Prairie Fire Wichita Marathon - Race Reviews

I drove from Milwaukee to complete this event. This was marathon #21 and state #20. The 'old town' area of the city is where this event is located, and it is very nice. Lots of food options and the Courtyard Marriott I stayed at was about 200 yards from the start/finish line. Packet pickup was convenient but had very few vendors. Race t-shirt is cotton which I always appreciate. The weather on race day was PERFECT!!!! The 5k, half, and full had about 2100 runners so it was never too crowded. The race is a double loop course which I enjoy. The organization of the event was amazing as there were plenty of volunteers and the course was perfectly marked. Crowd support was good for a small city like this. Scenery was okay as most of the run is down a city street and then around the 'keeper of the plains' monument. Finishers medal was very nice as was the after party. The only complaint is that Mich Ultra was the only true beer option and after running 26.2 miles, I felt like I was drinking water.... I would HIGHLY recommend this event to anyone wanting to knock Kansas off their list of 50 states!

Ran as part of a 50-state quest. It's probably the only time I'll ever visit Wichita and nice to see a new city. Course was fast, race was well-organized, and I'd gladly recommend this race to anyone looking for a race in Kansas. The weather was a little warm and two loops isn't ideal. No controlling the weather and guessing city government mandated the limited course. Overall a good experience.

This is a good two-loop course, not hilly at all, nor is it flat as a pancake. Weather was relatively good, although on the hot side but who can complain given what could have come our way - wind, rain, and hotter climes. Pizza at the end was great. Organization was good for a small town event. People were friendly. Stayed at the Hotel at Old Town which was a disaster. They insisted on a noon checkout for all guests and when I tried to explain that the marathon started at 7:30, I basically got a "speak to the hand" attitude. It's hard to imagine that a hotel near the start wouldn't be more accommodating. At least allow marathoners even just a half hour more but that suggestion fell on deaf ears. They even told me that they didn't need my room for that evening! I was told politely that I could be subject to a 250.00 fine if I didn't checkout by noon so I checked out before the race, only to discover that others were still in their rooms at 1:15! The experience was very unsettling given that I flew from out of town and was nervous about the race. Avoid the hotel at Old town. Lots of other excellent options like the Marriott and Hilton. Despite the hotel fiasco, it was a good race experience.

Excellent course: flat and varied scenery. Great organization, and the race director answered all of my pre-race e-mail questions. The pasta dinner, where the race director asked participants about their running journey (rather than a keynoter) was awesome, as was the food. Great finish line food, even for back-of-the-pack folks like me. The weather was awful. Sheets of rain and wind strong enough to blow down mile markers. Even with that, I had a great time in Wichita!

Overall this is a flat and fast course and is definitely a PR course. I think the director has done a decent job of showing off some of the interesting neighborhoods of the city. The volunteers and aid stations were great. The start and finish was well organized. It is a relatively small marathon with under 500 full marathon finishers, so by about the 3 mile mark there is little to no congestion. The first half of the course takes you through downtown Wichita, College Hill, Eastborough, and several other well known neighborhoods in east Wichita. It then turns west and goes back towards downtown on 2nd street before looping around in the Riverside area and finishing at the boathouse right where you started. The last 3 miles are pretty exposed with little shade and are pretty tough if the sun is beating down on a warm day. Overall a very pleasant course and one huge positive in my opinion is the lack of any significant out-and-backs (besides short ones around miles 2-3 and 18-19). I will definitely be running this marathon again and would recommend it for those looking for a fast fall race in the midwest. Wichita is not a destination city by any means, but is a pleasant city for hosting an event like this. There are plenty of hotels, restaurants, and activities downtown to make a trip out of it. One last comment I will add is to not expect a great amount of spectators throughout the course. Some of the neighborhoods get out to support it, and the start/finish area will host some spectators. But if you're expecting spectators to be lining every street, you will be disappointed. This is not a big deal at all to me, but may be for others used to big city marathons.

This marathon is a great course for first-timers or those looking to sustain a fast pace. There are very few inclines or hills of any kind on the route. Scenic for a midwestern marathon, the course snakes through downtown, museums, statues, parks, and then some residential areas. I have no complaints except that the 'food' for the racers was completely gone by the 4 hour mark, so if you finished after that, the only thing you received was a banana.

