We arrived in Springfield Mo slightly before 7pm (which is when they closed packet pick up the night prior to race. It was simply a packet pick up in a running store which allowed us to pick up last minute essentials, so that was helpful. The tshirt was a very nice tech type shirt with race name and all the distances (but no date, which makes sense for a smaller race). We stayed at the Oasis ramada which was on the NE side and it was still quick to get to Willard. Would definitely stay there again if I did race again.

This was my first full marathon. I was not prepared and took it easy. Since it was held in conjunction with a 50k and 50 miler that started an hour earlier, the time limit was 11 hours (12 hours for the longer races). The race started at the Willard Middle school which was open to us to warm up or use the facilities. Parking was close to the start and finish.

There was an aid station every 2.5 miles with plenty of water, tail wind mix and I think Powerade, and lots of different kinds of foods like Oreos, oranges, jello shots(?) and even ribs! The aid stations were well stocked even for this back of the packer.

The course was an out and back on the Frisco Rail Road trail. For myself, it was a little hard bc I tried to be out of the way of the faster half marathon group that started 30 mins after the full did. I dodged them until I got to the point where the half turned around. The first 2.5 miles (and last 2.5 miles) where on asphalt the rest on crushed stone and dirt. It has rained the night before but for the majority of the full marathon (except near turn around) and for all lesser distances the trail was pretty good. It was beautiful country side and lots of shade though as it warmed up the last bit (closer to town) didn't seem to have as much shade cover. I decided to include a pic of the trail. There was some absolutely stunning scenes along the trail. Most importantly that the trail was relatively flat. You didn't notice the hills (though I did notice one slightly incline near the end. Of note - there were no mile markers and the trail was not cluttered with anything so it was very picturesque. Since the aid stations were at regular intervals you could estimate where you were and they did have a sign for the turn around points.

The medal was nice with a nice ribbon that said the date and the distance. The Frisco symbol was the medal. (Though I think I do prefer some of the previous year's medals more).

It is a well done smaller race that I would love to do again.