Sunday, October 11, 2015 • Wichita, KS • Course Map
Kansas’s largest city welcomes the 6th annual running of the Prairie Fire Wichita Marathon, Half Marathon, 5K and Fun Run and Walk in the fall of 2015, along a fast, flat course that takes runners through the heart of this city’s residential neighborhoods as well as its new, up-and-coming entertainment districts and local parks, and even features a crossing over the Arkansas River that flows through the city.
The race follows an out-and-back 13.1-mile route that starts and finishes just across the river from Wichita’s Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, the home of the city’s Wichita Wingnuts American Association pro baseball team. From there, runners follow a route that takes them first eastward through the city, across the river over the Lewis Street bridge, up McLean Boulevard for a brief stretch and then back over the river at Douglas Avenue, which runners then remain on for the next three miles.
Runners encounter the first of the race’s only mild, rolling hills just after passing the mile 3 marker, as they’re entering the College Hill and Crown Heights neighborhoods. The next three miles take runners around a loop that passes College Hill Park and the Robert Dole V.A. Medical Center, and then brings them back around to Douglas Avenue via turns on 2nd Street, Oliver and English Street.
Those running in the half marathon are half-way done with the race by the time they head back onto Douglas, where they’ll see the mile 7 marker shortly and then stay on Douglas for about the next mile and a half.
The last four miles of the course are nearly all pancake flat as they take runners through several turns around the city’s central business and government district, where runners will run past Wichita’s City Hall on their way to the next-to-last crossing over the Arkansas River, just south of Riverside Park.
The final mile of the race takes runners southward along McLean for a nice, flat stretch along the bend in the river as they make their way in to the finish line, just across the river from the baseball stadium.
Just over 3,200 runners crossed the finish line in all three races — full marathon, half marathon and 5K — combined in 2014, including more than 2,000 finishers in the half marathon alone. The course for the 2015 race will be a USATF (USA Track & Field) certified course.
Race Weather & Climate
Located in southeastern Kansas, roughly 200 miles southwest of Missouri’s Kansas City, the city of Wichita typically experiences mild to moderately cool weather in the mid-fall. In October, record temperatures here have reached as low as 14°F (in 1917) and as high as 97°F (in 2006).
On race day (Oct. 11), the average low is 50ºF and the average high is 73ºF.
Past Results
- 2014 Prairie Fire Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Prairie Fire Half Marathon Results
- 2012 Prairie Fire Half Marathon Results
- 2011 Prairie Fire Half Marathon Results
- 2010 Prairie Fire Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the Prairie Fire Half Marathon here.
Starting Time
7:30 AM- Half marathon and marathon
7:50- 5K
Fees
- $70 if registered between June 1, 2015- August 31
Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2015 running of the Prairie Fire Half Marathon, register online at prairiefirematathon.com here.
Official Race Website
Facebook Conversations
Ever run in the Prairie Fire Half Marathon? Share your impressions here, or post your review in the Comments below.
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