Three State Route 66 Marathon To End In Joplin

Associated Press

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) -- The first-ever Route 66 Mother Road Marathon is scheduled for October 3, 2009, from Miami, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri.

Plans for the event were announced Friday by the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Route 66 Mother Road Marathon Committee. Runners will follow the storied route out of Oklahoma, through the southeast corner of Kansas to Joplin.

The committee expects to attract more than 1,000 participants for the inaugural event. Special events are being planned for the week under the Route 66 theme.

Joplin convention bureau director Vince Lindstrom said a half marathon is planned during Boomtown Days in June to serve as a training event for the Mother Road Marathon.