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Marathon Details - Kansas City Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > MO > Kansas City > Kansas City Marathon

Kansas City Marathon

Garmin Kansas City Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Kansas City, MO USA

October 19, 2024

http://www.sportkc.org/marathon

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Race Details

Experience Kansas City by running the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon presented by Ivy Investments. The course will start and finish at beautiful Crown Center. The 26.2 mile course winds through the major neighborhoods, parks and historic districts of KC. Runners will experience all of the major landmarks including Sprint Center, KCP&L Entertainment District, Liberty Memorial, Westport, the Country Club Plaza, Loose Park, Brookside, 18th & Vine Jazz District and finish at Crown Center. At the end of the race, enjoy celebrating your accomplishments at the Finish Line Festival.

Contact Information

Name:	Sarah Dee
Address:	Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation 114 W. 11th St. Ste 300 Kansas City, MO 64105
Phone Number:	816-389-4191
Fax Number:	816-474-7979
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (207)

Course 4.2

Organization 4.1

Spectators 3.7

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Number of comments: 207 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 21 > ]

E. H. from Kansas City (10/22/2021) "New Course, Great Spectators, Need more Porta Pots" (about: 2021) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My first marathon & overall a wonderful experience! Expo & packet pick up was good - local running store booths, pacer tent, free airbrush tattoos, lots of booths for upcoming races. Parking for expo was free in downtown KC at Union station. Race day parking was also free but be prepared for a bit of a walk to the start (nice warm up!) there were a lot of porta pots at the start but even so the lines were long. No corrals but pacers had people grouped around them. I started with 4:40 pace group - my pacer was VERY Enthusiastic & fun but a bit after halfway point he handed off to another pacer & slowed down (though he did tell us all he was planning to do that). I ended with the 4:50 pacer who offered great words of encouragement! The course was new this year & everyone said much improved - still lots of hills but more strategically located along the course compared to years past. I'm from KC & train regularly on real steep grades & didn't mind the hills at all. Spectators were AMAZING! saw lots of great signs & they were wonderful cheering us on. Aid stations were well stocked & it was clear when you wanted water then sports drink, volunteers very friendly. Later aid stations also had Gu & bananas & even had a pickle juice & chicken broth station at Mile 24. Finish line was amazing though I didn't stay for the food (I was wanting brunch - recommend First Watch if you like breakfast after marathon). My only issue with this race was first few aid stations had a line of porta pots but only 1 actually open (?!?!) and so lines were long - that REALLY slowed me down! I hope they fix that next year otherwise really awesome race!
W. C. from NY (10/19/2021) "Train for uphills" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 You will earn your finishers medal.
S. L. from Chicagoland (9/23/2020) "Running in the Rain and other Musings" (about: 2019) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Kansas City plays a great host to the marathon. The town was fun to explore. I took part in the I-35 Challenge, running on Saturday in KC and Sunday in Des Moines earning a 3rd medal and a chance to see 2 great cities. I stayed at the Home 2 Suites hotel which was a block to the Start/Finish and the Expo at Union Station. I highly recommend this hotel as it took great care of the runners and set out breakfast early for us. Race day was pouring out and most runners waited till the last minute to head to the starting chute to avoid the downpour. The race organizers seriously misjudged the length of the chute to accommodate the self seeded crowd and did not have openings in the fence to get into the corral. It was a hot mess. Runners pushing and shoving all along the outside of the fences being seriously rude and shoving and bumping into each other. Slow runners and walkers need to go to the back but they always want to line up in front for some reason. This