Everything below is my own opinion. I did not receive compensation for mentioning any products or services.
Well, this time I didn’t forget a race, I just signed up for it at the last minute. The Spa Running Festival with the Summit 2 Summit Half Marathon in Hot Springs, Arkansas will be next after this. This race I’m talking about now is the BLVD Revel Run. I got an email and saw this one is at The Boulevard Brewing Company AND will have Boulevard beverages. All of which I thought I might get the previous weekend. I don’t usually sign up for a run this last minute, but this sounded fun and I remember my running buddy, Jennifer, wanted to do it last year.
Last year I had some conflict that didn’t allow me to do it. Jennifer didn’t do it either. After I got the email, I started texting Jennifer. There was another run that weekend I heard a lot of people were going to attend. It wasn’t a race. It was a run that the KC She Runs This Town was putting together. So, I tried to think of who said they were not going to that and might be “talked” into signing up with me for this. Of course, Jennifer was at the top of the list. Then I remembered that Amy hadn’t committed to the KC SRTT run yet. I texted both of them. My goal for this race was to stick together with the girls and have fun no matter the pace. Amy wasn’t able to join us, but Jennifer was a go! Woohoo!
I signed up super quick and looked up the rest of the details. On packet pick-up day, Hubby wanted to go with me. Why? Because it too was at The Boulevard Brewing Company. I asked Jennifer if she wanted me to get her packet while I was there. She said yes. I grabbed her swag and mine. They were also giving out one free beer when you picked up your packet. I got one for me and one for Jennifer that I gave to Hubby. I told Jennifer later that I owed her a beer. She laughed and said she didn’t mind.
Hubby and I had a nice time sipping our beers, enjoying some food, and looking around the shop. The KC Currents were there as well signing autographs. Hubby wanted to check out their merchandise in the truck out front. We planned on attending a game the next weekend. My Girl’s choir group, Youth Chorus of Kansas City, will be singing the National Anthem at their last game. We didn’t get autographs, but we did check out the merch. We liked the teal color, but they didn’t have anything in the color we liked.
Saturday morning came and I thought I could do both the Olathe Running Club run and the race. The race was a little later than most races and the ORC run was close or actually along the way to Jennifer’s house. The reason for the dual runs is mileage. I mean I have that half marathon in Hot Springs, AR as I mentioned earlier. I got up and made it to the ORC run, but I maybe got a mile out before I had to run back so Jennifer and I could get parking at The Boulevard Brewing Company for the race.
I picked up Jennifer and we made it in plenty of time. I took the same route to the brewery that Hubby did for our packet pick-up the day before. We had to walk to the back of the brewery where the race started. There were a few booths and a van with plants in it. Our bibs had tickets for two beers or seltzers after the race. They were also selling breakfast.
Before the start the DJ had some kind of stretch/aerobics going. Jennifer and I decided to make our way to the corrals. As we headed that way, the photographer asked us if the race was supposed to start at 9 AM. We confirmed and all of us looked at the corrals. It was about five til and the corrals were empty. We shrugged our shoulders and got lined up. Soon after, the crowd followed.
We started and Jennifer and I stuck together this time. When she wanted to walk she asked if I wanted to go ahead. I told her no. The Heartland 30K series really kind of took it out of me and I wanted to have fun this race. This race was a 6K. I know that distance sounds unusual, but the advertisement said it was because it was three letters short of a 6 pack. I really wanted this to be all about fun.
Photo Credit: John Kelly Photos
The 30K series was fun. It was just all the packet pick-ups and getting up super early on a day I usually get to sleep a bit more. Also, I think I missed running with people. I mean trying to get a PR is okay and really great when you achieve it, but it can also lead to burnout.
I enjoyed the scenery when Jennifer noticed another KC SRTT runner, Gay Ann. Jennifer hollered at her and got a picture of all of us. Not too long after that one of the moms from my kids’ school said hello. She and her daughter were running together. Jennifer got a picture of us too so I could show my kids.
Photo Credit: Jennifer
Our time was good. It was 54:44.8. I had fun and it felt like a good race. I had a beer for one ticket and a seltzer for another. Jennifer only had one and gave her ticket to someone else. We strategically gave it to a boy/girl couple since this was a woman’s run. We know he didn’t run. That way, the runner could keep her tickets. Someone actually tried to give us their tickets earlier, but I know two was all I needed and Jennifer knew she only wanted one. We hung out for a bit and talked a lot.
“Free” show we had in the parking lot for KC Current game
YCKC at KC Current game
I took Jennifer back home and I don’t remember much else happening that day. The following week My Girl did a great job with YCKC singing the National Anthem at the KC Current game. We stayed and watched the rest of the game, and the KC Currents won! Let’s hope it isn’t months before I report back to you on the Summit 2 Summit Half Marathon.
Everything below is my own opinion. I did not receive compensation for mentioning any products or services.
