The KC Marathon is an excellent race that shows off the best, most scenic and historic districts and neighborhoods of Kansas City.

Both packet pickup and the Start/Finish line are in Crown Center, which is a great place to accomodate both; just be sure to arrive with a good 20-30 minutes to spare as the port-a-john lines can be long (but move fast) and the starting corral starts filling up with 15 or so minutes to go.

The course has some challenging hills; the first mile warms your legs up with a gradual 100 foot climb before it goes back down that same 100 the next mile. One of the two big, long climbs is just before the 2.5 mile mark, just past historic Union Station, where you'll climb 140 ft. to Liberty Memorial, then climb another 60 ft. a quarter mile later. There are also notable ascents around mile 11 and mile 21, but once you've reached the peak around mile 23, the final 5K is all downhill by about 150 ft. to the finish line. As a whole this is a hilly marathon by most standards, but a PR or something close can be earned here with smart pacing and patience. As menacing as a few of the climbs can be, the downhills can be equally as generous, and though there are very few flat parts (if any), valuable seconds and minutes can be made up on the rolling downhills if you are prepared and adept at doing so. Course support is more than ample, water and Gatorade at all stations with GU and fruit at some of the final stations in the last 10 miles.

The beautiful parkways and boulevards throughout the route are one of the best parts of the course, and KC residents do a good job of coming out to support and enthusiastically cheer on the runners.
The finish line festival is a good time, lots of action and excitement around Crown Center and a good spread of food and KC's own Boulevard beer to celebrate your accomplishment with. The finish medal is one worth showing off with pride; full color and tastefully big but not oversized. The finishers tech shirt is also very nice, with different sizing/styles for men and women.

All things considered this is an outstanding race that makes me proud to call this area home; it has fast grown into one of the best marathons in the Midwest. For KC-area runners like myself it is a staple of the season schedule, for out-of-towners I would strongly recommend making the trip to come run KC, you will not be disappointed!

The highlight was having Bill Rodgers as announcer at the starting line. The course in general was OK but nothing spectacular. One major issue with the course was about 1-2 miles of the course was on unpaved roads around the 16 mile mark of the marathon.

I never received my t-shirt (registered at the expo) - despite asking about it over email after the race. I placed in my age group and never received age group award.

I was initially placed in the wrong age group.

In my contact with the organizers about all these issues, they seemed to not care much. Definitely a contrast with other races I've participated in.

Before the race, there was a lot of controversy over the organizers deciding not to provide finishers shirts. They had done this in the past and the website included this as a promise until shortly before the race.

Won't be running the race again...

An exceptionally well organized race. Hilly but scenic course, with lots of variety. Nice downhill finish. Beautiful medal, nice shirt. Enjoyed the free beer, but the thimble-sized BBQ sample was a little silly.

The highlight for me was the Smart Pacing team. A very course specific plan, with a nice easy start, strong middle, and even effort up and down the hills was well-planned and brilliantly executed. I wish I could run with them every time. Thanks again to Brad and Ron.

KC really rolled out the red carpet for this race - and the results were fantastic. The weather was perfect. The course is challenging, but this is a well publicized fact. While challenging the course is absolutely incredible - winding through beautiful parts of Kansas City (The Plaza, Westport, Power and Light District, Scenic Neighborhoods). The race was also very well organized, and had fantastic volunteer support at each and every aid station. The aid stations even had signs in advance of the station to let you know what to expect at the station (water, gatorade, GU, fruit, vasoline, etc.).

The specator support was also strong - although there were a few miles on the back half without bands or overwhelming support.

The only downside was the fact that finisher's shirts were originally promised, but not delivered. However, the marathon medals were very nice - and the post-race festivities were a blast.

Great Job KC - I'll be back for sure.

I really enjoyed this race, the course was challenging but not brutal, the event was well organized,and the smartpacing team was amazing! I wish there were more bands along the full marathon course as it got a bit lonely after the half split off, but the fans were enthusiastic and had fun signs! The medals were gorgeous!

My first marathon, although I've run several half marathons and other races. It was a beautiful day in Kansas City with perfect temperatures and no noticeable wind. Beautiful course gave a fantastic tour of a great city. Great aid stations with plenty of water, gatorade, GU, and various snacks along the way.

