Despite a changeable forecast in the days leading up to the 33rd annual Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, it turned out to be a beautiful day to run a marathon.

Photo by Bill Flaws – Running in the USA

More than 2,100 runners finished this year’s race. Winning the men’s race was Ryan Meissen of Mukwanago with a time of 2:28:23. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Zachary Meineke of Wauwatosa and Josh Kaplan of Portland, Oregon.

Meissen leading the race

Photo by Bill Flaws – Running in the USA

The winner of the women’s race was Melissa Burkart of Hudson, Wisconsin with a time of 2:45:31. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Amanda Daws and Ruth Swedler, both from Milwaukee.

Burkart on her way to this year’s women’s title

Photo by Bill Flaws – Running in the USA

The top male and female Masters winners were Eric Pilling and Kit McCaffrey. The top male and female Grandmasters winners were Tim Stieber and Georgine Kudrna.

One of our absolute favorite things about local races is seeing so many familiar faces both before, during and after the race. It ends up being a running reunion of sorts. Here’s who we spotted on Sunday:

• Brittany Schepp – Keeping a steady pace early in the race
• Jennifer Hubbart – On her way to a new marathon PR
• Lisa Ehlke – Running a fantastic 3:51 time for her first marathon
• Jeff Dallmann – Running strong throughout the race
• Alice Ambrowiak – Running her 9th Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon
• Michelle Zerzanek – Speeding through the miles to win an Age Group award.
• Arun Sarkar, Patrick Bieser, Lynn Balistreri and many others from the Milwaukee Running Group
• Sara Brozek – A nice strong finish for her first marathon
• Melissa Moore – Surpassing her expectations for the race
• Mary Flaws – Finishing the race with her training partner
• Rachel Goeden – Running her way to a new PR

We hope everyone had a great race. From what we’ve heard, it sounds like there were a lot of PRs and plenty of fantastic memories that came out of this race.

Photo by Bill Flaws – Running in the USA

Congrats to everyone who participated and thanks to the Badgerland Striders for once again organizing a fantastic event!

Keep Running MKE – you’re doing great!