<strong><span class="subhead">Kansas City Marathon</span></strong></p><p>Thank you to all of the thousands of volunteers and police officers of the metro area for making Kansas City a &ldquo;destination&rdquo; city for our annual marathon. These ambassadors make this event one that will continue to draw runners from all over the world. </p><p>It was enjoyable to see so many friendly and encouraging faces helping strangers through their journey of Kansas City last Saturday morning.</p><p>To the drivers who were delayed in arriving at their locations due to this event, I am sympathetic. If only you could have been down at Crown Center at 11:30 to see the excitement on the faces of more than 1,000 grade school children as they ran the last 1.2 miles of their marathon they participated in this school year. </p><p>As we debate health care, what a statement for the health of our future generation.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Gary Bennett</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p></p><p>I applaud the city of Kansas City and the organizers of Saturday&rsquo;s marathon for hosting great events like this in our city. The exposure and revenue from visitors and residents alike are great for the community. However, their planning when it comes to the course layout and street closures could use some work. </p><p>My wife works within the boundaries of the marathon, and I spent an hour and a half on the phone with her as she drove around the city the morning of the race trying to find someplace where she could cross over the course. The perimeter of the race boundary prevented many people from getting into or out of midtown Kansas City. </p><p>I was finally able to guide my wife to work thanks to Google Maps and a kind Kansas City police officer, but she told me that business and traffic in the area were completely dead and many other employees were unable to get to work as well. </p><p>This was horrible planning on the part of the organizers and the city.</p><p><p align="right"><strong>Evan M. Parris</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Kansas City</em></p></p><p>I just returned from your beautiful city after watching my daughter run the half-marathon. Despite less-than-desirable weather conditions, the race was very well organized. </p><p>My only disappointment was the lack of noise made by the fans. I cheered for every runner who went past me. I&rsquo;ve been to countless races but have never seen such quiet fans. <em>All</em> runners deserve our support. Make some noise! They are all winners. </p><p> I encourage the local running club, along with The Star, to publish information on how to properly cheer at a running event. I&rsquo;ll be back next year. </p><p><p align="right"><strong>Phil Wolfe</strong></p></p><p><p align="right"><em>Lincoln, Neb.</em></p></p><p><strong><span class="subhead">KC&rsquo;s infant mortality rate</span></strong></p><p>We are in the prime age of technological and health care advances, but still an alarming number of infants are dying at birth in our very own city. </p><p>The U.S. infant mortality already exceeds that of many other developed countries. The rate of Kansas City infant deaths is not helping this national statistic. The Kansas City infant mortality rate is approximately 7 out of 1,000 births, according to Fetal Infant Mortality Review. However, in our highest risk ZIP codes, 64110, 64127, 64128, 64130 and 64132, the infant mortality statistics increase to 11.9 per 1,000 births. </p><p>Many of these mothers are smokers, teen mothers and minorities. Early prenatal care and education are essential. More has to be done in our community to prevent teen pregnancy and to inform new mothers of the importance of early prenatal care. Many teens are not aware of the next step after a positive pregnancy test. </p><p>Our community has a wealth of resources, but if they are not used to their fullest extent, more infants will die before they even have a chance at life.