This is the second time I’ve participated in this race & i feel like they know how to do a race right!
My wife and I did the Cowtown Challenge (5K or 10K on Saturday, Half, Full or Ultra on Sunday) so we can get the extra swag & it was worth. Along with the shirts & medals for both races, you also get a challenger medal & an extra piece of swag (this year it was a 16oz tumbler). The 5K was a nice distance around the expo building and through the botanical garden nearby. Beer, bananas, yogurt & other post race essentials were waiting for us after we picked up our swag.

The Expo was enjoyable. Not as crazy and crowded as last years 40th anniversary run, so we were able to walk through it without running into a lot of people. Well laid out with an assortment of different vendors.

The Sunday race started off cold in the high 30s but once the race started and the sun started coming out, it became more comfortable. I love the waterfall corral setup with 4-5 minute intervals, makes it feel less congested and chaotic so you’re not having to dip and dodge slower runners. The race had some nice rolling hill throughout the run, taking you through some neighborhoods out to the Historic Stockyards before making your way back towards the finish line. Once you enter the stockyards, it’s about a half mile of brick road with a few uneven spots but there is some great crowd support to keep you motivated. At mile 9, you’ll run into the steepest hill on the Half course, at least a half mile until you pass the courthouse and make your way through the sundance square & the split point. Mile 10-11 is another steep hill but then it’s mostly downhill until you reach mile 12, there it’s a gradual uphill run until the finish line.
After you finish the race, i got my medal, some water, a lightweight mylar jacket, & post race food (Bananas, Chicken soup, yogurt, fruit, & ice cream). They had a beer in the post race area but it took almost 20-30 minutes for them to start serving runners. My only complaint about the post race experience is that i wish there were some vendors or food trucks there to supply runners with more heartier food (ex, BBQ, Tacos, Sandwiches, etc.)
This was the last of a 3 part race series with medals that connect to each other, so i’m looking forward to seeing what they do for 2020, whether it’s part of another series or they change it up to something different. Me and my wife will be running this again next year & I think i’ll be signing up for the full.

Tulsa was hit with some winter weather the night before so throughout the race, the temperature was in the 30s with light to moderate winds. The race had some rolling hills as you start out downtown and make your way through some neighborhoods. The neighborhood roads were rough, with cracks, potholes, and uneven roads. By mile 6 your make your way going back towards downtown and at mile 8, you run along the river. With the wind blowing, it made the 2+ miles freezing cold until you got up on the bridge. Once you make the down and back on the bridge, it’s a 5k run to the finish line with a nice steep hill going up and then back down towards the finish.
The Post Race area was okay. Muscle milk, Gatorade, & Pizza with an area for pictures, but there wasn’t any photographers there to take them. Bathrooms are outside the finishers area and you’re not allowed to re-enter, even if you’re a runner because i was wanting to get a family picture together whenever my wife & mother-in-law finished.
My wife and Mother-in-law are back of the pack runners and i don't know if it was volunteers or race organizers, but they were being very pushy with them to get to the sidewalks by the time they got to the river, even when they were still meeting the pace requirements.
Crowd support was great throughout the race, even with the cold weather. water stop at almost every mile & plenty of beer and fireball shot stops if you’re into that. Swag was disappointing for as much as the organizers were hyping it up whenever we signed up for the race at an expo.
Probably won’t run this race again anytime soon unless the swag & medals are worth it, but i think we’re saving our money and looking at either the Hangover series in Kansas or NYE/NYD race in Allen, TX.

This was my first half marathon in Missouri & my first half as a fanatic & it was a fun experience. Me & my wife stayed at the Westin, which is right outside the start & finish line, across the street from packet pick-up and it hosted the maniac & fanatic VIP area. The expo was smaller than what i expected but had everything you need race day & vendors to get custom swag along with your long sleeve hooded t-shirt you get with registration.
The weather was perfect on race day. i have 2 complaints about the starting area: 1) it was one long corral. i wish they had some breaks in the corral so i could’ve gotten with my pace group & 2) the 10K runners should’ve started with the 5K runners (i feel like that this would’ve helped with the crowd at the start of the race & with a 6hr time limit for the full, there still would have been plenty of time for those that are not runners).
All the talk about the hills with this race is an understatement. It was the most challenging race with hills I’ve done since running Tulsa’s RT. 66 half. This race took you through most of downtown KC with a few miles going through neighborhoods. The first 1.5-2 miles of the half is a steady incline until you run downhill towards the 5k mark. Another incline around mile 5-10k mark with the last half of the race is a gradual incline & rolling hills until mile 12, which is all downhill until the finish.
The finishers area is in the park between the start & finish line with most of the vendors from the expo including custom swag (i bought a pullover with KC finisher logo). This year they had free beer & BBQ sandwich which was delicious (Boulevard wheat was the best) & after checking everything else out i went back up to the VIP area at the Westin & relaxed with additional amenities as i waited for my wife to finish her race.
If you’re looking for a challenging race & needing to knock out Missouri as one of your 50 states, i highly recommend this one. I would love to run this one again in the near future & hopefully improve my time.

A lot better weather this time around compared to last year, but got hot later on in the morning.
The expo always have a lot of great vendors to check out, but i didn’t like how the front entrance to get into the expo after you pick up your bib with the memorial shop right there at the front. It got crowded trying to shop that i didn’t get a chance to check out everything that i wanted to, plus the kids ringing the bells were giving me and my fiance headaches.

They still havent changed the waterfall start of the race & they really didnt check everyone’s corral letter. i saw a lot of runners that should have been further back. Great crowd support throughout the race as your run throughout downtown OKC & the finish area was well organized.
Looking forward to running the full marathon next year & finishing with a decent time!

Me, My fiancee & her parents ran this half marathon together. This was my first time running the Russvegas half & i couldn’t be happier with the experience!
It felt like the whole town was involved with the race, cheering everyone on as they ran past their “spirit station”, as you run throughout the town. The support alone will make me want to run in this race again.
The course is fairly flat with a steep hill at an overpass before you get to mile 12. You start the race downtown as you run along a few neighborhoods, onto main street out to the lake, run past some farm fields, back into town, you run through the college as you make your way back to the finish about 2 blocks away from where you start.
The finisher medal is nice! Any medal that lights up and spins has to be added to your collections.
The packet pickup/expo was fairly small. mostly the sponsors tent with 1-2 canopies for race gear/russvegas apparel but the race pullover was really nice & they had some great deals on previous race years apparel.
We will definitely run this race again soon. We cant wait to go back!