A first-time marathon runner captured the overall title and a 50-year-old won the women’s division in the second annual Route 66 Marathon on Sunday in Tulsa, Okla., reported the Tulsa World.

Scott Downard, 24, of Norman, Okla., was a cross-country runner in high school and the University of Oklahoma. Sunday was his first marathon, and he won the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 41 seconds.

Claudia Kassen, 50, of Des Peres, Mo., won the women’s title in 3:09:47. She was a Olympic marathon trials entry and has won several other marathon races around the country.

In the half-marathon, Clay Mayes III, 20, of Claremore, Okla., won in 1:10.41. The top female finisher in the half-marathon was Mindi Rice, 32, of Lewisville, Texas, in 1:26:00.

In the quarter-marathon, John Millin, 24, of Leawood, Kan., prevailed with a time of 39:22. The top female was Amy Boren, 17, of Vinita, Okla., at 47:31.

Nearly 3,000 people finished, and that doesn’t even count the one-mile kids’ race. Unofficial results can be found here.

The course was moved a bit south from downtown because of complaints about hills near the finish. Downtown church-goers also found it difficult to work through the maze of closed streets last year. The course included a little more than a mile of its Mother Road namesake, on Southwest Boulevard over the Arkansas River.

Weather conditions were nearly perfect for long-distance running, with temperatures in the 50s and 60s with overcast skies. I saw few distressed-looking runners, and personnel in the first-aid tents looked bored.

To give you an idea of the scale of this event, this is video of the start of the half-marathon, not the main event:

And runners kept streaming through two more minutes after I hit the “stop” button.

Longtime roadie Kip Welborn of St. Louis went to Saturday’s dedication ceremony of the rehabbed McKinley Bridge, which connects Venice, Ill., to St. Louis. It’s open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic now, and vehicular traffic will be allowed by sometime in December.

The McKinley Bridge was built in 1910, and carried Route 66 from 1926 to 1930. It was closed in 2001 after it was deemed unsafe. More than six years and $52 million later, the bridge is about to open again to traffic. It’s estimated at least 10,000 cars a day will use it. And the towns of Venice and nearby Madison and Granite City are champing at the bit to have it open. They think it will provide a big shot to their economies.

Here’s a photo of the Salute to Steel sculpture in a roadside park near the bridge, on the Illinois side. It’s a tribute to the region’s steelworkers and its steel industry:

Here’s a photo of a close-up look of the steel bridge structure:

Welborn said this in the caption:

After the ribbon cutting, we got to cross the bridge … the truss is painted brown and you could still smell the paint … when I was crossing, I walked passed a guy who actually worked on the bridge … he was showing his son the screws he screwed in, the material he laid … he was so proud of what he did, and his son was so “wow” over what his dad had done … it was a great moment …

You can see more of Welborn’s photos here. I highly recommend you surf over there and check them out.

(Photos courtesy of Kip Welborn.) 

Illinois officials held a dedication ceremony Saturday for the rehabbed McKinley Bridge, but the historic Mississippi River span won’t be ready for traffic until as late as mid-December, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The McKinley Bridge, which once carried an alignment of Route 66 from Venice, Ill., to St. Louis, was closed in 2001 because of severe deterioration. More than $50 million in repairs later, the 1910 bridge was reopened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic on Saturday. Once fully functional, it’s anticipated it will carry at least 10,000 vehicles a day. And, unlike previous years, it will be a free — not a toll — bridge.

The “Salute to Steel” sculpture also was dedicated Saturday on the Illinois side of the bridge. The structure of three interlocking rings is a tribute to the region’s long history in steel manufacturing.

KSDK-TV in St. Louis also posted a story, with a video (although I couldn’t get it to run earlier).

Saturday’s ceremony was a bit anticlimatic. Illinois’ governor was supposed to attend, but no articles I’ve found indicate that he showed. Also, the Illinois Department of Transportation a few weeks ago was fairly optimistic the bridge would open for traffic. But instead, it’s going to be a several more weeks.

But it’s a good day. The city of Madison, Ill., is optimistic the bridge’s reopening will mean a long-needed economic boost. And Route 66 travelers soon will have a new option to cross the mighty Mississippi.

The Daily Oklahoman is reporting that the Oklahoma National Guard is closing nearly 60 of its armories around the state as a way to consolidate its training.

Normally, this would spark the proverbial weeping and gnashing of teeth. However, many of those armory buildings are being offered to municipalities, which can reuse them in other vital ways for the community.

The Oklahoman cited the city of Chandler and its historic armory as a model of reuse:

The historic armory in Chandler, closed years ago, could serve as a model for how communities can use the buildings, Chandler City Manager James Melson said.

The front part of the building has been turned into a Route 66 Interpretive Center and gift shop, promoting the history of the old highway and Chandler’s place in it.

The drill hall has been renovated and a new roof added.

“We can use it as not necessarily a convention center, but a meeting place where large groups can use that for meetings and banquets and weddings,” Melson said.

“It’s just a real drawing card for us. We plan to market it and put in our travel brochures.”

Chandler’s armory is really something. Its stone walls, erected in the 1930s, are at least a foot thick, and the massive building reportedly can withstand an F5 tornado.