Route 66 Marathon pays off

The Route 66 Marathon, which held its inaugural event in November, gave a $24,000 check Wednesday to the Tulsa Area United Way, reports KOTV in Tulsa.

Apparently the check was more than anticipated:

Because organizers had never tried it in Tulsa before, Jack Wing says he kept his hopes for Tulsa’s first big-time marathon small. “Y’know, in my experience putting on race and stuff, I thought, man, if we get 1,500, I’ll be happy.” So he was ecstatic when 3,000 people entered the race. “They came from every state, 3 different countries, and 45 percent of the runners came from outside of Oklahoma, which is really fantastic.” […]

Jack Wing says they’re in this for the long run and they are already planning for next year. He says they will be tweaking the course to get rid of the final hill that rubbed some runners the wrong way and finish instead down 18th Street toward Veteran’s Park. “And now you’re going to finish downhill coming up 18th, which is still tough on the legs, but it’s still not going to be as bad as finishing that last mile-and-a-half uphill,” says Jack Wing.

Next year’s course will also feature more stretches of Brookside and Cherry Street. Wing says they want to give out-of-towners a look at some of the city’s most scenic neighborhoods.

The second annual Route 66 Marathon is Nov. 18.

UPDATE: The Tulsa World has more information about the new course.

One reader questioned why more of the marathon route isn’t on Route 66. It’s an easy answer: Because Route 66 through Tulsa remains very busy. A marathon necessitates closing off streets for six-plus hours. 11th Street and Admiral Place both are too busy for that. Southwest Boulevard isn’t bad, but there’s a reason the marathon route doesn’t cross 23rd Street — traffic going into and leaving the Sunoco refinery would make that situation difficult and dangerous.

Second, I’ve noticed that good marathons try to show a diverse view of its host city to keep runners involved during the race. Oklahoma City’s highly acclaimed marathon does this, and Tulsa’s does as well. Organizers’ first goal is producing a good marathon, and not being purists about placing the route on “X” number of miles of its namesake.