A month after announcing a new route that would include the Hoan Bridge, the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon has been canceled.
Here is the letter posted to Facebook by Badgerland Striders Running Club, the race organizers, on Friday...
Because of road construction, organizers altered the original course for the race, which was to have been on Oct. 2, and that allowed for the inclusion of just about the most-coveted course segment among Milwaukee runners: the Hoan Bridge.
But, as Friday's letter notes, "We faced hurdles that we simply could not overcome including ongoing changes and demands to route safety and security measures, governmental procedures and timelines and City vendor staffing shortages."
Full refunds will be made in the coming weeks, according to the letter.
The event – organized by the Badgerland Striders running club – was also to include a half-marathon for the first time. That race quickly sold out. There was also a 5K.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
