My marathons

Rock the Parkway Half Marathon & 5K

07:307:30 AM Kansas City
Liberty Memorial
Liberty Memorial. Photograph by National WWI Museum, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

The course

The USATF-certified half marathon starts and finishes at Burns & McDonnell on Ward Parkway, goes up to and around Loose Park, and ends on a long downhill.

The course in short 2 lines
  • Ward Parkway, Loose Park and a long downhill finishFairly flat, around Loose Park, with a long downhill finish.
  • Fourteen minutes a mile, seven aid stations14 min/mile pace rule; seven aid stations, GU at the fourth near mile 7.
Course notes 2 short reads on the course
Whole courseGeometryWard Parkway, Loose Park and a long downhill finishFairly flat, around Loose Park, with a long downhill finish.

The organiser calls the terrain fairly flat and says the long downhill finish makes this one of the fastest half marathon courses in the area. The roads are closed to traffic and marked with cones, turn arrows and large mile markers.

Sourced

Whole courseTacticsFourteen minutes a mile, seven aid stations14 min/mile pace rule; seven aid stations, GU at the fourth near mile 7.

The pace rule exists to satisfy the city’s permit for the street closures. The fourth aid station, near mile 7, also has GU. The half marathon starts at 7:30 in eight corrals by expected finish time, from under 1:35 to 2:40 and over, and the course closes at 11:30.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

2 gels for Kansas City, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, by the clock:

  1. km 7.3mile 4.6
  2. km 14.7mile 9.1

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Get it on Amazon

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In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
21.1 km13.1 mi

Race week

Timetable

Saturday 10 April Race day

  1. 07:307:30 AM

    Half marathon start Burns & McDonnell, 9400 Ward Parkway. A wave start with eight corrals by expected finish time, from Wave AA (under 1:35) to Wave G (2:40 and over).

  2. 07:457:45 AM

    5K start Burns & McDonnell, 9400 Ward Parkway

  3. 10:0010:00 AM

    5K closes

  4. 11:3011:30 AM

    Half marathon closes

  5. Time not published

    Half marathon pace requirement Half marathon participants must keep a pace of 14 minutes per mile or faster to satisfy the city's street-closure permit.

Times as published by the organiser, in Kansas City time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Kansas City time

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

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