Second annual Muddy River Marathon to take place at the end of April

More than 400 runners will go on a tour of Cape Girardeau as they run in the second annual Muddy River Marathon. It will consist of three race formats -- full marathon, half marathon and half marathon relay.

Course changes have been made for this year, according to event coordinator Brandon Hahs.

The race will begin at 6 a.m. for the full marathon and 7:45 a.m. for the half marathon April 30. The approximate 400 runners will begin the race at Century Casino Cape Girardeau located at 777 N. Main St., run south along Main, Water and Giboney streets before turning west onto the Southern Expressway. Runners will go north on Minnesota Avenue through Shawnee Park.

The course follows the Cape LaCroix Recreational Trail and through Cape Woods Conservation Area. Runners will then go east on Kingsway Drive, before turning south on Clark Street, east on Broadway and the finish line will be located at the intersection of Independence and Main streets.

Hahs said the organizers are working with the City of Cape Girardeau and the Cape Girardeau Police Department to ensure traffic flow is not disrupted by the marathon.

"We will have police on the course assisting us, plenty of volunteers on the course assisting us so we do not disrupt traffic," he said. "Part of the race changes we are making are to only make traffic better than it was last year and it was pretty much a nonevent last year. We will continue to try and make that even better each year."

Hahs said the marathon will include new additions for runners and spectators to enjoy including food trucks from Cheesecake Ninja, Ty's Summer Sno, Tacos Don Manuel Street Food and Winston's Bagels by B-Rad.

"We are doing live music at the finish line this year, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., in an effort to get Cape Girardeau people to come down and enjoy the finish line as well," Hahs said.

Finishers will be awarded medals with the marathon's new Muddy River design.

Runners can apply for the Muddy River Marathon on the website at www.muddyrivermarathon.com, and pricing varies between the race formats.

Around 800 runners participated in the inaugural marathon in 2021. Last year's race drew that many participants because surrounding marathons were canceled because of COVID, Hahs said.

"We are thrilled to have 400 runners because we are competing with marathons in Louisville, Champaign, Chicago and St. Louis has a Tough Mudder on that day," he said.

The Muddy River Marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon taking place April 17, 2023. Organizers of the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) release qualifying times each year and runners who finish below the set time are qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. Last year's qualifying times ranged from 3 hours to 4 hours and 50 minutes based on age range and gender.