The last 10K of the Heartland 30K series was a very VERY busy weekend. I had two races, my daughter’s, Youth Chorus of Kanas City event, my daughter’s first slumber birthday party, and a home Chief’s game to attend. Let’s start with packet pick-ups.
Both packet pick-ups for the Kansas City Zoo Run and the Boulevard 10K were at The Running Well store. The last two 10Ks in this series, The Plaza 10K and the KC Hustle Run, had their packet pick-ups here as well. I kind of wished I could kill two birds with one stone and get both packets at the same time, but no, different races, and different packet pick-up days. Again, no issues finding the store since I’d been here several times in the past. The whole family is either doing the four-mile or one-mile run for the KC Zoo Run. So, I got everyone’s packet with no problem.
We had to get up early the next morning so My Girl and I could make it to the 4-mile run in time for the KC Zoo Run. There is always a big line of traffic into the zoo for this. We also had to bring My Girl an extra set of clothes, a sleeping bag, and a pillow. Her choir group, The Youth Chorus of Kansas City, had planned a fun movie day. It was closer to the zoo than home. We planned on dropping her off after the race. There was a little bit of time between the two, so we thought she could get clean-up and we would eat breakfast before dropping her off. I looked ahead and there was a First Watch in between her event and the zoo.
My Girl and I jumped out of the car before Hubby could get parked. It was getting close to race time and there was still a line for cars. We saw a guy in a blonde wig and kind of a Hawaiian shirt. Come to find out it was the KC Cosplay Runner. I think this might be where I wondered if I could keep up or finish before him for the next 10K. Hubby made a point later to tell me that he ended up parking close to the start and that we should have just stuck with them. I’m not sure when he got parked, but we didn’t have much time to make it to the start. I thought maybe I might see someone I knew there, but not at the start. I knew my Olathe Running Club buddy, Jane, might do the race, but I didn’t see her.
My Girl and I started off fine. We saw Hubby and My Guy before we got into the zoo. They said the route would be a little different this year. They took us on a little roundabout before entering and that is where we saw our boys. I knew My Girl wouldn’t run much, but then I realized why I was feeling so frustrated with her. We were in the back of the pack with mostly walkers. A lot of them walk five or six people abreast even if they don’t know each other. My Girl likes to sprint for about a minute and walk for about ten minutes. That’s fine. I’m trying to work on her pacing herself, but today she wanted to stop instead of walking. The way the walkers were spread out or actually not so spread out, made it very hard to get past while running. If we kept walking, we would still be ahead of the group we just passed, but with My Girl wanting to stop and rest, they would pass us and then we would have the difficult task of passing them again. I had to work on my temper and patience during this race.
We saw lots of stuff in this race. Lots of animals were out and doing cool things that they don’t normally do when we are there. There were elephants watching us and coming to check us out. The hippos were out having some fun. We saw parts of the Glow Wilde exhibit. We saw lots of costumes besides the KC Cosplay Runner.
Our time wasn’t great. My Girl did 1:03:25. I did 1:03:26.8. We saw our boys walking to the one-mile start. I asked My Girl if she wanted to do it like I did last year. She said no. My Guy was very nervous. It was really cloudy, and we knew it was going to rain. He was VERY worried it would rain during their race. He was ready to leave without doing his race. Hubby was kind of ready to go as well. I reminded them they would not get their cute otter medals if they didn’t run. That was all that was needed. They were off to the starting line.
My Girl and I looked around the parking lot where the after-race party was. We usually don’t get much or do much. We always stop by the Shatto milk booth. We weren’t there long when we decided to maybe watch the boys finish. We headed back to the finish line, but we ran into them before we even made it out of the parking lot. Maybe the threat of rain made them pick up the pace a bit. Unfortunately, they don’t track the time on the one-mile race. My husband’s Garmin says they did 1.03 miles in 14:04. Not bad.
Our boys went through the Shatto milk line as well where we noticed that the four-mile medals were a bit fancier. Both distance medals were bigger than usual, but the four-mile medal even had glitter. We think it was because it was the 20th anniversary of the race.
We skedaddled out of there before the rain started. Hubby called his sister to join us a First Watch for breakfast since it was so close to them. I was hesitant not because of my sister-in-law or her family or anything negative. It was just my worry that the more people at our table the slower we would eat and My Girl would be late for her YCKC event. My husband assured me later that if worse came to worse one of us could leave while the rest finished breakfast to take My Girl to her event. I agreed as long as My Girl got to eat as well.
It was a bit of a wait to get seated which is another reason I didn’t want a big party. We sat down and had a nice breakfast with only a few issues. I drank water from one of the coffee mugs they set out for me. I don’t drink coffee and they were out of water glasses. So, hey. Do what you gotta do, right? No problem really. They did eventually get more glasses for the table. My brother-in-law didn’t get his food for a while. I think they accidentally gave it to someone else. My food came with the wrong side. The funny thing is that I thought their pumpkin pancakes were not very good if you really wanted pumpkin flavor. It was sweet, but I tasted no pumpkin. My nephew got the same thing. When I looked over to compare, his pancake was a bit more orange than mine. We asked our waiter about it. They brought out a different pancake that looked more like my nephew’s. Oh, man! Like night and day! Much better! I got the pumpkin flavor I wanted.
