2015 Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot 10k Saturday, August 29th, 2015 @ 7:30am Corporate Woods Business Park Overland Park, Kansas The first of 3 events in the Heartland 30k series starts with the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot 10k. For runners familiar with events inside Corporate Woods' Business Park (Girls on the Run 5k, the former Jazz in the Woods 5k, this year's CASA Superhero 5k), this course will feel quite familiar. A few hills here and there, it does provide quite the challenge physically, and for 10k participants, it'll provide a psychological challenge with the knowledge you have to run everything twice (the 10k course is two laps of the 5k route). ONWARD! Registration
No Charge for Dot-to-Dot Trot Now until July 26
Friday, August 28 from 12:00 to 6pm
Packet Pick-Up Friday, August 28th, 12:00pm to 6:00pm KC Running Company 4760 W. 135th Street Leawood, Kansas 66224 (packet pick-up is also available on race-day from 6:00-7:00am) Packet pick-up has moved to the KC Running Company standalone store in Leawood, Kansas. If you're going during business hours (and especially at the start, when the lunch rush begins), expect to park further away and walk a bit. Race-Day Parking Race-day parking usually doesn't present too much of an issue for participants -- unless you like to cut it reeeeeal close to start time. The entrances to the business park are tough to get to close to race time, as they are usually blocked off by police (about 15 minutes before the start). Beyond that, parking is pretty simple. The start is in front of building 3 (see map below), so most people like to find parking on the south side of that building. Additional Race Day Information
Course Preview Official 5k Course Map can be found HERE. The route taken for the Dot-to-Dot 10k is a double-lap iteration of a route popular with several 5- and 10k's throughout the year. Girls on the Run 5k uses the single-lap course, as does the former Jazz in the Woods 5k, and this year's CASA Superhero 5k. For the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot, both a 5k and 10k are offered. The 5k route is covered in this course preview, as the 10k is just two laps. Doing the 10k (like me)? Just double everything. Here are the basics for the 2015 10k route...
Of the three 10k's in the Heartland 30k series, this sits comfortably in the middle for total elevation gain. There is an average of about 65 feet of elevation gain per mile, so obviously nowhere near something like Broadway Bridge (I think about 120ft gain per mile).
Two main climbs adorn the route, (each climbed twice if you're doing the 10k). The Farley Street hill (climbs #1/3) always feels the most tortuous to runners given the length of the climb, though the Benson Drive Turnaround actually poses more overall elevation gain and a steeper grade. Here's a run-down of the two main climbs on-route...
The remainder of the course is relatively flat, though after the first lap, those climbs do start to wear on the legs. Competitive runners will quickly grab a good placing out of the gate, just in time for the first climb up the Benson Drive Turnaround on the Southeast corner of the route. Usually by the turnaround, the top 15 spots are set. Then runners should sit in and hold off attacks until the last climb up Farley Street Hill, where any attacks will crush the souls who can't match. That's all I got for now! It's good to be back doing previews. Heartland Heat Triathlon coming soon!! Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @
0 Comments
The event's official site can be found HERE. Official Athlete's Guide can be found HERE. Official race results can be found HERE. Event photos can be found HERE. The final event in the Heartland 30k series is the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot 10k. Here's a quick run-down of the ever-popular course... Course Preview The route taken for the Dot-to-Dot 10k is a double-lap iteration of a route popular with several 5- and 10k's throughout the year. Girls on the Run 5k uses the single-lap course, as does the Jazz in the Woods 10k. For the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot, both a 5k and 10k are offered. Here are the basics for the 2014 10k route... Distance: 6.24mi Route Type: Double Loop Terrain Type: Park Streets (Blacktop, Concrete) Start/Finish Location: Corporate Woods, Building 3, Overland Park, Kansas Start Elevation: 908ft # Climbs: 4 Tot. Elevation Gain: 411ft Google Maps Link: HERE Here's a run-down of the two main climbs on-route...
