I did the C2C route on the morning of May 11, 2025 (Mother's Day). I had a capital time running from the Missouri state capitol building in Jefferson City to the Boone County courthouse in Columbia. The table below shows the fastest solo times I knew of before attempting the route. Stephen Dullard's time is a recorded FKT. The others were in the race results on the Columbia Track Club website. That site has been reworked and the results aren't currently posted. I'm sure other people have done the route, but there's no public record of it. I was hoping to run under 5 hours, but I was open to lots of outcomes because I had never run anything longer than a marathon.
year time direction who
2020 6:20:19 Courthouse → Capitol Stephen Dullard
2012 5:47:47 Courthouse → Capitol Brian Cohn
2011 6:00:39 Capitol → Courthouse Michael Andreani
This is a very flat mostly pea gravel route on former railroad beds of the Katy and MKT. The exceptions are the city streets, bridge, and skywalk in Jefferson City and the gradual climb and city streets in Columbia. It is a net uphill going Capitol → Courthouse, but it's very gradual. The middle of May was a good time to run it because it is mostly shaded and summer heat hasn't quite taken hold, yet. Water fountains along the Katy and MKT trails are also all functional during the warmer months of the year. These are N. Jefferson where the Katy spur and Katy intersect, Hartsburg, Cooper's Landing, McBaine just before getting on the MKT, and 3 more spots on the MKT closer to Columbia. Cooper's Landing is a private campground, but the person in the camp store kindly told me I was welcome to refill my water flask from a tap on the shop wall facing the river. I carried everything I needed in a Naked band: 2x500mL collapsible flasks, 1 Bobo PB&J bar, 2 Gu liquid energy, 1 Gu gel, 1 pickle juice shot, 1 ziploc baggy with PALM phone and ID, and 1 tube of chapstick. One of the flasks I used for water. The other had 3 scoops of Skratch powder and 6 tbsp of table sugar I added water to in Hartsburg.
I felt good running until the last 7km when my hamstrings started cramping up and I had to slow and walk for a few spells. Trail traffic picked up nearing McBaine, but the segment from Scott Boulevard to the finish was very busy with cyclists, walkers, and other runners. Sidewalks in Columbia were also busy with Sunday activity. I was certainly not what the brunch crowd at Glenn's Cafe wanted to see as I jogged up to finish at the courthouse a few blocks to the north. Thank you to my wife for drop off and pick up and letting me hijack Mother's Day with this crazy adventure. I promise it will not become a Mother's Day tradition unless she wants to try it herself sometime. Also, the puppy in the photos was only at the start and finish. She's not ready to run this far.