Stop whining and embrace the Kansas City Marathon
Yael T. AbouhalkahMany other cities embrace their marathons.
In Kansas City, we seem to whine about the annual Kansas City Marathon in October. The 2012 event is Saturday.
The biggest complaints: My favorite street is going to be closed. (Check out The Star’s story here.) I have to plan way ahead to leave enough time to go anywhere. The race takes too long to finish, inconveniencing me.
As a long distance runner, I’m tempted to write: Get over it.
Then again, I feel your pain.
Kansas City is a great town for road races of the shorter kind. You can find several 5k races in the region every week from March through October.
Those races are run not just in all parts of Kansas City but around the metropolitan area - from Gladstone to Olathe, from Independence to Shawnee.
And somehow, most of those races go off without a hitch. The credit goes to good planning by the host cities and by professional companies that coordinate the races. Then add in lots of cooperation by the runners in getting on and off the course in an hour or so. (About as long as it takes to walk a 5k really slowly).
But the marathon?
That’s another matter.
I don’t have a personal dog in the hunt because I’m not a marathon fanatic. Over the years, however, I have heard all kinds of criticisms from runners and some other fans of the Kansas City Marathon.
The course is too hilly and boring.
The crowds are thin.
The music is weak.
The aid stations are too far apart.
Motorists are too impatient with their honking at the runners.
The marathon organizers are rude or inpatient or uninformed.
Kansas City does lack the scenic beauty of some cities, the size of some marathon fields (think, Chicago and New York) and the history of other marathons (Boston for sure).
But at the end of the day, the Kansas City Marathon ought to be a point of civic pride.
We ought to find ways and work hard to celebrate the fact that thousands of people are spending money in Kansas City, many of them coming hundreds of miles to stay and eat in this metropolitan area.
We ought to be putting our best foot forward and building up a great marathon that could be used to bring this city together.
We could be encouraging more people to just watch the race and cheer on people brave enough to run or walk 26.2 miles.
How about starting to do that more in 2012 and building on that feeling in 2013?
John Landsberg
7 months agoTotally agree. Other cities put on much larger marathons that block streets for much longer periods, but look on them with civic pride. KC needs to support the Marathon and line the streets to cheer on the runners rather than complain about any minor inconveniences.
Phil Cardarella
7 months agoOK, since I live on one of those streets (I think a portapotty is in my driveway, judging by the map) I have every right to complain. But, I choose not to — even though it is quite annoying to see so many folks with so little body fat blocking my path.
Of course, it is important to recall that the origial “Marathoner” was able to gasp out only one word before collapsing and dying. At least the word was “Victory!”
Richard L Wagner
7 months agoI have one question. I never “got” marathons, since I am not a runner. But, why do they have to have it in the city and block off streets? Why don’t they go out to places like, Shawne Mission Park, Swope Park, etc. I thoughts that is what parks were for.
Kent Comfort
7 months agoYael, I think one obvious option to significantly reduce complaints is to simply move the marathon to Sunday, when general traffic is a fraction of what it is on Saturday when people are out supporting community businesses. This of course is assuming that inner city routes continue. Outlying areas that feature country side views would not attract fans and spectators as much as a Sunday race. So churches would complain? Yeah, whatever…
Christine Taylor-Butler
7 months agoLet’s offer a different perspective. The marathons wouldn’t be a problem if the following happened”
More coherent thought to how to allow for flow of traffic during marathons. It’s one thing to block a street. It’s another to ask residents to put up with multiple marathons that make leaving their neighborhood on a Saturday impossible. The circular nature makes my own neighborhood landlocked.
Require DETOUR signs to help route traffic.
Allow for cars and city buses to pass during breaks in the action rather than keep blocks of them idling for hours.
Require marathons to MAIL alternative route information to all households in the affected area one month before, and distribute flyers and door knockers to each household the week before. Assuming that all households read the STAR or have internet access and might “stumble” on the information is unreasonable.
Make better arrangements for public transportation. Saturday is a day when many working individuals plan to complete family activities. Not only are cars blocked, but so are buses on major streets.
Stop planning marathons for dates when other major activities are going on - starting with college entrance exams which CAN NOT be rescheduled if students are stuck in traffic.
I don’t mind marathons - I mind when there are so many in the same neighborhoods and the people inconvenienced and landlocked in their homes without thought to their personal and professional commitments - In some cases the marathon runs on residential streets meaning owners can’t get out of their driveways for 5-6 hours. My own street becomes a speedway as irate drivers look for alternative routes out of the neighborhood - and then double back..
For the record, my family volunteered for a major marathon for years and it was never as poorly managed as the current crop popping up.
It is often marathon runners who say “stop whining.” But “learn to share the road”, or “be considerate of tax-paying residents who would also like to enjoy their Saturdays” is a better solution.
Why not have them run laps at Loose Park - or the Municipal Airport? I’m being facetious but the point is still valid.
Christine Taylor-Butler
7 months agoI do like Kent’s idea of requiring marathons to run on Sunday. It would solve a whole host of problems and I wouldn’t be nearly as upset about them.
Mark Hastert
7 months ago“I do like Kent’s idea of requiring marathons to run on Sunday.”
I dunno, think of how angry folks would be if you make them miss church services…. wrath of God? How bout we have folks at the road blocks ready with information about where/when traffic can cross through?
Kelly Kendall
6 months, 3 weeks agoWe had a family member in the ICU at St. Luke’s Hospital on the Plaza - what a joke trying to reach the hospital on the Saturday morning of this event. I even had a map which led me to believe that Broadway and Southwest Trafficway were good north/south routes to use for access - so we went all the way downtown to bring Broadway into St. Luke’s and found it was blocked. It took us over 2 hours to finally find someone that would let us pass to the hospital. Even the Police Department couldn’t offer a good route to the hospital. I find this situation unacceptable. I love showcasing Kansas City and know the kind of dollars events like this bring to our community - but we can’t shut off access to hospitals and other vital operations in the city in the name of such events. Why not find routes that go under or over major roads so that you don’t have to close them; like the roads under Broadway at Penn Valley Park, down to the waterfront along Berkley Park, etc.
So Mr. Abouhalkah unless you had a family member laying in a hospital on that morning that you couldn’t reach don’t assume it is just whining. I believe we have the right to demand better planning for future events. Folks shouldn’t assume that everyone can or is willing to put their lives on hold for hours to accommodate the same.