A couple of disappointing aspects:
Runners were told 2 days prior to the event that there would be a small unpaved portion of the marathon. This occurred at mile 17 and in my opinion it was pretty terrible. It felt like running on a concrete egg crate, and it lasted for a mile. I thought it was never going to end. At mile 17, the body is already hurting, but this definitely slowed me down and caused more pain in my feet. I understand that all construction can't be controlled, but I feel the organizers did a disservice to the runners in letting them know only 2 days in advance about this issue and that they would not be changing the course, after everyone had already paid and registered. The course is already challenging, and to me, this added another unecessary hurdle that I wasn't prepared for. I got through it, but there was definitely some grumbling and a feeling of relief when that section was completed.

When we registered, the website stated we would be receiving the event tech shirt and a finisher's shirt. A month before the race, it was released that the finisher's shirts would only be avail for purchase. These were not pre-made shirts (they were being screen printed upon purchase), and the booth lines were long at both the expo and after the race when I tried to get one. Also a disservice in my opinion to promise two shirts and only give one. This caused a lot of negative feedback various social networking sites. A discounted registration for next year was offered in exchange, but only for a very limited time and I don't plan a year in advance for an out of town race.

I finished my first marathon in a little over four hours, but my time has still not been posted online. My chip did not work so no one could track me, which of course was disappointing, but the people in charge of the timing are supposed to be working on it. They have my official time but no info regarding my splits.

Crowd support was sparse at times but those that did roll out had funny signs and some great treats and support. Pacing teams were well organized and helped a lot. Host hotel was flawless. Expo was average, really the only swag you got was virtual coupons. The course gives a good challenge. The hills are certainly doable if you train for them (and drive them first to know what to expect) and don't start out too fast. I don't know if my legs were numb, but that third hill around mile 21 was much easier than I had expected. Despite the disappointments, I'd do it again. Had a great weekend in Kansas City afterwards and left to drive home with a new sense of pride.

The weather was ideal and the course moderately challenging. What could be better than this for a properly trained marathoner? More properly trained runners in the field would be better. There were four significant hills apparent on the elevation chart. The first hill at the start was unnoticeable. The second hill near three miles was a half mile, strong one which could be managed so early in the race. The third hill near miles eleven to twelve was long and persistent. I felt that one. From then on we ran simple rolling hills, flat elevation and long downhills to mile twenty one. If your quads were strong enough then you could run rapidly even on the rutted surface from miles sixteen to seventeen. I was concerned about the miles 21 to 23 hill before the race. Running this incline felt surprisingly stress free. The incline was marginally visible it seemed. Maybe that was because I was focused on not running into the walkers, walking three and four across from mile twenty one to the finish. Marathoners run tangent lines from turn to turn to travel the shortest distance from point to point. I found walkers in this line because they were executing the same strategy. I still ran my lines passing through whatever space was available. I clipped one woman accidentally and my watch setting changed. Twice, I yelled for a pathway and no one even turned around or moved aside. I powered through them. Other times, the walkers did create a pathway. This was not a good situation for any of us. Many marathons have this arrangement. What would be the effect if the race course organizers chalked a colorful line on the most efficient line? The walkers would be instructed to avoid this line or turn around if they cross it for safety sake. I appreciate the walker's participation but we essentially share the same space at the same time. A reserved body width pathway for the marathoners is reasonable and a clear safety standard for everyone. We all finished safely this day. Thank you Kansas City.

From start to finish this race was spectacularly organized. The course was great, lots to see along the way. A great balance of hills and flats, the volunteers were perfectly placed along the route, cold water and fresh fruit the entire way, couldn't have been done any better. Congratulations to everyone who worked to make such a terrific race possible.

This was my second marathon in 2011 and I was warned about the hills. But I trained for them, so they weren't bad at all. An energy packed expo and great organization. There weren't very many fans along the route which was the one downer of the race. Miles 22-26 rather lonely. But it was a great day and the course does a great job of rolling through a lot of different parts of town. The pacers were great too.

Last 5 yrs the ttemps have been great, it's a Saturday start, 7:00a.m., course is hilly the first 4 miles but flat if not downhill until mile 21. Great marathon.