More than 500 people finished Sunday’s Mother Road Marathon and its companion races. The 26.2-mile footrace that started in Commerce, Oklahoma, and finished in Joplin, Missouri, remains the only marathon that goes through three states.
Preliminary race results indicate Scott Wilmes, 41, of Liberty, Missouri, was the top finisher in 3 hours, 6 minutes, 19.1 seconds. He finished more than seven minutes ahead of the runner-up, William Vickery, 41, of Pittsburg, Kansas.
Katie Kramer, 38, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was the top women’s finisher with a time of 3:19:25.6. She finished third overall.
The event also included a half-marathon and a 5-kilometer race.
A Joplin Globe article a few days before the race indicated organizers expected 1,000 participants in all the races. The Twelveone Group obtained the rights to the marathon last year from the city of Joplin, and it was the second straight year the organization presided over the race. The original incarnation of the Mother Road Marathon ended in 2013 after problems with declining participation and complaints about its promoter.
About 900 people participated last year. Weather conditions this year included a high temperature near 80 degrees, with high humidity and overcast skies.
Course maps indicated the Mother Road Marathon stayed on Route 66 except for a small segment that detoured away from a roundabout between Baxter Springs and Riverton, Kansas.
The Mother Road Marathon was certified as a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon.
UPDATE: According to a story in today’s Joplin Globe, about 1,000 people participated in the race.
(Image of the Mother Road Marathon logo via Facebook)