A few days ago, I surfed over to the Web site of the Route 66 Marathon, slated for Nov. 22 in Tulsa, and found that the organizers have tinkered with the course layout again.
The course was changed mainly because of complaints from runners about hills near the end of the 26.2-mile race. Now, most of the hills are at the beginning. Also, the course goes through more sections of Tulsa, including downtown and Midtown.
Roadies also will be pleased to learn that the course touches more of Route 66. In addition to the usual mile or so on Southwest Boulevard, the course also winds through a portion of Second Street (part of the old Admiral Place alignment downtown) and part of 12th Street (a downtown continuation of the 11th Street alignment).
The half-marathon doesn’t include Second Street, but keeps 12th and Southwest.
A five-kilometer run scheduled that day doesn’t hit the Mother Road at all. But, then again, this is the Route 66 Marathon, not the Route 66 5K.
The map for the full marathon course is here. Registration for the event is here.