My Girl freshened up and changed clothes in the bathroom. It rained really hard while we were eating. It let up a bit after some of us were done. Hubby took her to her event while the rest of the family finished breakfast. My brother-in-law didn’t get his food until they were gone. There was a game that day that my husband, nephew, and brother-in-law wanted to watch. Hubby made the plan when he got back that he would leave with his sister’s family and go watch the game with them. Then when I came back to get My Girl, I could pick him up as well. Cool. Okay.
My Guy and I left without Hubby. I stopped at The Running Well store on the way home to get my packet for the Boulevard 10K the next day. Again, no problem. I don’t remember what we did at home before I went to pick up My Girl and Hubby. My Girl grabbed a quick shower before I dropped her off at a friend’s house for My Girl’s first slumber party. She has done a few sleepovers, but not a full-on birthday slumber party. This would be interesting, especially since her father and I had a tailgate to go to the next day right after my 10K. Gotta squeeze all this in, right?
I got up super early the next morning. I wanted a little extra time since I wasn’t sure about traffic in this part of town. I saw that they recommended us to park in some health center. When I got there the parking lot was pretty bare. I guess I got there pretty early since the traffic wasn’t bad and I found it no problem. I wanted to park close but not too close in case I was in the wrong spot. I walked across the bridge to the start which was on Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard. I noticed a parking lot on the other side that was closer. People were parking there as well. I wish I knew about it. It was fine where my car was. I didn’t feel the need to move it. I also noticed a cool-looking park with a nice big fountain. Yeah, another part of town I don’t venture to much if at all. I took some pictures and noticed some of my running buddies showing up here and there. We eventually got Jason from the YouTube channel, The Year I Got The Runs, to take a picture for us. We had Karen, Stephanie, Jennifer, Amy, and Allison to name a few. Some of us semi-joked around about how we were a little confused about the name of the race. This race was called the Boulevard 10K. Some thought this was going to be at Boulevard Brewing Company or there would be Boulevard beer. A no to both of those assumptions. We figured it was named as such because we were racing on Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard.
It was nice to know this was the last race. There were a few group photos. One was of a bunch of people in orange or wearing traffic cone costumes or clothing with traffic cones on them. I saw the KC Cosplay Runner. He was in a suit and looked all fancy. I had a thought of just sticking with or near him, but maybe try to finish first. We lined up and the girls once again did their own thing.
There were a few turnaround points along this race. We ran in one direction, did a roundabout, ran a lot longer in the other direction, did another roundabout, and then finished. We did the whole race on the boulevard (hence the name). I noticed that I was in front of the KC Cosplay runner. I waved at all my running buddies at the roundabouts. Jennifer had her phone out for the cool reels she does for Facebook. Later Karen did a funny Facebook post comparing the professional pictures to Jennifer’s pictures. She looked good and was all business in the professional pictures, but she was smiling, waving, and looked really happy in Jennifer’s pictures. I prefer Jennifer’s pictures.
There wasn’t much else happening during this race. I listened to music again instead of a podcast to go faster. In between songs toward the end, I could hear the KC Cosplay runner’s music and I would pick up my pace a bit. I didn’t want him to pass me. There were a few other people I had my eye on that I would pass them, and they would pass me. If you are a runner, you know the drill. Unlike being in with the walkers though like My Girl and I were the day before, you have a lot more room to do this and most people don’t run four or five people abreast.
I finally made it to the end. The KC Cosplay Runner never passed me, but looking at the pictures, Man! he was close! My time was 1:07:44.6. With the KC Cosplay Runner being really close, he probably beat my chip time. I think he started a bit behind me. Still, that was good for me. Thanks to KC Cosplay Runner for being my unofficial pacer in this race.
Photo Credit: KC Running Company
Photo Credit: KC Running Company
I saw a long line past the finish and knew it was for the challenge swag. I got water and jumped in line. I took a few pictures of my medal with the fountain in the background. I got my extra medal and a cool hooded running shirt. I then looked around for my goodies. If I remember right, there was chocolate milk, some bananas, power bars, and other things. I saw Lynda again and we chatted before I left.
As I started for my car, I saw a table that had a recovery drink on it. I walked up and asked if it was good for preparing to do some hard-core tailgating. The nice young gentlemen agreed. I took what I remember as a vanilla flavor that was quite nice or maybe it was pina colada. One of the young gentlemen grabbed a nice cold water and put some blue powder in it. He said this would really help with my hydration and tailgating if I planned on having a few brews there. I thanked him for his generosity. I was worried a bit about the color. It reminded me a bit of Windex, but the sample I had earlier tasted lovely. I decided to drink it on my way to pick up My Girl from her slumber party. Woof! It tasted a little soapy too. You know what though? I drank it all just so I would be good and hydrated like the young gentleman said. More on that later.
