Route 66 Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Jamie M.
Wichita, KS

  (08-03-2009)

"Tulsa hosts the Route 66 Marathon, which includes a half, a quarter, and a 5k as well. The mayor of Oklahoma challenged her city to log a million miles of walking and running leading up to the marathon, which is pretty encouraging. It\'s good to see a midwestern town that takes health and fitness seriously.

Tulsa is a friendly town, full of friendly people. The race starts and ends in the downtown area, which is small (not as small as Wichita) but very interesting.

On my warm-up jog, I ran past a building that had a brightly-colored awning and a rainbow flag painted in front of the door. I took it as a good omen. And that\'s not something that you would see in most midwestern cities. So those of you from the coasts, don\'t be scared; we\'re not all hyper-conservative in the middle of the country!

Race start was fairly late (for a triathlete): 8:00 for the full marathon, but my race (half) didn\'t start until 8:30 am. Navigating to the race and parking were surprisingly easy. Parking was primarily on side streets within walking distance of the start; I\'m not sure if there was a large, central parking area, but we had no problem finding a spot to parallel park on the street. The ease of this initial task, which at many races is nothing short of a nightmare, was my first indication that this race was under quality direction.

I arrived just in time to watch the full marathon start. Now relative to the larger marathons, this race is tiny, but it\'s still inspiring to see so many people with the grit and determination to push their bodies through 26.2 miles. There were signs designating estimated mile pace spaced maybe 20-30 feet apart, but no official corrals. The emcee/starter did a great job of working the crowd while waiting for the gun to fire.

As I said, athletes self-seeded based on the signs. It seemed that most people did a good job of seeding themselves (at least back in the 10 minute range, where I started). There were pacers available for 15-minute intervals. I lined up with the 2:15 pace group. I don\'t know how well-attended the other pace groups were; ours had maybe a dozen runners at the outset, and ended up pared down to only a few. The pace group dropped me at the end of the race, and I ran 2:13. I think the pace group ended up finishing under 2:10. That was a decision made on the road by the pacer and a couple of other runners who thought they could push the pace under. In retrospect, I don\'t think that was really fair to slower runners, but in this case, that was only me. So since the pace group was so small, it wasn\'t a big issue. In a larger race, that wouldn\'t fly. But I suppose if you\'re looking at doing this race, you might appreciate that small-town feel.

The course is interesting, and mostly flat for the first 10 miles. It follows Route 66 for a while, passing under a large, neon (not lit during the race, though) Route 66 sign, which is a Tulsa landmark, I assume. The Route 66 section takes runners through a neighborhood that is (how shall I put this?) on the wrong side of the tracks. But that\'s one of the joys of running marathons, right? You get to see *all* of the city in which you\'re running.

After crossing over to the *right* side of the tracks, the route travels through an upscale, river-side neighborhood with charming houses and nice lawns. After that, it tracks along the river for several miles, before executing an out-and-back and sending runners back the way they came. This out-and-back section is on a divided road, so there\'s separation (both physical and psychological) from the runners going the opposite direction. There\'s also room for spectators to sit in the grassy median and yell encouragement, and plenty did!

The last stretch of the course directs runners back through the wealthy neighborhoods around the downtown area. The houses are large and impressive and very nice to look at, if one is running so slowly that they can spare the breath to ooh and aah.

The hills also start at about this point, and they get bigger and less-bearable the closer you get to the finish line. I don\'t know where else the marathon course goes, since I only ran the half, but I assume that it makes this race an unlikely one if you\'re looking for a flat, fast course on which to qualify for Boston. On the other hand, if you\'re looking for a bit of a challenge, this might be right up your alley.

The course seems to wind forever in the last few miles before finally spitting you out in downtown Tulsa, where you confront a few more rolling hills before making the final turn to the finish. One note: men who think it\'s fun/helpful/humorous to stand 400 m from the end with signs that say something like, \"SUCK IT UP!\" . . . next time, I will stop my suffering just long enough to kick you where it hurts.

Finish line is wall-to-wall people on both sides. The chute is nice and wide and provides ample space for a solo finishing picture. After the finish line, there are volunteers waiting to remove timing chips, offer a medal and a space blanket, and send you to have your picture taken.

There was a pretty long line to go through the food tent, and I didn\'t really feel like waiting through it. But since I had to go through that way to get out of the finishers\' corral anyway, I waited it out. There wasn\'t much left by the time I finished; it was pretty picked over. I managed to snag a bagel and some peanut butter, a couple orange slices, and half a banana. The food didn\'t look too appetizing at the end, and it wasn\'t just the hard effort I\'d just put in. I skipped the hamburgers/hot dogs entirely. There was free beer for finishers somewhere, but I never found it.

Aid stations had water and Gatorade (switched flavors halfway through, which I thought was a nice touch). GUs were provided every 7 miles or so in all different flavors; volunteers were caring boxes with a pile of different kinds. So if you're in a hurry, be prepared to suck down whatever you grabbed.

There was live music on the course, and that was great, especially towards the end. Many of the bands were decent--the obligatory indie rock bands and cover bands were there, but there were also a few bluegrass bands, and at least one that incorporated a cellist. I\'ve heard that Tulsa\'s music scene is decent, so I suppose the quality talent on the course was evidence of that.

There were photographers running around before and after the race, as well as on the course during the race. But because the course loops around downtown, it should be feasible for your loved ones to walk to a few different places on the course to get pictures that you don\'t have to pay an arm and a leg for.

The race occurs in mid-November. It\'s definitely fall, and will be chilly in the morning. That said, I wore tights, arm-warmers, a hat, and gloves. I was glad I had them before the race, but the arm-warmers, gloves, and hat all came off by the 5k mark, and I was re-thinking the tights by the end. Bring some warm ups and leave them with friends/family, but plan to run in shorts. A throw-away shirt might not be a bad idea for the early miles. It\'ll be a bit brisk, but nowhere near unbearable.

By the end of the race, I was singing (a term that I use *very* loosely, I assure you) \"I Believe in a Thing Called Love\" at the top of my lungs. No one gave me a second glance.

And that summarizes the feeling I got from this race. It\'s small. It\'s friendly. But no one really cares much what you do. It\'s your race to run, or not. The race was well-organized, but the state of the food-tent by the time I came through (2:15 for the half marathoners, but only 2:45 for the full marathoners, which means that the quarter marathoners must have done a bit of damage) indicates to me that there was a little laissez-faire attitude towards the runners.

But still, a very quality race, with good amenities and atmosphere for its size.

Oh! And a *great* course."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008