The Heart of the Ozarks Half Marathon is southern Missouri’s premier winter running event. We haveeverything you want in a race: nice race shirts, an interesting and challenging fast course, amazing course support, beautiful medals, and unbelievable post race food. All the perks of a much larger event, but with …
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The Heart of the Ozarks Half Marathon is southern Missouri’s premier winter running event. We haveeverything you want in a race: nice race shirts, an interesting and challenging fast course, amazing course support, beautiful medals, and unbelievable post race food. All the perks of a much larger event, but with unbelievable small-town hospitality. Come run with us and see why so many people come back year after year.
The Heart of the Ozarks Half Marathon is a challenging, yet fun half marathon in the heart of Missouri’s Ozarks. Be a part of one of the most well ran races of its size in the Midwest. It will warm your heart.
Not another flat, boring course. This is a typical Ozark course. It has a mix of flat terrain but with a few well placed steep hills. Some might even say it is “hilly.” We say it is “memorable.” You will be challenged, but you will love this course!
The 13.1 mile Course is a two loop style course. There is a short inner loop and a second larger outer loop. All runners stay together until the intersection of Washington Ave. and Broadway. At this point the 10k splits off. The races rejoin at the “Court House Square”, and split apart again at Summit St. (Don’t worry Half Marathoners get their chance to climb Summit on the second loop!) The half marathoners continue on to a second outer loop before finishing on the same course as the 10K.
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Nice local small town half, HILLS
Very hilly course with one giant hill in the middle of the half, lots of support, for some reason this years was very cold, 25 degrees, with a 15 mile … MORE
Very hilly course with one giant hill in the middle of the half, lots of support, for some reason this years was very cold, 25 degrees, with a 15 mile an hour wind, brisk, good snacks inside after the race, nice medal
Small-town run with plenty of support
Thankfully, an ice storm the evening before the race didn't wipe it out. Organizers were good about sending out information, including course conditions in the early hours of Saturday morning. … MORE
Thankfully, an ice storm the evening before the race didn’t wipe it out.
Organizers were good about sending out information, including course conditions in the early hours of Saturday morning. The course was in very good shape considering the elements, as the storm was not too bad compared to a few miles north.
The start/finish is in a shopping mall parking lot, and a nearby fire station houses the check-in and post-race activities. Not a lot of room but better than standing out in the cold.
This is not chip timed, no splits on the course.
The course has some hills, notably one in the first mile, another in the sixth mile and then one around the 11-mile mark that may have the steepest grade of any hill I’ve run all year.
Good on-course support. For a small town, there are some people out to cheer you on in addition to monitoring intersections.
West Plains is a Missouri high school cross country power so the field for this event includes several young runners, and I believe that contributes to some of the spectators coming out to watch, which is nice.
This is well-organized for a small town, and the course was a good challenge.
Swag included a long-sleeve shirt. Finisher medals are nice and age group winners get a second one.
I stayed in a new hotel just up the hill from the start and had Friday night pasta at Roma, also near the starting area.