could be improved upon. Anyhow, the rain didn't really dampen my spirits. I like running hills, & I don't mind rain so that was a plus. The spectators and volunteers who braved the weather were VERY energetic. There were water stations every mile, I recall. That was so awesome. I really liked the scenery. We went through a lot of neighborhoods and they held a contest for best water station. If you are a fast marathoner, be prepared to have to deal with slow half runners who will be all over the course in the last few miles. The last 3/4 mile is downhill and fast which was nice. I was pumped to see the finish line in the distance in front of the veterans memorial. Didn't stop at the BBQ finish line party. The park was waaaaaay too overcrowded to even think of waiting in such a long line for food. We left and headed to Des Moines to do it all again the next day. I would recommend this race and someday may do it again as we all had a nice time.
R. R. from KC (10/28/2019) "Outstanding Race" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Really great race. Course gives a great overview of the City,(only downside was a lot of turns to get through some of the neighborhoods and could have been a bit better marked but not anything that would cause a problem) organization was top notch and even in a BBQ city, post race they had a vegetarian sandwich option that was really pretty good. And let's talk about fan and volunteer support. Absolutely great under any circumstances, but throw in the fact that it rained most of the race (and pretty hard at times) this was just an amazing statement about this race, organization and city. A tip of the hat and thank you to organizers, volunteers and spectators.
Brian Peabody from Atlanta, GA (10/26/2019) "By turns, KC surprises, entertains, disappoints" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a well-developed, well supported race on a rolling course that displays Kansas City's scenic jewels and best neighborhoods, with a fun and exhilarating downhill finish A corps of smiling, enthusiastic volunteers staff the race expo and the course itself, with an abundance of well-organized aid stations (even the PowerAide was well mixed, tho sometimes a bit on the weak side), and no shortage of porta-potties. The race medal is attractive and heavy, and the race swag is as nice as the tech race shirt was un-inspiring. Despite running the first half in a light rain, I enjoyed the event and would recommend it. Now that the nice stuff is out of the way, there is room for improvement. The self-seeded start was a mess, with pace groups (a runner's best indication of where to queue up) too close together. As a result, there wasn't enough room for the runners on the course, so, runners stayed on the side, and moved into the course through a porous start fence once the race was underway. The result was chaotic, dangerous, and slow. A race with the experience of this one SHOULD know how much room to allot, and expand the length of the start area accordingly. On-course, some of the timing was non-functional, including that for the Garmin Quarter Mile challenge. (If organizers knew the challenge wasn't able to be timed, letting the runners know would have been appropriate, since I and others compromised our overall time to hit that challenge distance hard.) Following the race, there was a pronounced shortage of food. I was slightly ahead of mid-pack as a marathon finisher, and found fruit and water at the finish line, and beer beyond, but nothing else I could eat. I saw others with chocolate milk but was told that it was gone, and the chit for a BBQ sandwich is of little use to this runner who cannot eat pork. I did get a card for Chic-Fil-A. but the card itself was inedible and I found no place to redeem it. There were NO other food alternatives, either in the post-race area of the park, nor in the VIP room. Travel expenses were quite reasonable, including airfare, other hotel accommodations, free race-day parking, and rental car rates that were a relative bargain.
S. W. from Fort Leavenworth KS (10/20/2019) "Cold, wet, hilly, but really nice people" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race. Not the best course to try for a PB due to the hills and sharp turns, but cool stuff to look at. Great organization. I have never seen this many water/poweraid points in a race. It was like every mile. There were lots of pacers as well. The bag drop was easy and food beer at the end were nice additions. Spectators were fantastic. Almost no one was out in the first 10 miles or so, but that was probably because it was ~50F and raining. The second half there were lots of folks out with candy and stuff. I would do this race again and recommend it to someone if your in town this time next year.
