Mike Lindemann, Champaign resident, is the owner of Body N’ Sole Sports in Savoy, Ill. and co-director of the Illinois Marathon.

Though he is the owner of a very successful business, Lindemann, 53, said the marathon takes precedence this time of year.

Illinois Marathon race co-director Jan Seely said Lindemann is fully committed to the race on May 1 on a course that crosses through Champaign and Urbana before ending at Memorial Stadium.

“Mike is an incredibly knowledgeable person; about running, about specialty running stores, about directing races, about coaching,” she said.

“He is a very successful business man and he is one of the hardest working individuals I know.”

Before last year, which marked the first year of the event, Lindemann said he met with the mayors of Champaign and Urbana to allow the race to happen, design a course through the cities and oversee operations on race day, making sure everything went smoothly.

The first marathon was a success with more than 9,000 people running in the event and another 2,000 volunteering.

Lindemann said the first race’s success surprised him.

“Our goal initially was, honestly, 3,000,” he said.

“We thought if we could get 3,000 and fit (have room for parking and boarding), that it would grow from there. We thought the proximity to Chicago, Indy (Indianapolis), St. Louis would really be good for us.”

Its effect on the local community was immense, he said. All of the hotels in Champaign and Urbana and many of the surrounding towns were completely booked. The economic impact was about $2.8 million, he said.

However, the inaugural race was not without its problems, Lindemann said.

About a month before the race, Lindemann said the event was in danger of being canceled because there were not enough volunteers. After a story ran in The News-Gazette, more than 200 new volunteers stepped up.

Some runners said they had problems with aid stations.

“In some stations it (water) was handed out in full pint bottles,” said marathon participant Mark Matula, 36 from Zion, Ill. “Not only were the bottles cumbersome to deal with for drinking, but it was wasteful and created a hazardous condition as the mostly full bottles were discarded.”

“Paper cups crush underfoot a lot easier than plastic, sometimes capped bottles.”

“Additionally, I saw a girl toss a bottle off to the side and literally hit another runner in the head. That shouldn’t happen.”

This year, the 45-person marathon committee is expecting an even bigger turnout of more than 14,500 runners, Lindemann said.

This year’s layout of the course has also changed to be more favorable to faster runners.

“Last year the course ran through Meadowbrook Park (in Urbana) and the narrow path and wet grass created a big bottleneck where faster runners were stuck behind slower participants,” Matula said. “This year, the course still goes through the park, which is quite scenic, but it now comes a few miles later in the race where the crowds should be thinned out a bit more.”

“In this way, the organizers really seemed to listen to complaints and work to improve the course.”

Lindemann said he is not sure what the future holds for the Illinois Marathon. However, he is cautious to have the event reach more than 20,000 people. He does not want the marathon to become overcrowded because he feared that it would have a lower quality.

He has not ruled out the possibility of adding a 10K to the event that already has the full marathon, half marathon, 5K, relay and youth run.

Lindemann said he is glad to have had such a great effect on the Champaign-Urbana area.

“The community really embraced us,” Lindemann said. “All the comments we got was how great it was to have people cheer for you all the time. The runners really enjoyed that.”