By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com
Route 66 has a long and colorful history of foot races, and it’s going to have another.
On Friday, the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled its plan to launch the Route 66 Mother Road Marathon on Oct. 3, 2009. This will be a certified event, meaning that participants will be able to qualify for the Boston or New York marathons.
The marathon will start in Miami, Okla., and conclude in Joplin, a distance of 26.2 miles.
“This will be a major undertaking for everyone involved,’’ said Vince Lindstrom, head of the bureau. “The unique advantage we have is that the participants will literally be able to run in three states on Route 66, the Mother Road.’’
David Knudson, director of the National Historic Route 66 Federation in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., said, “There is no other place along the route that you can do that. That would be unique.’’
Knudson welcomed the marathon.
“The more the merrier,” he said. “There literally have been hundreds of marathons, bicycle races, car races and even wheelchair races along the route over the years, but most of those have been fund-raisers for charities. This one and the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa are the only two that I see on the calendar for 2009.
“I think Joplin could use it. A closer involvement with the road would be economically good for Joplin — definitely.’’
Knudson said Tulsa and Albuquerque, N.M., at one time had no interest in the route, but that has changed. “There is a now a dramatic interest in the road because they see the value of it (in terms of tourism). Tulsa is even talking about a major museum,’’ he said. “And, we’re seeing more interest in Joplin.’’
The Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, launched in 2006, attracted 1,638 athletes when it was held in November. The 2009 race in Tulsa will be held six weeks after the Route 66 Mother Road Marathon.
The Kansas Historic Route 66 Association Half-Marathon, now in its 15th year, runs 13.1 miles from the Missouri state line to the Oklahoma state line. It will take place two months after the local marathon. It attracted about 60 runners this year, said Scott Nelson, with Eisler Brothers Old Riverton Store along Route 66 in Riverton, Kan.
“We have had as many as 100 runners,” Nelson said. “I don’t see this as a conflict. Runners look for places to run and most of them have a calendar where they mark all the races they want to run,’’ he said. “Our runners come mostly from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.’’
The half marathon is a fund-raising event for the state association, which Nelson heads.
Lindstrom said the Route 66 Mother Road Marathon Committee, which has been organizing the marathon for three months, is hoping to attract as many people to the Miami-Joplin marathon as Tulsa has to its race.
“This would be an annual event held the first Saturday in October,” he said. “Marathons are probably one of the hottest attractions going. What we are hoping to do is transform this into a regional Route 66 festival involving the communities of Galena and Baxter Springs in Kansas, and Quapaw and Commerce in Oklahoma.
“Route 66 ties us together as a tourism region. We could have special events all along the route. We want people involved the whole 26 miles.’’
Lindstrom said it is possible the marathon could attract European runners once it gets established. Knudson said that is possible.
“There is a worldwide interest in Route 66,” he said. “Thirty percent of our members are from other countries. We believe that is a parallel figure to those who travel Route 66 as tourists.’’
Lindstrom said, “We will need an army of volunteers. If you can’t do the marathon, you can get involved as volunteers. Every two miles, we’ll have a water base and medical facility.’’
Lindstrom said local runners can start getting in shape by preparing for and participating in the half-marathon that is part of Boomtown Days in June. By early October, they could be ready for a 26-mile run. He said the winner of the local marathon will probably complete it in three hours or less.
“This concept is not new by any stretch of the imagination,’’ said Tommy Pike, head of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. “The Bunion Derby, as it was called, was run in 1928. It was from Los Angeles to Chicago along Route 66, and then to New York City. It was won by Andy Payne, of Foyil, Okla. He won $25,000.’’
Payne, an Oklahoma Cherokee, was age 20 when he decided to enter the 1928 Transcontinental Foot Race. It took 84 days to complete.
The Mother Road
In his famous social commentary, “The Grapes of Wrath,’’ John Steinbeck proclaimed Route 66 the “Mother Road.’’ Steinbeck’s classic 1939 novel, combined with the 1940 film of the epic odyssey, served to immortalize Route 66 in the American consciousness, according to David Knudson, director of the National Historic Route 66 Federation in Lake Arrowhead, Calif.
An estimated 210,000 people migrated to California to escape the despair of the Dust Bowl.
“That’s why Route 66 is so enduring. It was the way west, and it gathered a whole lot of legends along the way, including Steinbeck, the TV series and the song. It was the lure of the open road to a new land full of opportunity.’’