The nice young men that gave me my extra hydration. Photo Credit: KC Running Company
I picked up My Girl. Bless that little girl’s mom. She was so brave having a slumber party. I’m so not ready for that. Maybe one friend, but not a house full! I get hives just doing a regular party. My Girl got a good report from the Mom though. I rushed us home and jumped in the shower while Hubby got our stuff together for the tailgate. My in-laws came over to watch the game with the kids and we were off.
We had a great time at the Chief’s game and guess what? I didn’t get a hangover or feel bad or anything. That stuff may have looked like Windex and tasted a little soapy, but I think it did its job for recovery and hydration. Next on my list is the half marathon in Hot Springs, AR. I really want to do the Louisburg 10K, but my daughter will be singing the National Anthem at the KC Current game which is the last game of the season. She will be singing with her choir group Youth Chorus of Kansas City. We have not gone to any soccer games even though we have pretty good teams here. I’m kind of excited about it.
Everything below is my own opinion. I did not receive compensation for mentioning any products or services.
Ack! Another back-to-back series, I’m writing late. I don’t remember much happening before the race. I can see on my Garmin that I did my regular Saturday 10K run with the Olathe Running Club. My thought is that if I do the same series next year, I can do six miles the day before as well. That way I can hit the 50K with my friends and do 50 miles on my own. In case you didn’t read my last post, I’m turning 50 next year and I want to do something to mark the occasion.
The packet pick-up was at REI in Overland Park. It isn’t too far away from us, parking is fine, and it is easy to find. No issues with this one either. There was no shirt for this race which is fine. I mean at this point I have a million shirts. The item with your bib was a nice warm beanie. Living in the Kansas City metro, you do have use for a nice warm beanie. I think I only have three or four others from running events. At least I don’t have a ton like I do shirts. Anyway, I was in and out pretty quick. It was kind of a rainy day if I remember right, but there was no rain for race day.
No need for a ride or to get up super duper early. I got there and parked where I normally do for the Mother’s Day 5K. I didn’t check and realize the start was all the way across the parking lot. I messaged my ORC running pals, Amy and Jane. They were headed my way actually because the porta-potties happened to be right in front of my car. I got out of my car and chit-chatted with them for a bit while they waited in line for the bathroom.
After we left the bathroom line we caught up with some more running buddies, Allison, Stephanie, and Jennifer. We walked to the start and asked someone to take our picture. Little did we know it was one of the Mile 90 Photography photographers. She got one for the photo website too.
Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography
The weather was really nice. It was only slightly wet from rain the day before and the nearby sprinklers. We were a little huddled to the right of the start due to some sprinklers shooting off toward us. We once again all lined up together, but after a very lovely National Anthem, we all headed off on our own race. I had heard that Kyle from the Back of the Pack podcast was going to sweep this race since this was his baby. He had mentioned it in one of his episodes. It almost made me want to hang out with his group, but I was kind of curious as to what I could do.
Usually, when the days get shorter I jump on a treadmill because it is too dark for me to comfortably run on my own. Most of my groups meet waaaaay early for me. That or I wait to run in the afternoon. I used to do that a lot, but it really ate into my day and all the things I needed to get done. The treadmill here recently is my early morning winter go-to. I watch or listen to something on my phone as I log my miles. I do feel like I get some good speed work though because I can control it better. That is another reason I was curious as to what I could do for this race.
I had my music ready instead of a podcast. I seem to run faster with the music. I was jamming along. I remember wishing the leaves were changing already. This area is really beautiful around October when the leaves turn a really pretty yellow. I saw another running buddy, Karen on the course. I saw a lot of them at the turnaround point for the 10K people. The race happened to have a 5K as well. I think the only thing that was tricky was passing on such a narrow path, but we made it work.
Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography
I was getting tired toward the end, but my time was really good for me. I thought maybe I might get a PR (personal record) if I picked it up a bit. As I got closer to the finish I could hear someone gaining on me. I figured it was just the push I needed to get to the finish. From my view, I finished before the other person, but the pictures make it look like a photo finish. My time was 1:07:29.9.
Photo Credit: Mile 90 Photography
I saw Allison, Karen, and another runner I know, Lynda at the finish. I chatted with them a bit. Allison wanted to go back and run with her friend Stephanie who was pushing a stroller. I saw a video later where Allison pushed the stroller the last bit so her friend could just run. I thought that was so nice.
Not a lot was going on that day except the Chiefs game which was out of town. I didn’t have to worry about rushing to a tailgate or anything. I think it was a pretty chill day the rest of the day. I did check to see if I had a PR. Looking at my Garmin, my best 10K was in October of 2016. It was under 58 minutes! How can I ever do that again? I wish it had been for a race so I could have celebrated it. It was a training run I did before the Disneyland races (Disney Gauntlet Challenge) that November after we did the Goofy Challenge to get our Coast to Coast medals. I don’t know if I can ever beat that.