Course: Although its not pancake flat, I believe the total elevation gain is 150 ft, and the most noticeable inclines/declines were in my opinion in nice places (with the biggest incline in mile 5 and the biggest decline in 16). This is not a straight course. Youll be turning and curving a lot, so need to be cognizant of running the tangents and also watchful for the course markings. The course was well-marked on the ground and with signs, so even when I couldnt see other runners and the volunteers were playing on their phones, I always knew which way to turn. It's a smaller marathon, so it's not spectator-lined, but those who were out were amazing! Size: This race has 500-700 runners, so I knew that I had the potential of running alone, and after the half marathoners split off after the 10K mark I ran alone for nearly 20 miles. I passed a handful of men during the second half of the race, and passed half runners when we overlapped back with them (around miles 13.5-17.5), but never had anyone actually running with me. The field is going to be thin out front (I finished in 2:58). Weather: The weather factor at this one is kind of risky, as early October in Kansas can be nice or can be hot and windy. In 2016 we lucked out and it was around 52 at the start with cloud cover, and maybe 60 when I finished (not perfect but not 80!). We also had light winds, which meant a fantastic race day in Wichita. Pace Groups: The race changed all of the pace groups by 3 minutes on the Tuesday during race week. Although this made sense for Boston qualifying time seekers, it was a sweeping change even for groups this didnt apply to (e.g., 3:00 became 2:57). I also didnt like the strategy used by the 2:57 pace group, which was a slower first 5 miles, 16 miles in the 6:30s, then a slower final 5 miles. They ended up running the 16 middle miles even faster than planned, with many in the 6:20s. I did not run with them much (only when they were running close to my pace plan of a conservative start with a negative split), but I passed all of the men who tried to run with the group, even though I finished a minute slower than their targeted time. I would have liked to have seen a conservative start followed by even pacing. Co-Occurring Half Marathon: Having the half runners with us was nice for the first 10K, as it meant more runners around, but it may have been crowded at some paces. Picking back up with the half runners from 13.5-17.5ish was rough, as us marathon runners were over-lapping with half runners who were running a much slower pace and the course was very crowded. I also got nervous because I wasnt sure how the point where we split back off from the half runners would be marked, and I didnt want to miss it (however, it was well-marked when we got there). We again picked up with the half course towards the end, and the half field of walkers was pretty thin at that point so wasnt as big of an issue. There were separate full and half finishing stretches separated by cones, which was helpful. This whole issue will vary based on the pace youre running in the marathon. Swag: The shirts and medals were great. The expo was small, as expected, but nice. The race also offered free professional photos, which was nice but they didnt take finishing clock shots which was disappointing. There was plenty of food and a wide variety of it at the finish festival, although you had to walk around to find different items. The overall and age group trophies were high quality. They also have space blankets for finishers and outdoor tent areas, but no indoor areas for the awards ceremony or waiting for it. This is a great one to do if youre trying to check Kansas off your list! I would definitely run it again, as the positives outweigh the things to improve. I wrote more about my experience here: http://runningbcba.blogspot.com/2016/10/prairie-fire-marathon-262-details.html

This was my first Prairie Fire Marathon and tenth marathon overall. I chose to run PFM due to it's reasonable registration price, generally flat course description and proximity to Denver (where I live). Overall, I thought this was a solid race. I don't know that I would recommend seeking it out, but I would recommend PFM for someone looking for a well-organized local marathon. PROS: -The course gives you an interesting tour of Wichita. -GIANT finisher's medal (if that's your thing) -Excellent volunteers and aid station support -Good pre-race communication from the race organizers -Generally flat course -Nice beach towel as a participant gift -Spectator-friendly course (husband was able to see me many times on the course) CONS: -There are points on the course when the middle of the pack of the marathon is forced to dodge the back of the pack half marathons (who are walking several abreast). This happened around mile 12 of the marathon and at the end of the marathon. -The weather was HOT. This is obviously out of the race organizers' control, but an earlier start might mitigate hot weather. Also, the latter miles of the marathon had very little shade. -The expo was boring and uneventful. Also parking for the expo was a nightmare (there was a Christmas craft fair going on at the same time). -They were out of women's small finishers' shirts with 4 hours on the clock. -I only saw bananas for post-race food. I really wish there had been some more options. Overall, PFM was a good race.

