I loved this run. Beautiful city, beautiful course. And a small field of runners, so you have space to enjoy it all. The start area is organized well...and because it's a smaller race, easy to get from bag check to start line in 1 minute. Good spectator support through the first half; good scenery on second half to make up for very few spectators cheering then. My only complaint: the finisher medals are generic North Face medals...they should be specific to the race and have Kansas City + the date on them! This would not be hard to do and makes it so much more special.

North Face puts together a very enjoyable and fun race. I ran the 50K and I was worried that the only directions I would get on the course were colored chalk arrows, but the police and other support staff who managed the traffic helped a lot. The course is very hilly and challenging. It was quite a bit of fun, although not so much towards the end. Everyone was very friendly and it was a good time.

The good: nice tech shirt, arm warmers and medal. The course did a great job of showcasing the best parts of the city without a lot of double-back. Aid station volunteers were nice and even as a back of the packer, there was plenty of water and orange slices, etc when I came through. It was easy to drive to the start and find free street parking nearby 30 mins before the start.

The Bad: Very poorly organized in terms of course marking. There were several races going on at the same time: marathon, 50K, half, 10K and 5K as well as a relay. The only signage were chalk drawings on the groundand these were just lines, with the color matching the color of your bib. No stand up signs at all. and at no point was this system every explained. Several half marathoners missed a split point as did people in the 5K. A friend who was running the marathon got confused and finished the half, realized her mistake and the race director had someone take her back out to the course to drop her off so she could truly finish the mrathon distance. Several times I had to ask the police manning the intersection, which way to go.

The mile markers were off as well; when our garmins read 9.8, we passed the 11 mile marker. A 6 min mile one time, next mile 20 mins? Something off here. The course was very challenging, and included having to walk (or run if you could) down 8 flights of metal stairs to access an isolated river path where we did a loop. There were hardly any spectators anywhere on the course. And the hot meal? Well, you received two $5 tickets to use to purchase food at one of several food trucks. The food trucks did not give change and lo and behold, nothing was less than $5.50. I waited 20 mins for a very yummy burger.

Overall, one of my most challenging marathons, mentally (because I was pretty much alone from mile 15 onward) and physically (never ending hills and strong winds). Would not recommend.