Packet Pick-Up & Race Day Packet Pick-Up Unfortunately, no actual packet pick-up info, as I wasn't the one to pick up my packet this week (thank you, Rachel!). However, new this year (and likely to hold for many of KC Running Company's races), the pick-up was at KC Running Company's new stand-alone store in Leawood. Though short on merch now (it is merely weeks old), the store presents with the same kindness and charm so-common to the KC Running Company staff. Pick-up is easy, though admittedly, for larger races at least, it can get crowded near the start and finish of pick-up, as well as any times of day where pick-up is most convenient (i.e. lunch breaks, just after work, etc). Also, during 9-to-5 business hours, the parking spots near the store can get a bit short in supply. Pick-up is immediately obvious as soon as you walk in, along the back wall of the store. Race Day You couldn't ask for a more gorgeous day: mid-60's at start time, sunny skies. A bit humid, but isn't it always in Kansas? During an extra-short warm-up, my only concern was the double I was getting to run: this 10k to finish out the Heartland 30k series, and tonight's Blazin' the Burg 5k, which was not flat by any means. In all, including warm-ups, I was looking at a solid 11 miles of at-pace running today. With my legs' recent tendencies towards tightening up post-run, I'd have to play these extra-careful. The race was held same as in the past, at Corporate Woods business park in Overland Park, Kansas. With immediate access to the Tomahawk Creek Trail, there is no shortage of places for warm-up. I kept my warm-up short, knowing my warm-up before that evening's 5k would have to be longer, with more time required to ease loose aching muscles. Wandering in to the starting chute, I had to make the decision: focus on placing here, or placing tonight? There's no way I could manage a full-out assault on both. Ultimately, I figured I'd wait until about a mile in to this 10k to decide, though I was erring on the side of the 5k, given the usually-small field it brings out (albeit quick). Before the start, the mother of Paulina Cooper, and organizer of the long-standing race in her namesake, told Paulina's story (you can read about it HERE). There was not a dry eye at the venue. Then one family was presented with an award for their harrowing yet graceful struggle with childhood brain tumor. Again, hugely heartwarming story, and tears grow in size. Then, all energy took a 180. All focus went back to the race at-hand. I myself had to re-focus as well, though hearing those stories did provide a certain sense of strength and willpower. Keeping in mind that we were running with 5k'ers as well, I decided to stage myself at least a few back from the front. Once the clock was started, it was tough to mind the 5k'ers. Immediately runners took off from the front, pushing me well back in to a double-digit placing. I pulled back my pace, eventually finishing the first mile in only 6:55. Just beyond the first mile, I confirmed what I'd already suspected: I should focus on tonight. The first climb is often overlooked on this course in lieu of climb #2. The reason is likely steep-ness, as the first climb is a bit more shallow, albeit longer. Once on-course, climb #1 doesn't catch your attention until right at the turnaround. Then, for 10k'ers, its inevitable second coming haunts you. For my first climb up, I held pace just fine through the turnaround.
Each of the first two 10k's of the Heartland 30k resulted in PR's. The Plaza 10k, which was my final PR of 2013, was just too quick (7:04/mi). Mile 2 came and went in right at PR pace until the ascent up climb #2. Halfway up my legs began to show signs of fatigue. I pulled back effort in preparation for lap 2, with the halfway point quickly approaching. Let me say that, even having run multiple events on the same course, I love the route. My first 10k was actually this course, when the Jazz in the Woods 10k was still alive. However, within Corporate Woods Park, there's only so much space to run -- for 6.21 miles, a double-loop is inevitable. Despite the gorgeous course, running it twice is punishing. Immediately beyond the halfway point (the start line), climb #3 (the second coming of climb #1) hits, this time in full-force. This is where my legs started to fail, falling all the way to a 7:36 pace for the fourth mile. The fifth mile picked back up to a shade over 7min, but again falling to 7:23 as a result of climb #4. If this was any indication of how my legs would handle the hills of Blazin' the Burg (of which there are many), I was in trouble. I hit mile marker 6 and found myself in a one-on-one battle with a fellow runner. Luckily I had the kick, especially when coming around the bend and seeing 45:00 quickly approaching. If I could get sub-45 again, I would be very happy. It's not PR, but it was a feat that I'd only conquered just two weeks previous -- to post three straight sub-45's in a row... I sprinted with all I had, hitting 6:30, 6:15, and down to 6:00/mi all the way to the finish...at 45:03. Missed it by three seconds. The "what if" game began. In sum, I still pace in age-group, taking 3rd of 23. Despite having 30 or so runners ahead of me, I also took a top-20 overall for the 10k distance at 17th of 680 10k runners. I collected my finisher's medal, my Heartland 30k medal, and my age group award. I may not have broken 45 minutes, I may not have grabbed a PR, but I was heading home with some serious hardware. And we do it all over again in 9 hours. Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ The event's official site can be found HERE. