Overall: Overall I really enjoyed this race a lot. I am someone who likes smaller races and this race was just perfect for me. I might be a little biased, since it’s my marathon pr, but in all seriousness I really would recommend this race to someone who is looking for a race in Iowa or trying to BQ. This course was a flat crushed limestone trail that is shaded by trees and used to be a rail road bed which added some neatness to the race.

T-Shirt/Swag: The TShirt was a nice long sleeve tech shirt and that was about the extent of the swag. You did receive a reusable grocery bag that had some pamphlets about the local town and some places to visit and eat.

Aid Stations: Overall the aid stations were all fair. You had your standard water and Gatorade at most all of the stations that were nicely spaced out. I am a runner who runs with a handheld and carries my own energy type drink so I never had a problem with the stations in regards to Gatorade, but I did come across two stations that had run out of water and this so happened to be right around the time I wanted to take my Hammer gel, but had no water to chase it down with. I was finally able to get some water and was able to take my gel. One station happened to have regular size bags of m&ms and I gladly picked up a bag and placed them in my pocket for a nice post race treat. Several of the aid stations had some type of theme to them. One of the stations must have been zombie related and I about died when a volunteer jumped out from behind a bush and scared me. Towards the last few miles or so there was an airstream camper that looked like they had everything available. I had to fight the urge to stop for some bacon, but it smelt so good. Overall everything was nicely maned and the volunteers were amazing.

Course Scenery: I absolutely loved this course and course and would come back here it ever given the chance again. I know several people probably thought this course was boring, but for me it was perfect. The race actually started at a local high school and you ran a few miles in the local town before you were dumped on the Wabash Trace Trail. I commented several times to my running buddy how beautiful it was. I love the country and farms so seeing some older farms surrounded by corn fields was such a beautiful sight. It was so peaceful and pleasant to get away from the hustle and bustle of big city races.

Expo Quality: This is a small town race so I wasn’t expecting an expo at all and that is exactly what I got. I walked down to the local town hall and picked up my packet and shirt.
Elevation Difficulty: I would say this course for the good majority is relatively flat. There were a few rolling hills and a small hill towards mile 25 or so, but it was nothing terrible.
Parking/Access: I had no problem with parking at all. Our hotel was about a block from the finish line, so before the race we all met at the finish line and were bused to the starting line if you so wished. I noticed that several of the people who stayed at the hotel all took the bus to the start as well. If you so wished to drive to the start the high school’s parking area was big and had more than enough space to accommodate the small number of runners who drove themselves. One thing to remember if that this race is a point to point race so I am assuming that many of the people who drove to the start had family/friends drive their car back to the finish for them and to cheer them on.

Race Management: I thought the race management was awesome! Everything seemed to run smoothly and well organized. I would like to give a big thank you to the race management for having the local veterans’ shelter open to the runners so we could get showers and all that they asked was for a small donation. They were actually transporting you from the finish line to the shelter so you didn’t have to walk the few blocks with your shower gear. This was so nice since the local hotel does not allow late checkouts.

Overall: The day of the race there was a 100% chance of rain which is not something that you want to think about, but we all toed up at the start line and were ready to take what mother nature had in store for us. I was very lucky because literally as I crossed the finish line it started to rain hard. With that being said the race organizers had to take the runner's safety into consideration which was a double edge sword for someone like me because by the time I finished many of the local food trucks and photo ops I kept hearing about were already gone. There was not a lot of local food options that were being promoted, but I did get to try one of those amazing gelato cookie sandwiches. I wish I picked up more than just one, but I knew there were tons of people behind me who would love them as well. I really wish the weather was nicer because there was a great potential to be an awesome post race, but it was not.

T-Shirt/SWAG - Awesome orange gender specific short sleeve shirts, a very small drop bag, coupons to local shops and a sample of beet juice.

Aid Stations - Gatorade and water at the aid stations. They were handing out some type of gel at some of the miles, but it was a brand I had never heard of before so I didn't pick any up. The volunteers were very friendly and cheerful which was very nice.

Course Scenery - The start was beautiful because you were running towards the arch, but one of the things that I am still trying to understand is why the course takes you into one of the roughest parts of Missouri. This was a rough neighborhood that totally had some questionable buildings and signs that had me saying wow! I really like the concept of crossing over two bridges so I didn't mind it as much as some of the other people who were running around me. Most were local and they kept making comments about the neighborhood and wished the barefood runner to be careful because they didn't want him to step on any needles. I did love running by Anheuser-Busch brewery. This was very neat. I did wish that Forest Park didn't last as long as it did and was happy to finally turn out of this area. Another thing I will mention which doesn't really go with scenery, but I think fits in here better than any of the other categories is HOLY POTHOLES. I mean potholes were everywhere. Typically courses will spay paint circles around the potholes to make you notice them, but this course did not. I almost bit the dust a few times because of them. I think these need to be address before the next race.

Expo Quality - The expo was semi small and uneventful. They had most of the bare essentials that you might need if you forgot something. They had a few local race vendors and businesses. Nothing really jumped out at me with this expo, but it got the job done.

Elevation - The course was a little hilly, but if you train on hills it shouldn't be so bad.

Parking Access - We stated at a local hotel, Double Tree Union Station by Hilton which was about 2 blocks away so I didn't have to worry about parking.

Race Management - Race management seemed to really be on their game. They were very nice when I contacted them pre race about a question that I had. They brought energy and motivation to the runners before the race.

Overall: Overall I thought the Route 66 Marathon was a good race. I will say that this would be a great race to run if it is your first marathon because they give you a personalized bib and a “my first marathon” medal. That is such a neat feature of this race. Another neat perk is that I am a member of the Marathon Maniacs and my dad who also ran is a 50 Stater so we each earned medals that were different from the regular marathon finisher that represented our club. We also received a VIP tent with private restrooms, gear check, food and refreshments after the race. It was so nice to have a couch to sit on for a few minutes and recover after the race. One thing that I will mention is that if you stay downtown most of the restaurants are closed on Saturday so if you are looking for a place to carbo load you might want to check out the options before hand. My party ate at the local Jimmy Johns as well as many other runners.

T-Shirt/Swag: 2015 marked the 10th anniversary for the Route 66 Marathon and boy did they deliver on the goods. All races received a jacket to commemorate this milestone and they brought back one of their beautiful medals, the Flying Lady. The medal was beautiful.

Aid Stations: The aid stations were nicely stocked. I run with Tailwind, but I stopped periodically for water. I believe they were handing out GU at several of the locations as well.

Course Scenery: The scenery of RT66 was very neat. I saw lots of beautiful houses and buildings. Even running on the University of Tulsa’s campus was really beautiful. Many of the streets were having parties and handing out things like Jello shots, pretzels, bananas, beer and so much more. Big props to Cincinnati Street they really know how to throw a block party. Their enthusiasm and support really helped power runners on. I did the additional .3 mile detour called the Center of the Universe where I was given a special nice sized coin to remember it. This was also such a neat feature.

Expo: I was a little disappointed with the expo for this race. Online I heard people were waiting quite awhile to pick up their packet so I wanted to make sure I arrived with plenty of time to get my bib and browse the expo. Their packet pickup was nothing like I have experienced before. They had participants in a single file line in a turn style that reminded me of an amusement park waiting for my turn to ride a ride. I waited about 25 minutes to pick up my bib. I am not sure why the lines were so long, but I have been to bigger races and felt like RT66 might want to relook at the way they approach packet pickup. I was lucky too because soon after I picked up my packet and started to make my way into the expo I heard on the overhead speaker that they were experiencing computer problems that was delaying the bib pickup now. They did have some other races there promoting, local running stores selling the typical gels and gear. I did notice several of the booths were unoccupied so I am not sure if they already ran out of their product or if they were never occupied to begin with. Once you finally filtered through the expo you were able to pick up your jacket and exchange them for a different size if needed.

Elevation Difficulty: I am not sure why I found this course to be difficult, but I did. If you look at the elevation chart you will see that there were just a lot of rolling hills and my legs started to feel them after several miles of them. I felt like every time I looked up I was headed up another hill.

Parking/Access: We had no trouble getting to the start line. We stayed at the Countyard Marriott on Boston Street and literally walked just a short way to the corrals. Actually our hotel was so close that when we exited the elevator on the way to the start we were blow away by the number of runners hanging out in the lobby trying to stay warm before making their way to the start.

Race Management: Race was well organized. People were not allowed to enter into corrals that they weren’t assigned do, which helped. Since I was in a corral that was in the middle of the pack I couldn’t really here the speakers at the beginning of the race. They do a nice job of staggering the corrals at the beginning of the race.

MM#11726