I had run the half a couple of times since Eladio had redesigned this course. However, this was my first time around the new marathon course. What a fantastic course! It truly showcases some of the KC's most scenic vistas and interesting neighborhoods. We also had the added treat this year to benefit from perfect temps, nice cloud-cover, and the fall colors just starting to turn.

I expected it to be hilly, but would consider it to be a mostly rolling with a couple of good grinders to keep it interesting. The bands along the way were awesome, the aid stations were well-manned with plenty of fluids, gels and candy, and the spectators were fantastic. The packet pickup was well-organized, with a nice-sized expo.

My hat is off to you, Eladio. You've created a course that KC can be so proud of. As a 50-stater, I would take this race head to head with any other I've done.

I ran the Kansas City Marathon several years ago, and I am amazed at the improvements made since then. The race director certainly knows what all types of runners are looking for in a marathon. Although the course was rather hilly, the hills were mixed in with some great flat stretches. My spectators were able to get around to support me every four miles, and the text message runner updates were great. The written directions with details of terrain and mile marker information on the website were really helpful! Aid stations were wonderful (GU, M&M's, gummy bears, water, Gatorade, and Vaseline were at just about every aid station!) and there was more crowd support than I thought there would be. To top it all off, I got a great view of the city!

I am just getting back into running marathons after not running one since Chicago in 2000. This is a spectacular race. The course was beautiful. I had a PR and I am nine years older than I was for my last marathon. I owe this to the awesome 4:30 pace team! I love that they have pace teams for every five-minute increment. This race was MUCH more fun than Chicago. I will do it again.

I ran this marathon 3 times (2006, 2007, 2008). It is my hometown marathon. In past years, the finish has been in the crossroads, which, other than on the first Friday of every month, is boring. The course showcases the best of Kansas City, however, and is fun to run. I would recommend this marathon to anyone.

Great way to see the Kansas City that I left so many many years ago! Scenery of KC was great. Only complaint would have been the finish area. They seem to be just completing that area and it was WAY too far from the start line - with no transportation back. Also, most of the spectators and most of the people involved were just awesome, offering typical Kansas City friendliness. Need to remember, though, that for some of us, a half is as hard as a full is for other people. Please treat us with the respect and consideration shown to those who finish the full also. A full marathoner might not agree with me, but the fees from the people completing the half also help the event, and those of us completing the half work very hard to finish that. Not everybody has the stamina to complete a full marathon. Having different medals, etc., is fine, but denying somebody a "space blanket" because they didn't complete the full is not nice.

This was my first time to run the KC Half Marathon and I was thoroughly impressed with the race from start to finish!! The course was very scenic, the weather was perfect, and the support staff were outstanding! My only real critique is that the finish area could be in a much better location. Finishers were crammed into a relatively small area and it was tough to find family and friends at the finish. All in all, though, I highly recommend this race and will be back again next year!

Thank you to Kansas City for a great marathon. I am a Kansas City native, but living in Dallas. Everything about the marathon was special, from the expo to the marathon. The course was beautiful; it was quite hilly, but seeing the sights of Kansas City made it even more special. I will run it again and would highly recommend this marathon to anyone. Great medal and finisher shirt - thank you, Kansas City, for the very special marathon. Two wonderful things happened that weekend. I got married to my wonderful wife and ran this marathon. I love you, Kansas City!

I really enjoyed this course. It is has a few spots with legitimate hills to conquer, but overall it is very reasonable. You definitely feel that you have earned your nice and flat/down-sloping final 1-2 miles. The fans were a little thin at times but loud and very supportive. I loved the post-race party: Great blues music, plenty to eat, and delicious local brews. I just really enjoyed the whole event. The expo was pretty lean, however.

The Kansas City Marathon is a beautiful urban race. It showcases the city and has a few challenging hills (but nothing too bad) - and the picture perfect race day was icing on the cake. The aid stations were stocked, there were plenty of port-a-johns, and the volunteers and traffic control were terrific. My only complaint is similar to others already posted; the finish area was out of just about everything when I finished. There were oranges, bananas, yogurt, and water. The Smoothie King vendor was, apparently, the only one who was able to anticipate the number of finishers. (The smoothies were great!) I've run many marathons and one of the biggest disappointments about races that combine 5K, half, and full marathons is when the organizers do nothing to stop the shorter distance runners from descending on the finish line food like locusts, leaving little or nothing for the runners who paid the most and ran the farthest. I hope the organizers recognize and correct this deficiency to make the Kansas City Marathon a top-notch experience for everyone, even the marathon runners!

This was my 4th half marathon, and it was well put together and well organized. A great race: tons of bands, and tons of scenic things to look at while running through the city. The crowd support was awesome, and so were the water stops. The hills were challenging, but they weren't as bad as I thought they would be. The only thing I would suggest is: it was VERY crowded and congested at the end of the race. Perhaps the food tables need to be moved on down, farther away from the finish line. Otherwise, it was a great race and I would highly recommend this to anyone!!