Great course. A lot on streets of older shady neighborhoods (possible because of only 626 Marathoners), lot's of twists and turns and running through parks. No filler miles on big warehouse district boulevards present in so many larger races. Windy but only true headwind was last 3 miles, mercifully cool. Phenomenal number of volunteers with great street control and water stations. All other aspects of the race were just fine (parking, expo, etc.) First pasta feed I've been to where the director went table to table having everyone introduce themselves. A great motivational speech by a survivor of a horrific car crash that ran the race a year after he just learned to stand again.

Nothing really to complain about. This has the feel and the charm of a small town race, but it is run like a big city marathon. Good organization and volunteers. The course was a little plain in stretches, and some of the footing was iffy. Still a nice race, especially if you are trying to mark the state of Kansas off your list.

This was my 63 marathon, including 6 ultras. I wanted a marathon in Kansas. Everyone was nice, the host hotel was across the street from the start and finish,so perfect. The wind was brutal, but not the race director's fault. However, I think the course, even though flat, could really be improved. Too many turns, concrete subdivisions,brick road, sidewalks, alleys,ect. I stayed an extra day and ran the opposite direction from the Hyatt and it was beautiful- maybe changing to go that way is something to consider.

The course was charming; they did a great job portraying the charm of the city. When I first drove into the city I thought hmmm city boringness but running I got a different feel. I think the course was design to represent the highlights of the city, I think they nailed that. The runner surface was uneven at places and the brick road is never something I enjoy but that is part of the town. The neighborhoods were older with nice size homes. Although flat it did go up and down at times not drastically but not pancake flat like Houston. It went along trails a lot, which is why I could not follow the course when I tried to drive it. The town support was great. The authorities had the roads well protected and great supported. I did enjoy how they had us going on the center lane on the main road downtown so not to stop all traffic (suicide lane is what we call where I live) at the beginning in middle part and end. For RR with pictures go to http://www.runrunrace.com/race-reports/prairie-fire-marathon-marathon-9-state-kansas/

Let me add to the positive comments regarding this race. This was my second marathon and I really enjoyed the entire experience. My first race was a large marathon and it was so nice to run a smaller venue. The race was very well organized and the crowds along the course were very welcoming. Ditto to the comment regarding running through Cow Town - that was a nice pick-me-up at about the 22 mile mark. Great medal and finisher's shirt as well.

This is a well organized, well run event! You get that Midwest hospitality and personal attention that makes you feel at home! Love the finishers shirt and awesome medal! Great pasta party and post race party. Weather conditions were good and so was crowd support. Course very flat and fast. Best part of course for me was running thru cow town (like a scene from the oldest). There were a few spots on course you traversed on sidewalk and ran thru a guys driveway, but overall great! Highest elevation rise was coming down off the curb, a very fast course. Would recommend this one!

This is a great small race. Everything is well organized, and the course is as flat as they come. The only complaint I have (and it is not that much of one) is the terrain on the course. We ran on sidewalks, down an alley, through dirt, on bricks, and even through grassy sections a few times. All the turns and different areas kept the course interesting, however. I hate long, boring stretches, and there was really only one of those, and it was about 3 miles in each direction. Overall, the weather was great at the start and a little warm at the finish. The wind was brutal, but it is Kansas, so what do you expect?? It is well worth your time and money if you need a Kansas race.

This is a well organized race. The two shirts (one tech and one cotton) and the medal were very nice. The weather was dreary and drizzly, but not cold. The course is pretty flat and very fast. A fair amount of support along the course for having had bad weather.

I have run close to 70 marathons and if you need to run in KS or want to go to Boston, I highly recommend it. It is easy in and easy out. An out and back course. The expo is big enough without the craziness like Boston or NYC. And while your there DON'T miss the Spangles sandwich restaurants.... I mean it, the best in the US. You will wish you had one in your hometown, I do!!!

This is a great race. The course is flat, but the turns are a bit of killer. Better yet, there are a lot of them making it tough on the body. But, the folks that put this event on did a great job. I am not a fan of too many turns, but I suspect this is minor for others. As for Garmins and distance, the course was not too long. It is a measured course. I like the post-race food and beer. They announced runners coming in. Medals were great. If I had my wish, a 7 to 7:30 start would be something to consider since it is hard to get a sense of mid west temps. Good job folks. This was not my best race, but that means I need to re-evaluate my training.

