The Marathon Project was an elite-only marathon held on the

Gila River Indian Reservation Gila River Indian Reservation was a reservation established in 1859 by the United States government in New Mexico Territory, to set aside the lands of the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and the Piipaash (Maricopa) people along the Gila River, in what ...

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

. December 2020. It was created by Northern Arizona Elite coach Ben Rosario together with Josh Cox and Matt Helbig to provide a race after many of the

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races reco ...

were cancelled due to COVID-19. Medical student Martin Hehir finished first in a time of 2:08:59 and Sara Hall won the women's race and became the second fastest American marathoner in a race paced by Calum Neff. Among the records set at the race,

Nathan Martin Nathan Martin (born December 18, 1989) is an American long distance runner, who specializes in the marathon. His personal best is 2:10:45, set at the 2023 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. Running career As an amateur, Martin competed for Spring Ar ...

became the fastest American born African-American marathoner when he finished in 2:11:05 to beat Herm Atkins' 2:11:32.

References

{{arizona-stub Marathons in the United States 2020 marathons 2020 in sports in Arizona Track and field in Arizona Chandler, Arizona Gila River Indian Community