Late Marquette president's daughter honors his legacy through running, wins first in Milwaukee Lakefront Half Marathon
Marissa Lovell MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Some family traditions include watching movies, playing games, or going to the theatre. But for the Lovell family, what's been instilled has been running. Marissa Lovell says running is how she and her father, Michael Lovell, bonded. She recalled "lots of special memories as a kid getting to run with him."
Marissa and Michael Lovell
Thiry-one-year-old Marissa Lovell's love of running started at a young age because she saw her dad running so often; two marathons a year, with several half-marathons and 5Ks in between. At those runs, there were races for kids -- and that's where Lovell started.
Where Marissa's love of running first started -- doing fun runs with her father, Michael.
Her toughest run came in 2024, after her father passed following a battle with Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
"I decided the week of his funeral that I wanted to start training for a marathon and do it in his honor," Lovell said. "So I thought, what better one to do than Lakefront?"
Where Marissa's love of running first started -- doing fun runs with her father, Michael.
The father and daughter duo ran the Lakefront 5K together in 2021. Lovell said she flew in to surprise him. She went on to say the Lakefront Marathon was a race he did often. After a few months of training following Michael's funeral in 2024, Lovell came in third place. And this past Sunday, she finished first in the half-marathon with a total time of 1:19:31, a full 30 seconds before the second-place runner.
"It's just been a way for me to stay connected to him, even though he's physically not here anymore. To be able to run and do that activity that he loved so much is really special," Lovell said.
Michael's love of running is one he spread to the community, especially during his time at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette. That's something Lovell thought of as she ran past Milwaukee landmarks, while working through her pain and grief.
"When I'm starting to hurt and when I'm questioning why I'm even doing it, I just think about him and how much he fought through, and that he still had it as an outlet and something that he loved doing, even when it got hard. And so I just remind myself it's like a privilege to be able to race," she said.
Michael and Marissa Lovell running the Milwaukee Lakefront 5K, a few months after his cancer diagnosis.
Marissa with her mother, Amy, after finishing the Milwaukee Lakefront Half Marathon on Oct. 4, 2026.
However, the time, or the medals, aren't what matter to the Lovells.
"He never cared about the result on paper. It was more so about how I approached it, and if I enjoyed the hard work that went into it and found meaning through it in some way. So, I think that he would just be really happy to see me not giving up and still pursuing it," she said.
Her family cheered her on along the way and at the end, making the moment even more special.
Lovell now lives in Oregon working at a county health department, passing on her family's love of taking care of their health, to generations of kids to come.
Her next race is the California International marathon in December.