I completed this race on October 9, 2011, and really enjoyed the event. It rained most of the time, but varied from drizzle to steady showers. It is a nice tour of the City of Wichita, running through the downtown business area, upscale residential areas, lovely parks and along the Arkansas River. Cowtown was a unique experience, except the dirt street was rather muddy. They gave out two shirts and a metal and I really liked the logo. Only one hill of any consequence is at the 3 mile mark and lasts about 1-2 miles, but it is nice at the 14 mile mark coming down. I can think of no complaints about this race. Nice fan support from the local residents in the neighborhoods and the volunteers were great.

This was the 2nd running of the Wichita Prairie Fire Marathon. This years course was an improvement over last year's course but still had some running on brick roads, wet sand (Cowtown), and measured 26.4 miles on my Garmin. The crowd support was excellent and the beverage stations were every 2 miles and adequately staffed. The post-race food and beverage was OK, but could have been better. The race and finisher shirts were very nice. The packet pickup, held the day prior to the race, went smoothly. The finisher medals were very nice. The medal I received for placing in my age group was a little disappointing. Despite the extra mileage, I still ran a PR and would do the race next year.

This was an unexpected surprise. Crowds were sparse, but very friendly. Water and Gatorade stops were well staffed and enthusiastic. Very flat PR course. Reasonably priced hotels within blocks of the start/finish. Plenty of restrooms along the route. Expo lacked run related stuff. Not many eating options Sunday in Wichita unless you have a car. Usually not much for finishers medals, but this one was a keeper. Nice tech shirt and cotton race T as well. This is a second year race, so it has had a few growing pains, but all in all, the experience was very positive.

This happened to be my first marathon, and I must say that I was truly impressed with the set up and the atmosphere around the finish line. I felt like a true athlete coming down towards the finish line; it was a welcome finish. I loved it. I am doing it again this year.

This was my first half-marathon and it was a great. The course was relatively flat, and it went by a lot of landmarks and through a lot of residential areas so we had lots of support. One family even set up a little water station for us! We ran on back roads through Bricktown but it was short and unavoidable. They had lots of post-race food and entertainment. I really liked how the half marathoners got finisher t-shirts. The porta-potties were a little far away but the lines were good. We live just a few minutes away and parking was not too bad. All around, it was a good race and we will be back.

The marathon was good, and we got a nice finishing medal, but the finish area was a mess. They did not tell you where anything was and I happened to walk past the finishing shirts. They could have put a map where things were going to be or had a person telling you. The massages were gone; if the course is open for six hours, then they should been there. Where are the results?

A far cry from the previous marathons. It had the feel of an actual, real race. The expo was a big change from the past, as there has never been one. The finish area was done well. Those looking for a Midwest marathon should definitely have Wichita on the list. As a runner, I can now say that I am proud of my hometown marathon.

I was very excited about the new Prairie Fire Marathon as a resident of Wichita and the Riverside neighborhood that the marathon passed through. I was very proud of the locations and landmarks that were highlighted by the route. Wichita is a great city and has a lot to offer. Bob Hanson and his team did an outstanding job of organizing and will continue to do so in future years, I'm sure. I hope that increased awareness and the success of this year's race will bring more spectators.

The inaugural Prairie Fire Marathon was a great event! This race was basically a make-over for the old Wichita Marathon and what an improvement it was. The expo was larger and had some fun/interesting booths (more running and less health-related booths may be nice). The start/finish area seemed to have plenty of porta-pots and was located near numerous downtown lodging options. The course itself was a nice change from the old course (basically a south-to-north course across city) traveling in every direction through many shaded neighborhoods and areas. I would recommend changing the last 6 miles or so as that stretch got lonely and wasn't as interesting as the rest of the course. Overall the course was very flat with only a couple of uphills and downhills. There were many, many turns though. Crowd support was pretty good over much of the course, especially for a smaller size event. My wife commented that she was able to get around the course very easily to cheer me on. A good number of neighborhood residents came out to cheer. The final 6 miles did not have much crowd support until getting back into the downtown area near the finish, which was very loud and fun to run through. The swag was outstanding! One short-sleeve cotton t-shirt in the registration pack, a long-sleeve, tech t-shirt at the finish and my new favorite medal. Lots of food at the finish although some of it did not seem quite right for post-marathon (doughnuts and pizza). Overall, a great new event. The bar has been set high this year. I look forward to running it again in the future.