Next week will be a challenge. We have the KC Zoo run the whole family is doing on Saturday right before My Girl’s Youth Chorus of Kansas City fun event. Then Sunday I have the Boulevard 10K right before we tailgate for the Chiefs game. I can’t wait to tell you how that went.
Everything below is my own opinion. I did not receive compensation for mentioning any products or services.
Well, my last post said my next race was the KC Zoo run. Wrong! How could I possibly forget I signed up for the Heartland 30K series! My Olathe Running Club pal, Jennifer, did it last year. It sounded like so much fun that when the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and one of the running companies sent out a coupon code including the series, I signed up super fast. Of course, my other running pal, Amy, and I have discussed this series. We were trying to figure out something to do next year when we turn 50! Her birthday is in early September and my birthday is in early October. That gives us a month to do something big for our big birthday. Jennifer suggested this 30K series since she was familiar with it. We just have to find two more 10Ks to round it out to 50K representing our 50th birthday.
I’ve never run any of these 10Ks. Here recently half marathons and the four milers around town have been more my jam. I usually run a 10K every weekend as my long run. I figured it would be fine. I just need to figure out if I’m doing my usual long run, a shorter run, or running at all on Saturday. First on the list is the Plaza 10K which Kyle from Back of the Pack podcast says is one of the biggest 10Ks in Kansas City.
The packet pick-up was no big deal. It was at The Running Well store. I’ve driven by it so many times when my hairstylist used to have a shop just around the corner. Also, Olathe Running Club did a run from there once or twice. I had no problem finding it or parking. However, when I saw my shirt, I was a little concerned. In a woman’s cut, I usually wear a large. This looked awfully small to be a large. I wish women’s sizes were more universal like men’s sizes. I mean pants and jeans, they actually use a measurement instead of something subjective like size 8, 10, 12, etc. Seriously one brand’s size 10 can be huge compared to another brand’s size 10. I guess that is where we are going with small, medium, and large now. I got home and compared it to the Rock The Parkway half marathon shirt I have which I love. It fits so nicely. It is a few inches bigger than the Plaza 10K shirt and they are both a woman’s size large. Ugh! I emailed them to see if there was anything they could do. No response yet.
Shirt size comparison between Rock the Parkway and Plaza 10K both are a woman’s large
My Saturday run ended up being shorter than usual, but not because I was racing the next day. My Girl started acting classes. The company wanted to do a float in the Olathe Old Settlers parade. We’ve never been to the festival or parade out of all the years we have lived in the Kanas City metro. Of course, we would be in the parade for our first time. My Girl got up early with me to meet the Olathe Running Club. She rode her scooter two miles out and back with me running on one of the trails near downtown Olathe. We drove out of the trailhead parking lot just in time to get to the parade meet-up.
I don’t know my way around downtown Olathe except we have been to the library. I figured we would park there. It was about a half mile to the meet-up. They wanted us to meet about 2 hours before the parade started. We had to get one of their shirts to wear with the company name on it. I wasn’t sure why they wanted all of us to be there so early. A lot of the kids were a little grumpy and tired before the parade started because they were tired of standing. We did help with decorations a bit.
The parade was about a mile and then we had to walk back to the library. We were trying not to cross the parade, but we kind of got ourselves stuck with where we parked and the way we were going. We made it all the way back to the beginning of the parade and believe it or not, there were still floats pulling out to start the parade! Wild! We were finished and they were just staring! My Girl was tired and just wanted to go home. She did not want to see the rest of the parade. We got something cold to drink at the cafe in the library and headed home. We only had a slight issue with people parallel parking behind me where there were no parking spots. We got out okay, but barely.
I got up early the next day and got my things together. Amy and another running pal, Jane, were coming to pick me up and carpool to the Plaza. I got my car keys just in case they wanted me to drive. Nobody said for sure. We just said we were going to carpool. We ended up taking my car and I parked in one of the few garages I knew was free. The weird thing was that Google was trying to tell me that the garage was permanently closed. Uh oh! It didn’t say that yesterday when I looked. We headed to the garage anyway. It was open and I was shocked at how full it already was. Usually, when I park there for the Trolley Run in the Spring it is quite empty. I guess this is a popular race!
Amy, Jane, and I made our way to the start. Jane and I both brought our shirts just in case we could exchange them. There was no mention of a packet pick-up on race day, but they had one. We asked about an exchange at the booth and of course, they said to come back after the race. Thankfully we left our shirts in the car and didn’t have to deal with taking them back before the race. We decided to get pictures in front of the backdrop before the lines got bad after the race. We found a few of our other Olathe Running Club pals, Jennifer, Terry, Dave, and Dave’s daughter. We took a few pictures with the backdrop, but we lost Dave and his daughter when we went to take a picture at the bridge with the statues. We caught back up to Dave and his daughter in the corral and took a selfie with those who were still with us.
