Missouri · Race calendar
Upcoming running races in and near Kansas City, Missouri - 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons and more, with dates, pricing, finish-time stats, start-line maps, and local run clubs to train with.
66 upcoming races · 15 with finish-time stats
Kansas City running has a split personality in the best way: one day you're pounding wide downtown boulevards past the skyline, the next you're on dirt paths through the forest inside Swope Park or on crushed gravel along the Trolley Track Trail through Brookside. The hills are real - Memorial Hill near Crown Center will remind you of that - but they make the flat stretches feel like a reward.
After the miles, the city pulls you in. The Country Club Plaza and Midtown Westport cluster bars, restaurants, and parks right beside the most popular routes, so post-run lingering isn't an afterthought here, it's practically part of the plan. Fall is when the city really comes alive for racing, and the calendar reflects it.
By the numbers
The Kansas City races that stand out on the numbers: the biggest field, and the longest unbroken run of editions.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
Across the 13 RunSignup 5K editions in Kansas City with published results on RunSesh - walkers and charity entrants included - the median finisher crossed in 36:58, the winner in 18:41, and the last finisher in 1:11:15. That spread is wide, and it reflects a genuine mix of paces, not a field of elites.
Across the 5 RunSignup 10K editions with published results on RunSesh, walkers and charity entrants included, the median finish was 1:04:37, the median winner crossed in 37:23, and the median last finisher in 1:56:44. The median field size was 234 runners - big enough to feel like a real race, not a time trial.
18 races here already have a price increase scheduled, so registering early is worth checking on whichever race catches your eye. Entry fees run from $10 on the low end to $55 at the top, with $30 being the most typical price. Two races are free to enter.
Fall - September through November - is by far the busiest stretch, with 34 races on the calendar. October alone has 14. If you want a quieter window for a smaller feel, March has just 1 race on the schedule. Winter still holds 14 races, so the cold months are not as quiet as you might expect.
52 races say they give a shirt. Of the 62 races here, 53 say something about giveaways and 9 say nothing at all - so a race with no mention hasn't said no, it just hasn't said. Worth checking the individual race page if a shirt matters to you.
Yes, 3 races around Kansas City get you off the pavement: 3 are trail races. Surfaces are not always published, so it is worth checking a specific race before you register.