I liked the new course; it had a lot of shade and different scenery to look at.

This was a huge surprise. I did not know what to expect with a race in Wichita, Kansas. This was not only my first time in Wichita, but my first trip to Kansas. The city and course were beautiful. The highlights: beautiful neighborhoods with tree lined-fall foliage, beautiful parks with views of lakes and rivers, Old Town, Cow Town and a great finish over the bridge to The Hyatt. Speaking of the Hyatt, it is a must if you are coming from out of town. It is the location of the start, finish and pasta party - and only a short walk to the expo. I enjoyed both this town and this marathon.

Let me start by mentioning that the name of the marathon is deceptive; there is nothing "prairie" about the course - it is 100% urban. I could not be happier with inaugural Prairie Fire Marathon. This was not an upgrade to the old Heart of Wichita Marathon; this was a 100% new event. The old marathon and its tedious course are thankfully a thing of the past. A lot of people in Wichita harbor an inferiority complex about their city, but this marathon is something to be proud of - everything about it stacks up to what one would expect from any other big-city marathon. The Good: -The course was amazing. I've done weekly long runs through every section of Wichita for years now and I could not have put together anything this good. Much of the course is run through some of Wichita's swankier residential sections, and there were quite a few people out in their yards watching and cheering the marathoners on. There was never a dull moment and it showcased Wichita beautifully. -Spectator support increased significantly from previous years. It probably helped that a lot of the course went through residential areas, but there was rarely a spot in the entire course that didn't have someone clapping or cheering. There were costumes, free beer tables, people handing out candy and donuts, live music, and plenty of people making a party out of it and having bloody Mary's and mimosas in their front yard! -Free beer and pizza at the end! -Two shirts! A cotton participation shirt and a long-sleeved tech shirt at the finish line! Im getting frustrated with the trend to provide only tech shirts for races, so I was very pleased to also have a cotton one. Suggestions: -The website said there would be GU at mile 17 but I didn't see any. I would have brought an extra packet if I had known. -I know its subjective, but I thought there could have been two or three more water stops throughout the course, especially towards the end. I dont know what the standard is. Maybe I was just thirstier than usual. -There were two locations towards the end of the race that required a turnaround at a pivot point, and this made it hard to maintain pace. Perhaps tweaking the course just a bit to avoid the deeper parts of Sim Park and incorporate the Douglas section of Delano instead would solve this issue. -The finish corral was a little confusing, as there were runners and non-runners coming and going. After getting the medal (which was awesome) and the space blanket, it was kind of confusing what I was supposed to do next, so I just wandered around until I found the fruit/beer/pizza. -I like to collect posters from marathons that I attend. The Prairie Fire logo is so cool that I would have loved to have been able to buy the artwork at the expo. Perhaps this can be offered next year. -The map that was offered in the program was decent, but next year it would be nice to have a page for spectators, explaining where they could go to see different portions of the race. -Great Job, Wichita Area Sports Commission; you guys put on a near-perfect event!

Nice marathon. Course is flat, and is scenic in many places. Problems with the course included some brick roads, and a lot of the roads were in bad need of repair. Also, the marathon went on a few-mile detour from the half-marathon, and when the merge occurred, marathoners had to contend with throngs of slow or walking half-marathoners. Not good. Water stops were good - could add both sides of the road for the first few. Decent food and beverages (beer!) at the finish. Very nice medal, and 2 shirts (one at the expo and one at the finish). Expo was okay, but needed many more running store booths. And a special thanks to whoever got the clouds to roll in for the second half of the race. :-). Highly recommend staying at the Hyatt - it's right next to the race start, and offers a great rate.

I live in Wichita, Kansas and this was my first half marathon 2:22 (unofficial). WHOO HOO!!! I was so impressed and grateful to the community who came out and lined every block of the race cheering all the runners on. There were "extra" water stations put up by the community. Over half of the supporters had their children out watching too and the kids were really into the race when we passed. A lot of them high-fived the runners and or cheered and manned their signs and noisemakers as the runners passed. This is my home city and I was proud to say that after participating in this race. When I finished I went into my neighborhood and paid it forward to the full marathon runners. I went over a couple of blocks from home and stood with my neighbors cheering on the runners as they passed mile 19-ish. So inspirational. Thanks to those who made the running of this race so seamless, and thanks to all of those Wichitans who made me proud to call this city home.