Amy started to talk to a few other people she knew in the corral before the race started. I was surprised that there were no waves with a race this big. When I think of all the races I’ve done in the KC area, Rock The Parkway is probably the strictest about starting with waves. If you don’t know what that is, it’s when you group runners by what they think their time will be at the finish. The faster runners are in the front and so on with the walkers and strollers in the back of the corral. Although, there are quite a few fast mommies and daddies out there that really book it through the race route even with a stroller.
Photo Credit: kcruncophoto
When we started our race, I was a little confused. During training runs and other races, I’ve run with a lot of these ladies. This race was a bit different. Jennifer wanted to mostly walk, Amy was zooming out front, and Jane stayed beside me a bit, but I don’t think she realized it because there were a lot of people between us. I thought, “Okay, we are doing our own thing this race then.”
I turned on one of my podcasts, I don’t remember which one now, and trucked along. There is a guy who likes to wear costumes during a lot of the KC races. I think he goes by the KC Cosplay Runner. In a lot of races, I end up near him for quite a bit of it. He passed me early on in this race dressed as a member of the band Kiss. I had to pause my podcast because he will also have music playing as he runs. I run with Shokz for safety reasons. If you don’t know what that is, it is a headset that allows you to hear without putting an earbud inside your ear. You can still hear what is playing and still be aware of your surroundings. I really couldn’t hear my podcast that well the closer he got to me. I didn’t mind though. I like music too. Lynda, a nice runner I met at a Brew Crew run when the ORC was running with them recognized me and said hello during the run. She trucked on by me because she is pretty fast.
I really liked the scenery of this race. It is a lot like the KC Half Marathon I did a few years ago as training for the Goofy Challenge. You get to see the museums, and the Plaza, and I even saw parts of town I don’t think I have ever even driven through. I saw a Gates BBQ restaurant that I had never been to before with a big statue out front. For some reason, I didn’t get a picture of that.
My time was good for me. It was 1:11:39.4. I remember I was out of breath and just pouring sweat. I saw Karen from our running group, KC She Runs This Town. I talked to her for a bit before I saw Amy. Amy mentioned how she heard the KC Cosplay Runner catching up to her and she just booked it to the finish. Later I would see Amy’s photos at the finish line with the KC Cosplayer Runner right behind her. Jane texted us that she finished, but she went to see about shirts. I walked back to find Jane while Amy talked to some friends. I hoped she had some good news on switching the shirts. When I saw Jane, she pretty much told me there was no such luck.
Photo Credit: kcruncophoto
Jane was ready to go, but we stopped to say hello to Lynda and Kyle from the Back of The Pack podcast before we left. It’s funny how the garage where we parked didn’t seem that far away when we started, but boy, that walk back to the garage seemed a lot longer. We got to the car and then headed back to my house. I don’t really remember much else happening that day. There was no Chief’s game since we attended the one on Thursday. The next race in the Heartland 30K Series was Kyle’s KC Hustle Run 10K. I can’t wait to tell you how that went.
Time to Rock The Parkway again. I’ve run this race many, many times. All my half marathon PRs have come from this race. I thought for sure, I’d beat my Little Rock time on this one. I didn’t beat it at Liberty. I used the excuse that Liberty was hilly. My fastest half was 2:20:17.7 back in 2016 when I did all that training for the Goofy Challenge. Athlinks, which is a website where you can find a lot of your race results, for some reason didn’t have my results for RTP 2016. It kept showing my fastest half marathon as 2:26 something. I knew it was 2:15 or 20:20. I had to find my other blog post, and my bib number to finally find it on Athinks. Seeing how I haven’t come close to the PR since then, I wanted to claim that result!
The Little Rock Half Marathon is the only race this year where I’ve done the pack pick-up right. For the last few years, the RTP packet pick-up has been at the Doubletree Hotel really close to our house. I’ve parked in the front every year and weaved through the hotel to the back where the expo is held. This year, I decided to park around the back and go in through the correct door. I went around the hotel and got a spot I thought was close to the doors. I didn’t see the doors right away and went to the right. I ended up in the bar area and weaved through the hotel again. Let me just fast forward to the point after checking out the expo here to tell you what a big dope I felt like when I exited the hotel. I went out the correct door into the parking lot thinking I would just have to veer off to the left a bit to get where I parked my car. Uh, no! This parking lot looked nothing like the one I left. I felt at this point the best thing is to go back the way I came. I found my car easily after weaving through the hotel again. Apparently, I didn’t go back behind the hotel far enough. Next year! I’ll get it next year. Dang it!
