hour Street Party by the Chippewa Alliance
– Buffalo Marathon Pedal Party presented by Slow Roll.
– Buffalo Marathon VIP Party
Saturday
– Buffalo Marathon 5k presented by John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital
– 5k Post Race Party Celebration
– Health & Wellness Expo
– Kids Mini Marathon presented by Dicks Sporting Goods & John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital
– Diaper Dash (26.2-foot crawl) presented by John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital
– Ruffalo Stampede Presented by Tito’s.
– BARk Crawl Celebration on Chippewa Presented by Tito’s
– Complimentary Yoga provided by Yogies in Service
– Carb Loading Pasta Party
Sunday
– Buffalo Marathon
– Buffalo Half Marathon
– Kaleida Health Heart-To-Heart Relay
– Post Race Party
– Closing Celebration Concert and Fireworks in conjunction with the Chippewa Alliance
Community Support
– $262,500 was raised during this year’s events
– With over $350,000 raised by the Heart-to-Heart runners in the last two years, we are excited to share we replaced all the monitors needed in the ICU at Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute!
– $7,500 was raised for the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital through the Buffalo Marathon 5k Community Fund.
– 150 swag bags from the Buffalo Mini Marathon presented by Dicks Sporting Goods and the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital. These bags contained everything our eight and under athletes received including a finishers medal.
– Over 12,000 pounds of food was collected at the food drive held during the Health and Wellness Expo. Top’s Friendly Markets and AQA infused water donated the remaining water and Gatorade to the drive. The Marathon added over 1,000 left over grab and go food boxes. Over 23,000 pounds of food, or 19,160 meals, was given to FeedMore WNY to assist the Jefferson Avenue Community after the shooting
The mass shooting at Tops on Jefferson Avenue on May 14th will forever leave a somberness on our community. Occurring just 13 days prior to Marathon Weekend, it weighed heavily on our entire team. As the first large event to occur following this tragedy, we wanted to be respectful of the victims and families affected, as well as the athletes that had been preparing for months for the event.
Working closely with Tops, we wanted to honor the victims and celebrate the athletes who trained for months for our race. The start banner listed the names and ages of all the victims. Prior to the start we honored the victims by reading the name, city and age of each while tolling a bell in their memory. 7,500 ribbons were distributed to the participants and volunteers in a show of solidary that that community will not forget. Kaleida Health provided all the Heart-To-Heart participants with commemorative race shirts baring the victims’ names. The finish chute was lined with 13 potted plants, each holding the name of a victim. These plants were then delivered to the community resource center to be delivered to the families.
STOP HATE. END RACISM. CHOOSE LOVE.