T. Y. from Dayton, OH (11/5/2018) "Worth the drive" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran this race as part of the I-35 challenge. It was a little hillier than I expected, but I think that made for better variety on the course. Great course support and volunteers (although one aid station around mile 25 seemed mostly interested in talking among themselves). Finish line festivities sounded fun, but I didn't get to partake in much due to needing to get to the Des Moines expo (3 hour drive). The bbq sandwich was awesome though, fantastic flavor w/o any sauce. The main host hotel (Westin Crown Center) was perfect for race logistics, right at the start and finish line. Ask for late checkout when you make your reservation though, an email right before the race said no late checkouts, but they gave us ours that we asked for when making the reservation. I would highly recommend this to 50 staters, particularly if I-35 continues to run both races on the same weekend.
M. S. from mansfield, TX (10/22/2018) "Rolling hills & Perfect weather in '18" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great scenic course through beautiful KC neighborhoods, a lot of hills, perfect running weather in 2018: slight breeze clear blue skies. Great expo, great pre & post race. A lot of fan support. One to do again!
D. B. from Omaha, NE (1/8/2018) "Challenging course that shows off the city" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a hilly course but it wasn't as bad as I expected after reading reviews. That being said, be ready for the last few miles to really challenge you; I wish I had been mentally prepared for those-though the last 3/4 mile down hill was fun. The course also takes you through some fantastic neighborhoods and past some of the city's landmarks, which was really nice. Overall, this is a well-run marathon and I love that the sponsor hotel is RIGHT next to the start and finish. The finish festival, however, needs some work. It seemed so geared for the half marathoners. I am a slightly above-average marathoner (3:45) and there was very little food and beer choices left when I got there. I can't imagine what was there an hour later. I also felt bad for my two daughters who waited patiently with their mother for me to finish before getting to play on the bounce houses only to have all the bounce houses taken down right as we got to them. Again, I finished in under 4 hours! What's the point of having an after party if you are going to start tearing down the party with most of the full marathoners still on the course? It's a good race and I would do it again if I ever get off my 50 states kick, but it's definitely geared toward the half marathoners so keep that in mind.
M. M. from Missouri (11/29/2017) "Virtual Goodie Bag (Tasting Room Wine NY)" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The race itself was fantastic! Great Course and Great live music. However, the virtual goodie bags were a complete bust and the finish line celebration was subpar. To receive any one of the 'virtual' goodies, which were just slight discounts, you had to purchase a fairly expensive item. So in reality, the only way to receive ANY benefit from the $120 race beyond the run itself was to go online and spend even MORE money in order to receive a slight discount. After spending a good deal of time sifting through the offers, I settled on the only one I could afford, a tasting wine package from Tasting Room NY. Unfortunately, this $7 purchase never arrived, and I was then charged $168 for a 'membership' that I had never actually joined. To be clear, the company never shipped me any wine, and charged me over $175. After learning about the charges I called Tasting Room NY to ask about the charges and was met with rude and vulgar resistance. After being told several times that I would be charged the $175 no matter what I did at that point, I asked the male employee to please cancel my 'membership,' at which time he hung up on me. Overall, I was very impressed with the race course, but the virtual goodie bag was a bust and had an incredibly poor experience with this particular sponsor.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 21 > ]