Let’s rewind now to earlier in the day. I had spent the whole day at the kids’ school doing the Fun Run. This is a fundraiser we do where the kids run as many laps as they want in the school parking lot. They run for about 30 minutes or so, stopping to rest or get a drink if they need to. They get snacks for a few minutes and then go back in for class. We do the different grades in shifts. We have music and parents come and cheer them. The competition is actually between the classes raising money on their fundraiser website. We have individual and class prizes for those that raise the most money. All the money goes toward field trips for the kids, playground equipment, and other things I thought the school purchased and not the PTA. I’m in charge of it for now. Next year will be my last year since the kids head to junior high.
Now let’s fast forward again to being inside the expo where I am alone because the kids opted out of going with me after school. I thought it was weird since they ended up playing with puppies one or two years ago. I went in and took a look around. There were no puppies, but there was cotton candy. It smelled sickly sweet to me. I also saw The Back of The Pack podcast booth. I decided to stop and talk to the guy at it since I’ve been running with Amy at the Olathe Running Club. We did a lot of miles together and she told me a lot about the podcast. I had not started listening yet. I had discovered and started to listen to so many while I run or walk our dog. I didn’t realize she was an ambassador for them. That or I forgot. The gentleman told me this when I mentioned her name to him. He had some information about the Heartland 30K Series. I had never done that one, but another lovely lady I run with at the ORC, Jennifer, did it last year. It looked like fun. So, I signed up a few weeks ago. I told him I already signed up and was good to go and he agreed.
Now fast forward to the race. I was so excited to go alone. I mean, I get to be in the ORC group picture. I get to hang out and chit-chat. It was so nice to be somewhat stress-free. I mean I still get the early morning, what if my alarm doesn’t go off or there is traffic jitters, but that is all on me. I just get up and go on my own. I don’t have to stress and nag another person to get going. When I got there I parked with no wait and no problem.
Who should I see right after I get out of my car, but the hasher I mentioned in my last post and his girlfriend. And no, he didn’t remember me. I mean I met him in 2010 when Hubby and I first moved to Kansas. We also don’t run with the KC Hash that much since we had kids. In case you missed it, the Hash House Harriers is a running club that likes to drink beer. Come to find out he took off a bit from hashing as well. He just started to go back. His girlfriend just started up with him and got a nickname. I joked about how easy it is to get confused for a new hasher with the group until the OG hashers come around and give you crap about . . .well not being around.
I said goodbye and broke off to find the ORC for the group picture. I made it! We took a picture right in front of the starting line. I knew there would be the cool inflatable sign up where they have the after-party. I asked if we wanted a picture there as well. There were several runners that said they wanted to go back to their car and lose a layer or two of clothing before the race. There was only a handful that made it to the picture. So, it kind of just left me and Jane. We walked to the sign and got our individual pictures. She needed to do something else. So, I made my way to the corral alone. I saw Pat from the ORC. He asked if I made the group shot. I told him I did. He mentioned how he got stuck in line trying to park. We took a selfie that I later posted to the ORC Facebook page under the group picture. I was happy I thought about it. If you’ve read my posts you know how bad I am about getting my phone out to take pictures. I mean I’m writing this over a month later and I almost forgot a picture of my shirt and medal. Geez!
So, speaking of hashers, the one I mentioned earlier had a YouTube interview recently. Another hasher posted it to our Facebook page. He talked to Clint from Clint is a Tall Runner. I was standing in my corral, and I see Clint a few feet away from me. And yes, he’s a tall runner. Ha! The other runners around him were just a tad shorter and I could see him quite clearly. At about that time some of the ladies from She Runs This Town running group sent messages saying they were in their corrals as well. Most of them are faster than me, but somehow some of them were in a corral behind me.
We took off and I felt pretty good. I didn’t have my vest because I didn’t want to get too hot. It was chilly to start, but I knew it would get warmer. I just didn’t want it to get crazy hot like Little Rock. I saw Sydney, the hasher’s girlfriend and She Runs The Town member, and the other YouTube guy, Jason, from The Year I Got The Runs. She gave the ol’ hashers call to me of, “On, On.” Then I saw Brandy, Alma, and Jennifer. They run ORC and She Runs This Town with me. Brandy and Alma motored ahead, but Jennifer stayed with me.
Jennifer mentioned she wasn’t feeling great about long runs anymore. She was a little disappointed in her New York Half Marathon time since she trained so much. I told her I hope she finds the fun back in running. We saw another ORC runner and her husband cheering a few minutes later. Molly is pregnant and wanted to get out to cheer everyone. Jennifer was so good about getting pictures. She took selfies of us earlier and then she took some of us and Molly. More on the pictures later.
We passed someone cooking bacon. I remembered that some courses around here pass it out to runners. I jumped over to get some, but it wasn’t ready yet. Bummer! Jennifer thought that it was funny that I wanted bacon. I wanted a beer too, but they don’t give it out in the same place they used to. I guess either the people got in trouble in the past years they did it or moved away or something. Jennifer stayed with me for quite a while. It was nice having someone to run with and talk to. Usually, I’m the slowest in my social circle. I usually listen to podcasts because I’m usually alone.
