40 - Maryville Marathon, Maryville, Missouri

Maryville is located in the northwest part of Missouri, close to the center of "the Quad-State area" — Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas (see map: http://www.maryvillechamber.com/documents/viewbook.pdf).

It was about an hour and half drive from Kansas City, Missouri, where I flew into.  Why did I choose the Maryville Marathon?

It fit my schedule, and I had yet to run a marathon in Missouri.

George playing laouto.

On Friday after I arrived, I headed up to Maryville in my rental car to check-in for the race.  Along the way, I stopped for some Bar-B-Q at Bandana's in St. Joseph, the capitol of Missouri.  Race check-in was at the local Chamber of Commerce office in Maryville.  For dinner, I ate at A & G Restaurant, a local hot spot which was highly recommended.  That night was Greek night and, in addition to a Greek special menu, the owner (George) played Greek music with his laouto.

Saturday morning at 6:30 AM, the fun began; the "time change gods" were in my favor by one hour.  There were about 300 people in all four races (5K, 10K, half-marathon and a full-marathon) and all the races started at the same time.  The full-marathon had 60 finishers; the course was two loops of the half-marathon course.

Sunrise at the start.

For the first 13.1 miles, I took it slow and easy; we were running with the half marathoners so there were an "adequate" number of other runners.  From mile 4 to 9, there was a slight incline, and it was along a straight stretch of US Highway 71.  During this first loop, the sun was beating down, with no shade anywhere to be found.  I certainly was not looking forward to the second loop, when the sun would be higher in the sky and it would be much hotter.

My "plan" was to pick-up the pace for the second 13.1 miles. So, after the half-way point, I still felt OK and did pick-up my pace.  But running the loop the second time, it got noticeably lonely (none of the half-marathon runners were running this second loop).  By the time I got to mile 17, I threw "my plan" into the vast empty fields, of which there were tons.   On this second loop, that incline from mile 4 to 9 now stretched from mile 17 to 22— it felt like I was climbing Mount Everest!  In addition, on this second loop, a strong head wind  had developed. Things were not looking as they were supposed to ....

Fortunately, it clouded up so the intense heat I had anticipated never came.  However, the course on US Highway 71 was perfectly straight, and it seemed to just go on forever. I started to believe that this marathon was NEVER going to end.

The volunteers along the course were great; there were 13 water stations along the 13.1 mile loop, thank goodness! I cherished each of those stations, especially the second time around.  At the station at mile 6 and again at mile 19, the volunteers handed out wet wash clothes, always a refreshing "gift" during a hot marathon.

The finish was pretty anti-climatic with not many spectators to cheer us in. But that finish line was an incredibly welcoming sight for me!  After I took a shower in the local community center, I drove back to Kansas City, had dinner, and crashed for the night. The next morning, I had an early flight home.