Kansas City Marathon encouraging participants to show Royals pride

Kansas City Sports Commission president Kathy Nelson is hoping for a sea of blue at this weekend’s Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon.

“All of the energy that is happening in and around Kansas City with the Royals makes this the perfect way to celebrate in a team environment with 10,000 other runners around you,” Nelson said. “What better way to see the city and celebrate it than running 26.2 miles through it.”

Events will start at 7 a.m. on Saturday and include a marathon, half-marathon, marathon team relay, 5K and a kids 1.2 mile run. Although numbers are a little down this year, there were 7,767 runners and walkers registered as of the first of the month. That includes participants from 46 states and seven countries.

Award winners in each of the categories will receive cash prizes and the overall male and female winners take home the biggest pot at $1,500 each. Winners of the half-marathon each receive $1,000.

Nelson said nothing was set in stone, but event organizers were also working with the Royals for a starting-line celebration. She did say that Visit KC would be handing out Royals signs to the festive crowd.

“We’re encouraging all of our participants, all of our spectators, family members and cheerleaders to wear blue in support of the Royals and their World Series run,” Nelson said.

This story was originally published October 16, 2014 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Kansas City Marathon encouraging participants to show Royals pride."