This race will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the name, it's actually in Parkville (the town that motivated me to move from the coast, and goes … MORE
This race will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the name, it’s actually in Parkville (the town that motivated me to move from the coast, and goes to Riverside). When I had my heart attack it looked like I was never going to get to do this race. First, because it was dicey I was coming home, and two because after I did go home, nobody was really considering that a possibility because of the damage done. Despite the fact that I did a full marathon before I did a half marathon (long story), and my cardica team had blessed off on it, it’s hot this time of year, I’d be doing it wearing body armor, and I’m not going to say I wasn’t cognizant that a great many things could go wrong.
The course is out and back from English Landing Park (the common race start location) out to the casino and back. Mile 1 and 2 have no shade which means mile 25 and 26 don’t either, a reality that was crushing my morale on the way back. The first roughly 3-3.5 miles are at the park by the river, then you slip behind some oil/water/gas/something storage tanks into a wooded park’s wide trail which provides some much needed shade for a couple miles until you make it down to “the berm” by the amazon facility. Climb up that steep but brief hill (yay!) and take the top of the berm a couple miles down to the casino and back. There’s quite the view from up there and it looked like a storm was rolling in, which would have done wonders to cool the day, but alas it was not to be. The medal is really big, especially for a half, and has a classy and classic design to it. You are literally 200 meters if that from downtown Parkville when you finish, so stop by the converted Train car for some GREAT coffee, bespoke house beverages (their version of an Arnold Palmer is amazing) and their doughnuts will taste like mana from heaven after the race.
Please login to reply to this review.
Special race
This race will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the name, it's actually in Parkville (the town that motivated me to move from the coast, and goes … MORE
This race will always have a special place in my heart. Despite the name, it’s actually in Parkville (the town that motivated me to move from the coast, and goes to Riverside). When I had my heart attack it looked like I was never going to get to do this race. First, because it was dicey I was coming home, and two because after I did go home, nobody was really considering that a possibility because of the damage done. Despite the fact that I did a full marathon before I did a half marathon (long story), and my cardica team had blessed off on it, it’s hot this time of year, I’d be doing it wearing body armor, and I’m not going to say I wasn’t cognizant that a great many things could go wrong.
The course is out and back from English Landing Park (the common race start location) out to the casino and back. Mile 1 and 2 have no shade which means mile 25 and 26 don’t either, a reality that was crushing my morale on the way back. The first roughly 3-3.5 miles are at the park by the river, then you slip behind some oil/water/gas/something storage tanks into a wooded park’s wide trail which provides some much needed shade for a couple miles until you make it down to “the berm” by the amazon facility. Climb up that steep but brief hill (yay!) and take the top of the berm a couple miles down to the casino and back. There’s quite the view from up there and it looked like a storm was rolling in, which would have done wonders to cool the day, but alas it was not to be. The medal is really big, especially for a half, and has a classy and classic design to it. You are literally 200 meters if that from downtown Parkville when you finish, so stop by the converted Train car for some GREAT coffee, bespoke house beverages (their version of an Arnold Palmer is amazing) and their doughnuts will taste like mana from heaven after the race.
Beautiful Riverside Course
This was my first time running the Hometown Half Marathon Kansas City and it was a very fun run. Course was relatively flat, with slight inclines and only one short, … MORE
This was my first time running the Hometown Half Marathon Kansas City and it was a very fun run. Course was relatively flat, with slight inclines and only one short, but steep hill. The course also consisted of mostly chat with a few asphalt and cement portions. Start & finish of the 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon are in English Landing Park which abuts up to the Missouri River in the little town of Parkville, MO. The town offers shops and a few fun places to grab a bite after a well earned appetite from running. The weather today was off to 70° and was very humid. This is typical weather for the part of the state & country. Just hydrate a few days ahead and all should be fine. There were plenty of aid stations passing out water & Powerade, which I availed myself of each passing. The course is an out-n-back course with the outer most portion seemingly being in a desolate area void of much scenery. Out in the open and all sun. All in all, this is an easy run and more than likely you can gain a PR for yourself.