If you've ever run a relay before, first thing is to resist the urge to compare this race to Ragnar Relay because it's not the same. It's just so not. I'll cover that later. So, here we go:
Organizers - Kansas City Track Club, sponsors the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. and has raised over $300,000 in races over the past 19 years. (That must mean next year is the 20th year. That'll be some sweet swag.) The first year I ran, a man with Cystic Fibrosis won the solo race.
Registration - I didn't do team registration a friend did, so I found the process super easy. I know that there's options for Solo runners, Two Man Teams (how fun does that sound?) and any number of runners between 3 and 10, and teams are classified as scratch or handicap with handicaps being given for age, and maybe for women compared to all male teams?
Packet Pick Up - is at the local running store in Lawrence Kansas and super easy. I'm given to understand there's also a pick up in Kansas City at a place there but I always stay in Lawrence. We've always wanted more than just the hand drawn maps that are included in the packet, and this is one of the ways it's quite challenging to avoid the comparison to Ragnar which has excellent maps in the packet. I digress.
Team meeting - Not part of the official race. A visit to Free State Brewery always seems like a good idea.
Starting line - The race starts at Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City. Every race kit includes 2 coupons for free (small) beers at the start line. Starting times are staggered every 20 to 30 minutes, and there's a photographer around taking team pictures, etc. Parking is usually busy but possible to find a spot. And did I mention the beer?
The course - The course is a bit hilarious, something of an awesome idea put together with a very bad idea put together with an obstacle course and a boat. It's 44.7 miles of running, divided into 10 legs. Some of the legs have an A or B route or exchange point because the parking lots aren't big enough to accommodate all the team cars in one place, and then there's leg 9 which I'll get to. Here's the break down:
Leg 1 - Obstacle course, part 1. I've actually run this leg. It involves running over a bridge on a sidewalk, then down a set of steps that actually leads to what must normally be a homeless encampment under the bridge, then up a ladder onto the levee, then along the levee but descending some piles of scree and talus to get under a bridge here and there, and then back up said scree and talus on the other side of the bridge.
Leg 2 - Obstacle course, part 2. This has more climbing up and down scree piles. Then it mercifully pulls off the levee and onto a normal road.
Leg 3 - Long and boring. The only real point of interest is the train tracks. There's always a train and the runner can report how long they had to wait at the tracks to have it deducted from the race time.
Leg 4 - Short and boring. Not even a train crossing. On 10 person teams, this leg is traditionally assigned to the newest runner, or the slowest or the least confident.
Leg 5 - I've run this one too, although not this year. Leg 5 is one of the more interesting legs that's on the main road; the road finally starts to turn and roll and do interesting things. And then there's the fields which are mentally hard but physically pretty easy.
Leg 6 - Gravel roads and hills. Enjoy.
Leg 7 - Also known as "the boat leg". Did I mention the boat? Running Beth did the boat this year and loved it. "Everyone should get to do that leg!"
Leg 8 - Gravel roads and hills. And this year some jerk driving around stirring up dirt for all the runners.
Leg 9 - Gravel roads and hills. This is the first year I ran the entire freaking way, and massively PR'd my previous two years times. I think it helped that Kansas was not as hot as the sun when I was trying to run. The exchange point is a bit weird because there's no parking, so teams drop a runner for leg 10 and then get a runner from another team who'd just finished leg 9 and take that stranger to the finish line. My goal is always to get in a car where the drive appears to be sober and there's a seat belt for me. Runner 9 and other teammates must have cell phones, otherwise reunion will be impossible.
Leg 10 - Running Beth loves this leg because it's all along a levee and comes into Lawrence. I hate being the last runner of a relay, but the finish is pretty spectacular, although only one runner is allowed to officially "finish". This is the other place it's hard not to draw the comparison to Ragnar, which lets the entire team run the last 100 yards or so and cross the finish together.
Finish - The race finishes on the levee in Lawrence across from City hall and then there's a small walk to get to the party.
Post race party - one of the registration options is to buy a post race meal ticket and the answer is YES, always. The food is from Free State, and the meal ticket includes two beer tickets as well. Plus we always wind up scoring more beer tickets from people who don't use theirs. Staying around the post race party until they're cleaning up is also a good idea, which brings up to...
SWAG - The registration actually lets you chose the price of a shirt and add it to your registration if you want, which I think is awesome. I have too many race shirts as it is. Except, I went to the table at the post race party, just to see what they had and they were selling Nike DriFit shirts with a B2B logo on them for $10. I can't find a plain dri-fit shirt for $10. And then my new BFF Chris was all "If you buy that, you can have this old race shirt from 2 years ago for free, and do you want this too?" so I got the free one from 2 years ago for me, and a polo for Running Beth's kid plus the DriFit shirt. Running Beth got arm warmers for being team captain. Then they needed to get rid of a few extra things so we got either a mug or a pint glass and some other little souvenirs. Also I wound up with a hat. I have no idea how. This is when it pays to be slow and drink lots of beer people.
Race recommended for - there's a way to do this for just about everyone and every level of fitness.
Solo runners will know who they are. It's a really well supported race and they have food and water for solo runners at every exchange point but I'd imagine solo runner crews may find the parking situations and the crowds at each station a bit challenging. Two person teams is what I'm trying to convince Running Beth would be fun next year. There were some people who used the distances as marathon training runs. Larger teams, or multiple teams are also possible for every fitness level. There was one group of teams that had adults running with kids, and another group that had teams of 10 running with 2 man teams for support. When bringing kids, remember that this race is sponsored by two breweries and the amount of alcohol on the course pretty accurately reflects that.
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