The Fifth Third River Bank Run was this weekend, and for the fourth year in a row, attendance was down.  This year, the 39th year, had 15,787 runners register, down from the last year’s 17,251 runners and from the all-time record high year of 2012 which brought in just over 21,000 runners.

John Zimmerman, this year’s race director said he believes the Fifth Third River bank Run will continue to hold steady at about 16,000 runners and he’s fine with that due to the fact that the city and sponsors had such a positive weekend.

"There are so many races out there now and so many of them have themes associated with them," Zimmerman said Monday. "Whether it is a color run or a mud run. And I'm reading on trends about Millennial runners, and they tend to do more of those type of races than traditional road races."

 

"I don't think we're going to add an inflatable run or anything like that," he said. "Tried and true. I think it's on us to make sure we provide the best experience possible."

 

"All the reports that have come in from the different divisions or businesses all went very smoothly," he said. "Especially with registration. Everything ran smoothly and, obviously, we are thrilled with that."

 

The run committee and others will meet in the next few weeks to talk about any changes that are needed, but with over 50,000 people downtown for the race including volunteers and spectators and no problems reported, it looks like the Fifth Third River Bank Run will continue to be a success for everyone involved.

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