The St. Joseph, Missouri Marathon is an event you will not want to miss! The event features a beautiful historic parkway system end-to-end route, and is hosted by the St. Joseph Sports Commission in partnership with Junior League of St. Joseph. The race will feature five different distances for participants …
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The St. Joseph, Missouri Marathon is an event you will not want to miss! The event features a beautiful historic parkway system end-to-end route, and is hosted by the St. Joseph Sports Commission in partnership with Junior League of St. Joseph.
The race will feature five different distances for participants to choose from and include: full marathon (26.2 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles), 10K race (6.2 miles), 5K race (3.1 miles) and a relay team element that encompasses the full route.
This scenic and challenging race route which begins and ends behind Civic Center Park in downtown St. Joseph, will take participants from north to south and embodies numerous St. Joseph landmarks (Krug Park, Hyde Park, Lovers Lane, Ashland Avenue, Pony Express Museum, the Museum Hill Area) along with incorporating nine miles of the city’s historic parkway system.
Event proceeds benefit the continued growth, development and programming of the sports commission along with Junior League’s initiatives which include; Cinderella’s Closet, Hope Totes, Community Assistance and Literacy Grants along with their support of the United Way of Greater St. Joseph.
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St Jo can bring it!
St Jo knows how to party. Great setup in front of city hall. Massages, IVs, grilled food, energy drink and a local band. Lots of incentive to stick around after … MORE
St Jo knows how to party. Great setup in front of city hall. Massages, IVs, grilled food, energy drink and a local band. Lots of incentive to stick around after the race. MC (also a board member) did well to keep the energy pumped.
Medal was wonderfully designed with a horse around the logo of the race, which was the original medal from last year. Date is on the medal and the ribbon is nicely integrated. Honestly, I can’t do it justice here, but it is very well designed, not something that was thrown together by someone who doesn’t even race. Shirt was nice — Long-sleeved medium to heavy weight for a T. Not sweatshirt heft though by any chance, so I could see wearing it on a cold race.
Now the race itself was redesigned this year to avoid a much-hated hill from what I’m told. The unfortunate side effect is the race measured long which they assured me will be fixed for next year. I had 13.4, some people had .3 and .5. At 13.1 according to strava I was withing reach of a PR, so despite the hills it can be a fast course. Save some in the tank thought, because what goes out on this out-and-back/loop combo must come back and the opening hill is much less fun on mile 12 when you’re now going UP it. A great deal of fun from beginning to end, and this is absolutely a repeat race. Because it was long, I did have to deduct a shoe for production, which I hated to do since they had a good reason for redesign, which I suspect will be fixed next year and back up to properly reflect how great this race is.
Special shout out to the lovely lady who made her own aid station with Fireball. Sure came in handy nursing that injury. And I almost PR’ed because of you.
Challanging but great event.
For the first year of this event I was extremely impressed. The staging area, start and finish was very well done. The water stations were plentiful, and volunteers were friendly … MORE
For the first year of this event I was extremely impressed. The staging area, start and finish was very well done. The water stations were plentiful, and volunteers were friendly and helpful. The course is challanging with some long steep hills. I have run 40 marathons and hats off to the organizers for a very well run event.
Hope You Like Hills!
This was the inaugural St Joseph Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, & 5K. This isn’t to be confused with the old Pony Express Marathon as I don’t think that particular race … MORE
This was the inaugural St Joseph Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, & 5K. This isn’t to be confused with the old Pony Express Marathon as I don’t think that particular race exist any longer.
This particular event was a top notch run from the race organizers to the volunteers manning water stations, traffic intersections, packet pick-up, and everything & everyone else involved. The course was very well laid out with plenty of scenery regardless of which distance one chose. I ran the Half Marathon, and hills were plentiful. In this case, what goes down must come up. I would highly suggest hill training a few weeks before race day. You won’t regret it. Thank goodness there were plenty of water & Gatorade available. St. Joe has some beautiful neighborhoods which remain hidden unless you get to run through them. Weather can be iffy in September, but this day was semi-cool, sunny & very humid. Runners taking 2 or more hours into the run I’m sure endured the rain that moved in. This was a fun run, and more than likely, I shall do it again. It is a challenge, but that’s half the reason to run….isn’t it? LOL!!