Heart of America Marathon

The course was very pretty and even more challenging. The people and volunteers were fantastic. It started at 6AM and was dark for approximately 40 minutes. It started to get warm at the end but the collegiality was overwhelming with lots of enthusiasm. The hills were very tough but satisfying. The post race festivities were wonderful. It was convenience and the volunteers were very supportive. The relay racers were a welcome change from an overcrowded half marathon. Nice personalized bibs and both socks and a shirt! I highly recommend this race

For the 2017 edition of this great course, the organizers made some subtle tweaks to the start/finish, so that the entire course was south of Stadium Blvd. in Columbia, MO. These tweaks made for a much safer course without compromising course difficulty. This Labor Day legend always has some annual measure of special difficulty in store for those runners who dare challenge it; in '17, difficulty came by way of dew points above 70°F for the better part of the course - which makes its volunteers and the spectators all the more appreciated. My only squawk: A bib personalized to HoA would've been preferable to the generic bib from the race management company (though the 'B' tag on the bib certainly beats the 'D' tag or especially the hard chip in the shoelaces).

This was my first marathon, and it was a doozy. The heat was 70 in the morning and 90 by the time of finish. Train for hills and expect heat. Incredible beautiful course. Amazing people who run it.