Kansas City Marathon 2012 preview: Thousands of runners scheduled to run Saturday

The Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon is scheduled for 7:05 a.m. CT Saturday, an event held on the third Saturday each October.

As marathons usually do, locals and those from hundreds of miles away come to run on what's becoming one of the biggest races in the region. Race officials expect approximately 2,000 runners for the full Marathon, 6,700 for the half Marathon, 800 in the Relay and 2,500 in the 5k, all of which will begin at the same time and run on the same course.

Peter Sercer won the 2007 marathon with a course record time of 2:30:41. The female course record holder is Rael Murrey, with a time of 2:53:04.

There are monetary prizes for the winners, and times can qualify a runner for participation in the Boston Marathon. The winner for both the men's and women's competitions is $1,000, with $500 going to second place, and $250 going to third place.