Cheryl McLemore's Staging Area

This half marathon offered bacon at all the water stations and at the beginning and end of the run! It was supposed to be 3 loops and that’s what was said at the beginning… then we were told 4 loops during the race. Overnight storms caused trees to fall across the running route in several places making it short, which also caused the race to start about 45 minutes late for the ones they did clear. A medal would have been nice, but the bacon-themed race shirt was cool. I would be interested in doing this one again, although one out-and-back would be preferable to the 3 loops.

They bus you out to the start of the race since it’s point to point. I didn’t like getting up so early to catch a bus, and the line waiting for the bus was quite long. However, we made it to the race start with about 15 minutes to spare. Thankfully I didn’t need to use the bathroom, because there was a long line at the Porta potties at the start! The route was scenic, good views of Lake Superior for most of the run. The infamous Lemon Drop Hill was not nearly as intimidating as I expected. Living in the Ozarks, we tackle hills pretty regularly. The Hospital Hill Run in Kansas City was MUCH hillier in comparison. The crowd support along the entire course was absolutely fantastic! Music, drinks, food… lots of people with funny signs and dressed up too! I loved how they marked the miles and the Porta potties with balloons. There did seem to be a Porta potty shortage… it seemed like there was a long line every time I passed one. I did the Great Grandma’s Challenge so I got an extra medal, but I struggled with figuring out where to go for that. I also got a drink ticket that was for Bayfront Park, and I was unsure how to get there from the end of the race. Some signage for those things would have been useful. I didn’t have a drop bag, but the process for finding them at the end looked very organized. Decent snacks after the race. The tech shirts were nice, and the medals were high-quality. Only complaint overall was that any hotel nearby was probably double the going rate, but it was easy to take the Skywalk to the expo and to catch the bus in the morning. Will probably go back for the 50th Anniversary in 2026!

This is my second time running this one. I ran the 5K last year so went for the half this year. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish between the rain with hail and dealing with a few prior injuries. I completed nearly 8 miles. People were very supportive, and I was so impressed with the volunteers sticking it out with us in the rain! Will definitely continue to support this race!

Run through the streets of downtown Joplin. A few hills but nothing terrible. Amazing crowd support at the start and end of the race, and the volunteers were great too! My only complaint as far as the race goes were the water stations seemed too spaced out. The first one was nearly 2 miles in, and then the last two were near the end. No porta potties on the course but a lot at the race start. Nice-quality t-shirt and very nice medal! Post-race snacks were some of the best I’ve ever had… lots of drinks ranging from Gatorade to water to chocolate milk to beer and full-size sandwiches from Jimmy John’s AND Chick-fil-a. Will definitely be doing this race again!

The weather forecast kept saying no rain, up until just a couple of days before the race. The torrential downpour started minutes into the run, and though it lightened up, it still rained for hours. I embraced it and just kept moving. This race is hilly for a good portion! I recently had surgery so was planning a walk/run method. I hit those first set of hills though and had to revise. Towards the end it goes downhill for awhile, so I was able to pick up the pace again. The crowd support was absolutely amazing and kept me going when I was soaked to the core and just wanted to stop. Plenty of water stops too! The expo was large with lots of great merch, and the swag was great!! Beautiful, hefty medals for all of the runs, nice shirts, a premium bag, and a poster too! I would definitely consider this race again, in spite of the challenges faced this year.

This race starts and ends at Chadwick School. This was the 12th Annual, looks like only about 50-60 people run it, and that’s mostly students. We started in the parking lot, moved over to the sidewalk as we left the school and ended up on some small country roads after the sidewalk ended. All paved, but there were quite a lot of ups and downs. It was also chilly and windy! The swag is only a t-shirt, although it IS a nice shirt. Not much in the way of scenery or crowd support, although there were a couple of people cheering at the end. Snacks were water and granola bars.

Pretty flat and smooth out-and-back course. For the 10K, we got to run part of it on the nearby airport runway while planes were actually taking off on the other runway. A couple of areas were not clearly marked. At the 3 mile mark, I saw a few people turning to head back, but the turnaround was a little bit after that. I can understand the confusion a little because the trail went off the runway there. An arrow at the 3-mile mark indicating we were to continue past would have fixed that. I was a few minutes between other runners, so I got slightly lost on the way back. After the last water station, the orange cones ended, ao I had a little difficulty trying to figure out which direction to go. I ended up going slightly out of my way to read the signs posted on nearby streets. The race had a nice shirt and bib, but the medal was chintzy. I missed my free beer since I finished the run pretty late, but the crowd support was really great! Would do this run again, but a nicer medal would be appreciated!!

Loved the awesome medal and the finisher jacket, so much support and having the Marines around who offered encouragement and photographs were great! I will definitely be doing this run again!

Thoroughly enjoyed this run as my first Ultra! It didn’t seem as intimidating breaking it up into 5K intervals, but it was still a challenge with a run every 2.5 hours and not getting much sleep! The course was easy but scenic along the Arkansas River Trail. The “medal” at the end was a small handmade wooden coffin with the logo branded in it… unique and cool, a great conversation piece. Plenty of food was provided, but I do wish there’d been more drink options and ice.

This is the second in a series this year, each one having the same course. This all-gravel course is fairly easy, but there wasn’t much light after passing the 5K turnaround. Fortunately I brought a headlamp this time which helped.

This is the first in a series of three this year, and they give you a medal for completing all three runs. Fairly easy course, but it isn’t well-lit after the 5K portion. This is the last year of these races at this point though, or I would possibly do it again.