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E. H. from Kansas City (10/22/2021) "New Course, Great Spectators, Need more Porta Pots" (about: 2021) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My first marathon & overall a wonderful experience! Expo & packet pick up was good - local running store booths, pacer tent, free airbrush tattoos, lots of booths for upcoming races. Parking for expo was free in downtown KC at Union station. Race day parking was also free but be prepared for a bit of a walk to the start (nice warm up!) there were a lot of porta pots at the start but even so the lines were long. No corrals but pacers had people grouped around them. I started with 4:40 pace group - my pacer was VERY Enthusiastic & fun but a bit after halfway point he handed off to another pacer & slowed down (though he did tell us all he was planning to do that). I ended with the 4:50 pacer who offered great words of encouragement! The course was new this year & everyone said much improved - still lots of hills but more strategically located along the course compared to years past. I'm from KC & train regularly on real steep grades & didn't mind the hills at all. Spectators were AMAZING! saw lots of great signs & they were wonderful cheering us on. Aid stations were well stocked & it was clear when you wanted water then sports drink, volunteers very friendly. Later aid stations also had Gu & bananas & even had a pickle juice & chicken broth station at Mile 24. Finish line was amazing though I didn't stay for the food (I was wanting brunch - recommend First Watch if you like breakfast after marathon). My only issue with this race was first few aid stations had a line of porta pots but only 1 actually open (?!?!) and so lines were long - that REALLY slowed me down! I hope they fix that next year otherwise really awesome race!
W. C. from NY (10/19/2021) "Train for uphills" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 You will earn your finishers medal.
S. L. from Chicagoland (9/23/2020) "Running in the Rain and other Musings" (about: 2019) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Kansas City plays a great host to the marathon. The town was fun to explore. I took part in the I-35 Challenge, running on Saturday in KC and Sunday in Des Moines earning a 3rd medal and a chance to see 2 great cities. I stayed at the Home 2 Suites hotel which was a block to the Start/Finish and the Expo at Union Station. I highly recommend this hotel as it took great care of the runners and set out breakfast early for us. Race day was pouring out and most runners waited till the last minute to head to the starting chute to avoid the downpour. The race organizers seriously misjudged the length of the chute to accommodate the self seeded crowd and did not have openings in the fence to get into the corral. It was a hot mess. Runners pushing and shoving all along the outside of the fences being seriously rude and shoving and bumping into each other. Slow runners and walkers need to go to the back but they always want to line up in front for some reason. This could be improved upon. Anyhow, the rain didn't really dampen my spirits. I like running hills, & I don't mind rain so that was a plus. The spectators and volunteers who braved the weather were VERY energetic. There were water stations every mile, I recall. That was so awesome. I really liked the scenery. We went through a lot of neighborhoods and they held a contest for best water station. If you are a fast marathoner, be prepared to have to deal with slow half runners who will be all over the course in the last few miles. The last 3/4 mile is downhill and fast which was nice. I was pumped to see the finish line in the distance in front of the veterans memorial. Didn't stop at the BBQ finish line party. The park was waaaaaay too overcrowded to even think of waiting in such a long line for food. We left and headed to Des Moines to do it all again the next day. I would recommend this race and someday may do it again as we all had a nice time.
R. R. from KC (10/28/2019) "Outstanding Race" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Really great race. Course gives a great overview of the City,(only downside was a lot of turns to get through some of the neighborhoods and could have been a bit better marked but not anything that would cause a problem) organization was top notch and even in a BBQ city, post race they had a vegetarian sandwich option that was really pretty good. And let's talk about fan and volunteer support. Absolutely great under any circumstances, but throw in the fact that it rained most of the race (and pretty hard at times) this was just an amazing statement about this race, organization and city. A tip of the hat and thank you to organizers, volunteers and spectators.
Brian Peabody from Atlanta, GA (10/26/2019) "By turns, KC surprises, entertains, disappoints" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a well-developed, well supported race on a rolling course that displays Kansas City's scenic jewels and best neighborhoods, with a fun and exhilarating downhill finish A corps of smiling, enthusiastic volunteers staff the race expo and the course itself, with an abundance of well-organized aid stations (even the PowerAide was well mixed, tho sometimes a bit on the weak side), and no shortage of porta-potties. The race medal is attractive and heavy, and the race swag is as nice as the tech race shirt was un-inspiring. Despite running the first half in a light rain, I enjoyed the event and would recommend it. Now that the nice stuff is out of the way, there is room for improvement. The self-seeded start was a mess, with pace groups (a runner's best indication of where to queue up) too close together. As a result, there wasn't enough room for the runners on the course, so, runners stayed on the side, and moved into the course through a porous start fence once the race was underway. The result was chaotic, dangerous, and slow. A race with the experience of this one SHOULD know how much room to allot, and expand the length of