Thanks to action by the Joplin, Missouri, City Council, the Mother Road Marathon officially will be resurrected in the tri-state region Oct. 1, 2017.
The council on Monday night gave final approval to a licensing deal that will allow local race organizer Tom Rogers of Twelveone Race Management to revive the 26.2-mile footrace that begins in northeastern Oklahoma, goes through southeastern Kansas and ends in Joplin.
KSN-TV showed an image of the brand-new logo for the marathon, shown above.
The station reported:
“Just continue to shine light on the history of Route 66 … that’s the No. 1 goal, so that a lot of these smaller communities just don’t diminish and that we can bring some economic drivers to these community by doing events like this,” explained Tom Rogers, president of Twelveone Race Management.
Rogers says the plan is to have food trucks, vendors, and live music at the race.
The Mother Road Marathon in Joplin ended in 2013 after problems with declining participation and complaints about its promoter. But now that a local promoter has committed to the event, the Mother Road Marathon’s success is much more likely.
A report a couple of weeks ago indicated the Mother Road Marathon may piggyback its event with a music festival and get help from local Native American tribes.
The timing of the event also is good. Hot weather — a big potential problem for marathons — isn’t likely in early October. The Mother Road Marathon also provides enough recovery time for dedicated marathon runners to take part in the popular Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa in mid-November.
(Image of the Mother Road Marathon in 2013 via Facebook)