The 16th annual Community First Fox Cities Marathon Festival of Races held in Appleton, Wis., on Sept. 23 and 24 has announced the following changes for 2006:

Start Line Returns to Neenah
This year's Sunday events will return to a start at Riverside Park in Neenah, Wis. "We felt it was very important to find a way to again incorporate Neenah into the course to be consistent with our goal of being a true community-wide event," said Race Operations Manager Jesse Drake.

While Sunday's start line had been located in Riverside Park for many years, the start moved in 2005 to Menasha, Wis., to include the newly opened Trestle Trail Bridge into the course.

"We were very pleased with how logistically smooth and efficient the start line area and bridge were last year," says Drake. "But we felt we needed to include the City of Neenah, which has been very supportive of the Community First Fox Cities Marathon since its inception. Without having Neenah on the course, it just felt incomplete."

The Community First Fox Cities Marathon Sunday events will start in Neenah, Wis., and wind thru seven Fox Cities communities before finishing at the UW-Fox Valley Campus in Menasha, Wis.

New Website Unveiled
To make a more user-friendly experience for participants and visitors, the Community First Fox Cities Marathon Festival of Races has updated its website with new features such as message boards, an online volunteer registration form and all the latest information on this year's events. As in the past, participants will be able to register online or print an application to register plus print course maps and purchase official merchandise. Check it out at www.FoxCitiesMarathon.org.

The Community First Fox Cities Marathon is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Saturday, Sept. 23 events include the Time Warner Cable 5K Run/Walk and the Guardian Kids Fun Run. Sunday, Sept. 24 events feature the Community First Fox Cities Marathon, U.S. Cellular Half Marathon, Appleton Papers 13.1 mile PowerWalk and Michelob Ultra Relay Marathon.