Named as a tribute to the 161 people who lost their lives when the F5 Joplin tornado struck this southwest Missouri city in May 2011, the Joplin Memorial Run Half Marathon takes runners along a course with plenty of hills and long, steady ascents through the streets of Joplin, Missouri.
The race previously was part of this southwestern Missouri town’s annual Boomtown Days festival, which draws an estimated 40,000 attendees each year for live music concerts, fireworks, a car, truck and motorcycle show and more.
The out-and-back loop course for the race starts and finishes at the intersection of West 8th Street and South Joplin Avenue, and starts out by heading south along Joplin through the first mile to the intersection with 19th Street.
Runners turn left on 19th Street and then head north again for another mile before running east along 15th Street for the next mile or so. This section features a gentle uphill stretch that takes runners through Parr Hill Park and Murphy Boulevard Park before heading south (and downhill).
The course then continues west toward Joplin High School, which suffered heavy damage from the tornado — which the school’s principal then described as “total devastation,” comparing to the impact of bombing of cities in World War II.