We made it to Loose Park and Jennifer wanted to walk. I knew there was a hill I always walked that was coming up in a block or two. I’ve run with Jennifer before and she would shoot straight up hills for fear of stopping. She told me to go on if I wanted. I told her she would probably catch me at the hill in a few blocks. It wasn’t until mile ten or eleven that I realized Jennifer wasn’t really close by anymore. I figured she shouldn’t be too far. Here recently she’s been running so fast. Then again, she did say she just wasn’t feeling it anymore. I started to think I should have stayed with her. Maybe I could have told her to wait until the hill to walk and we could have stayed together. I just wasn’t thinking I guess. That or I’m just so used to being the slowest.
I made it to the end with a 2:41:06.1. I beat my Little Rock time only by around 30 seconds. Still, nowhere near the 2:20, I got years ago. No PR this year. I’m glad I made it in time to get my beer at the end and a few snacks. Last year was the first year, they ended it so early. I did the math and I thought it was crazy that they shut everything down after three hours from the start. I mean if you have three-hour pacers and you don’t let the crowd go all at once, those people are not going to cross the starting line until several minutes later. Well, even if you did let the crowd go all at once, it would be a bit before they crossed it then too. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that even if they did get there right at three hours, you are still shutting everything down just as they are finishing. I still don’t understand why they did that last year. I was worried they didn’t learn from their mistakes, so I checked their website and race information. Sure enough, they made the same mistake this year. They were closing everything up right at three hours. Seriously! What about the three-hour people? They should keep it open for at least four hours. I am not the race director. I don’t know what is happening behind closed doors. Maybe there is a permit thing, another event, something else, I don’t know. I don’t know why they have to cut off one hour and disappoint their three-hour people.
I saw Brandy and Alma in the post-race area. They carpooled with Jennifer. I figured she would be walking up any minute. Alma mentioned she got a cookie from another area I had not ventured to yet. I wandered over and it was Lousiburg Cider Mill. They were giving out doughnuts. I went to grab one, but someone said to take a whole box. I wasn’t sure if Alma or Brandy got any since Alma only mentioned a cookie. I also wanted to be sure Jennifer got some. So I grabbed a box after a few others around me took some of the other boxes. I came back and expected all the ladies to be standing there. Jennifer still hadn’t finished. I was getting worried. I offered Brandy and Alma a doughnut and they each took one. I told them I would wait at the finish line for Jennifer if they wanted to stay there just in case. A few minutes later, I saw Jennifer cross the finish line.
She took a cool picture of her medal behind the finish line. I offered her a doughnut, but she didn’t want one. I still felt a bit bad for leaving her behind. I mentioned how everything was shutting down, but she said she didn’t really want anything. By that time Brandy and Alma showed up and we all walked together toward our cars. We split off after a bit since we parked in separate places.
Not much else happened that day, that I remember. Hubby was out of town with some other cyclist doing a race. That was the main reason he didn’t want to do the Heartland Challenge with me this year. He wanted to do this ride with his friends. I saw Jennifer’s post on Facebook later that morning. She did a reel with her pictures of RTP with some music. It was really cool looking.
Next is the Garmin Olathe Half Marathon. I haven’t done it in a while. Not since the Heartland Challenge stopped doing it a few years ago. My best guess was because there was the year it was the same day as RTP. So, I guess they had to choose another race and that is when they picked up Liberty. I’m excited about it. I’m also excited I don’t have to do the Running With The Cows Half. I hate that course but LOVE the post-race party. RWTC said last year that they weren’t doing it anymore. Again, I’m guessing that is why Heartland didn’t have them in their lineup. I signed up for the 5K though with my daughter. We will see how that goes.
Only a few days until I head to Little Rock for my first of four half marathons this Spring. I have Little Rock Half Marathon and the Heartland 39.3 Series which includes Liberty Hosptial Half Marathon, Rock the Parkway, and Garmin Half Marathon. I also signed up for CCVI Trolley Run. My Girl wants to do her own version of the Sweet 16 Challenge even though the official one apparently is not happening this year. We have a schedule conflict with the Westport St. Patrick’s Day 4-Mile Run, but we will do it virtually on our own. We have already signed up for the KC Zoo 4-Mile Run. We just need to sign up for the Four on the Fourth. Since Heartland 39.3 Series does not include Running With the Cows, My Girl and I will be enjoying the 5K this year. It’s always before Mother’s Day which means we will need to sign up for the Mother’s Day run soon.
Now for something I haven’t done in the past. I’ve signed up for the Heartland 30K Series. There are a lot of Heartland series/races in the name and it can get confusing. This series included The Plaza 10K, The KC Hustle Run 10K, and The Great Plains 10K. I guess that is what you get when you rejoin running clubs and they make these sounds so fun. We will see. Next time I write, I’ll tell you all about Little Rock.
Sidebar: I actually didn’t get this out in time. I’m already in Little Rock, but I’ll try to get that one out soon.
Goofy For Twins 