the start area accordingly. On-course, some of the timing was non-functional, including that for the Garmin Quarter Mile challenge. (If organizers knew the challenge wasn't able to be timed, letting the runners know would have been appropriate, since I and others compromised our overall time to hit that challenge distance hard.) Following the race, there was a pronounced shortage of food. I was slightly ahead of mid-pack as a marathon finisher, and found fruit and water at the finish line, and beer beyond, but nothing else I could eat. I saw others with chocolate milk but was told that it was gone, and the chit for a BBQ sandwich is of little use to this runner who cannot eat pork. I did get a card for Chic-Fil-A. but the card itself was inedible and I found no place to redeem it. There were NO other food alternatives, either in the post-race area of the park, nor in the VIP room. Travel expenses were quite reasonable, including airfare, other hotel accommodations, free race-day parking, and rental car rates that were a relative bargain.
S. W. from Fort Leavenworth KS (10/20/2019) "Cold, wet, hilly, but really nice people" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race. Not the best course to try for a PB due to the hills and sharp turns, but cool stuff to look at. Great organization. I have never seen this many water/poweraid points in a race. It was like every mile. There were lots of pacers as well. The bag drop was easy and food beer at the end were nice additions. Spectators were fantastic. Almost no one was out in the first 10 miles or so, but that was probably because it was ~50F and raining. The second half there were lots of folks out with candy and stuff. I would do this race again and recommend it to someone if your in town this time next year.
T. Y. from Dayton, OH (11/5/2018) "Worth the drive" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran this race as part of the I-35 challenge. It was a little hillier than I expected, but I think that made for better variety on the course. Great course support and volunteers (although one aid station around mile 25 seemed mostly interested in talking among themselves). Finish line festivities sounded fun, but I didn't get to partake in much due to needing to get to the Des Moines expo (3 hour drive). The bbq sandwich was awesome though, fantastic flavor w/o any sauce. The main host hotel (Westin Crown Center) was perfect for race logistics, right at the start and finish line. Ask for late checkout when you make your reservation though, an email right before the race said no late checkouts, but they gave us ours that we asked for when making the reservation. I would highly recommend this to 50 staters, particularly if I-35 continues to run both races on the same weekend.
M. S. from mansfield, TX (10/22/2018) "Rolling hills & Perfect weather in '18" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great scenic course through beautiful KC neighborhoods, a lot of hills, perfect running weather in 2018: slight breeze clear blue skies. Great expo, great pre & post race. A lot of fan support. One to do again!
D. B. from Omaha, NE (1/8/2018) "Challenging course that shows off the city" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a hilly course but it wasn't as bad as I expected after reading reviews. That being said, be ready for the last few miles to really challenge you; I wish I had been mentally prepared for those-though the last 3/4 mile down hill was fun. The course also takes you through some fantastic neighborhoods and past some of the city's landmarks, which was really nice. Overall, this is a well-run marathon and I love that the sponsor hotel is RIGHT next to the start and finish. The finish festival, however, needs some work. It seemed so geared for the half marathoners. I am a slightly above-average marathoner (3:45) and there was very little food and beer choices left when I got there. I can't imagine what was there an hour later. I also felt bad for my two daughters who waited patiently with their mother for me to finish before getting to play on the bounce houses only to have all the bounce houses taken down right as we got to them. Again, I finished in under 4 hours! What's the point of having an after party if you are going to start tearing down the party with most of the full marathoners still on the course? It's a good race and I would do it again if I ever get off my 50 states kick, but it's definitely geared toward the half marathoners so keep that in mind.
M. M. from Missouri (11/29/2017) "Virtual Goodie Bag (Tasting Room Wine NY)" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kansas City Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The race itself was fantastic! Great Course and Great live music. However, the virtual goodie bags were a complete bust and the finish line celebration was subpar. To receive any one of the 'virtual' goodies, which were just slight discounts, you had to purchase a fairly expensive item. So in reality, the only way to receive ANY benefit from the $120 race beyond the run itself was to go online and spend even MORE money in order to receive a slight discount. After spending a good deal of time sifting through the offers, I settled on the only one I could afford, a tasting wine package from Tasting Room NY. Unfortunately, this $7 purchase never arrived, and I was then charged $168 for a 'membership' that I had never actually joined. To be clear, the company never shipped me any wine, and charged me over $175. After learning about the charges I called Tasting Room NY to ask about the charges and was met with rude and vulgar resistance. After being told several times that I would be charged the $175 no matter what I did at that point, I asked the male employee to please cancel my 'membership,' at which time he hung up on me. Overall, I was very impressed with the race course, but the virtual goodie bag was a bust and had an incredibly poor experience with this particular sponsor.

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Marathon Details - Kansas City Marathon