Kansas City Zoo Run
Kansas City, MO
- 4 Miler, 1 Miler, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Kansas City Zoo Run is a local favorite and features a different species each year; this year’s theme is Run for the Hornbills! All participants receive uniquely branded swag associated with the year’s featured animal species. In addition to the swag, a portion of each participant’s entry fee supports … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Sep 19):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 83 | 93 | 83 | 97 | 87 |
| L (°F) | 64 | 73 | 67 | 77 | 70 |
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Lions and Tigers and Bears...
The course was slightly changed to take out the little brief out and back on the initial decent, which gave us more time in the future Giraffe area. Any more … MORE
The course was slightly changed to take out the little brief out and back on the initial decent, which gave us more time in the future Giraffe area. Any more time in the zoo is a plus. With the weather holding off more than prior years, this could be a PR race if you get lucky in your wave to get out front before the bottlenecks at the close parts of the zoo walkway steal seconds from you. I’m reminded why this great race for a great cause sells out early every year, and with free admission to the zoo added in it’s a steal of a deal. The one-year lapse in medal design was “un-minimalized” from last year and returns them to their prior glory, and the t-shirt was a nicely designed cotton with a blown-up design of the medal. My only gripe this year that didn’t seem big enough to lose a production shoe was that the food trucks at the end were absent this year and there were no more paintings made by the animals available for purchase. The latter was apparently because they sold out the week before, so good reason there, but I didn’t learn what happened to the food trucks.
Lions and Tigers and Bears...
The course was slightly changed to take out the little brief out and back on the initial decent, which gave us more time in the future Giraffe area. Any more … MORE
The course was slightly changed to take out the little brief out and back on the initial decent, which gave us more time in the future Giraffe area. Any more time in the zoo is a plus. With the weather holding off more than prior years, this could be a PR race if you get lucky in your wave to get out front before the bottlenecks at the close parts of the zoo walkway steal seconds from you. I’m reminded why this great race for a great cause sells out early every year, and with free admission to the zoo added in it’s a steal of a deal. The one-year lapse in medal design was “un-minimalized” from last year and returns them to their prior glory, and the t-shirt was a nicely designed cotton with a blown-up design of the medal. My only gripe this year that didn’t seem big enough to lose a production shoe was that the food trucks at the end were absent this year and there were no more paintings made by the animals available for purchase. The latter was apparently because they sold out the week before, so good reason there, but I didn’t learn what happened to the food trucks.
I probably won't be back
It's a good run for fun. But if you are trying to PR it's a mess, many sharp turns and if it rains that day you will be running through … MORE
It’s a good run for fun. But if you are trying to PR it’s a mess, many sharp turns and if it rains that day you will be running through slick mud spots and wet wooden paths. I would have loved to seen more animals on the route but only recall seeing a few. It didn’t help that Africa was under construction. But if you like to jog and take in the scenery be sure to check this out.
Very pleasant run all together
A pretty fun race. Package pick up the day before was nice option. Pathways can get a little crowded. Patience. This year went through some construction areas; can get a … MORE
A pretty fun race. Package pick up the day before was nice option. Pathways can get a little crowded. Patience. This year went through some construction areas; can get a little/dirty, esp w rain. I forgot to look for the hidden treasures throughout course. Course was well decorated for festivities and provided great scenery
It pains me not to be able to 5-shoe it
So I love this race. I love that the money goes to better the enclosures for the animals. The race sells out every year and I love that, too. It's … MORE
So I love this race. I love that the money goes to better the enclosures for the animals. The race sells out every year and I love that, too. It’s still my PR for a 4-mile, despite some choke points where the zoo pathways narrows. All the sentiment and nostalgia aside, this is the 21st running. The shirts are a little bigger than last year (for better or worse) but the medal last year just blows this out of the water. Every year it’s a different animal being sponsored and they feature on the medal. Last year was a sea otter jumping through the 0 in “20”, glitter in the “0”, a nice heft, and could easily pass for a mid-to-low half marathon medal. This year was simply a sea lion with a ball on his nose, is smaller, has no flair like the glitter, and honestly looks like a 5k medal from 10 years ago. I hope whoever used to do the medals comes back for the lions next year.
The after party never disappoints. Shatto milk has their truck out there (free), there’s a coffee truck (paid), a breakfast burrito I didn’t wait in line for, but it smelled great, a handful of vendors and merchandise from the other parts of the zoo, such as paintings by the various animals. There are round tables and chairs set up, and an MC keeps the reception fun and engaging. If the weather hadn’t been so unbearably muggy I’d have stuck around longer, but I missed my PR by 20 seconds thanks to a buddy keeping me steady with my pace, lest I would have missed it by far more. The energy is wonderful at this race and everybody in the race community is probably out there. I know at least 2 people who PR’ed today despite the rough weather, and both cited the high energy of the crowd and participants as what pushed them hard enough to PR. This little 4-miler punches well above its weight class, and were it not for the medal (come on folks let’s get this corrected by next year) it’d be a 5-shoe easily.
Great race AND great cause!
So every year this race benefits a different critter at the zoo and every year that critter is on the medal, so I guess, like pokemon, I'm going to have … MORE
So every year this race benefits a different critter at the zoo and every year that critter is on the medal, so I guess, like pokemon, I’m going to have to keep doing this race until they start repeating critters at least.
So here’s the deal, the setup before the race was so much more than a few tents essentially being a depressing excuse for an expo. Shatto was there, a great little espresso truck that I went to a couple times, great merch and great food (for after the race, but I could smell it), as well as art work created by the animals. I felt like I was at a block party. Unfortunately where I was, was actually the wrong location, the 4-mile start is NOT at the zoo entrance, but up the hill a ways. Some signage might have helped, or maybe I got there too early before they put it up. Whatever…I got there eventually and I had time to get espresso and talk to some great people.
The first mile(-ish) of the race is downhill to a side entrance of the zoo. The waves were nicely spread out. Being one of the last waves, it actually was 9 minutes before I got through the start arch, and I was glad to hear that once again they’d sold out. Register early for this one. The majority of the race is through the actual zoo, and the windy walkways proved narrow a couple of times to the point that navigating them resulted in my having to slow down while people in front of me figured out they weren’t as fast as they thought they were. I met some very interesting people on the race as well as got to orbit around some former race mates, and between the conversation and the constantly changing scenery the race flew by. The only reason I don’t rate this a 5 on scenery is that the elephant exhibit is so much smaller than what I’m used to, that was a little hard to see.
I didn’t get to stick around for the after party because I had some outside chores I’d wanted to accomplish that day and a t-storm was rolling in, but you also get free admission to the zoo, so normally I’d say budget extra time for that as well.
The Sweet 16 Race Series featured the four largest, 4-Mile events in the Midwest: The St Patrick’s Day Run, CCVI Trolley Run, Ward Parkway Four on the 4th, and The Kansas City Zoo Run. As the final leg of the former Sweet-16 Series, this was the one I PR’ed on. I do wish they’d bring that series back officially because I think it would motivate some people to check out parts of KC they otherwise might not. In the interim though, I’ll be securing my spot in the zoo run for 2024 early, as it hopefully will sell out as well.
Run for the Tree Kangaroos
We ran the 2019 Kansas City Zoo Run (Run for the Tree Kangaroos). It was awesome to support our zoo - and it was really cool running through the zoo. … MORE
We ran the 2019 Kansas City Zoo Run (Run for the Tree Kangaroos). It was awesome to support our zoo – and it was really cool running through the zoo. The course was hilly at points which made it a little harder than most races we’ve run, but it was definitely worth it.