Ran the full. Map to the starting line was pretty vague. Ended up late to the start because the map did not indicate which exit to take off of the interstate. (Seemed to be designed for locals.) Frustrating. Water tables were infrequent, take your own hydration, or expect to get really thirsty. The course starts out really nice. Trees, wooded areas. Nice. As it gets closer to Springfield, it gets pretty ugly. The last 5-6 miles, very ugly. Note, you are literally on old Route 66, not an adjacent trail. Fighting the cars the whole way. Strangely, there were 4-5 truck driver training schools in the last 5 or so miles, so you're dealing with rookie semi-drivers. A little unnerving. Did I mention to take your own hydration?

I came allt the way from Iceland to run this race, a true Marathon Maniac. The Expo and the race was small and well organized, which is good for a first timer. The first half of the marathon was hilly and the heat was hard for me on the second half. The volunteers on the way and at the finsh were awsome. I just LOVE the COOL medal, the HI-quality technical shirt and the very special age group reward. Everything was great but in my opinion there needed to be more water stations, at least every 2 miles. Thanks for a great race :)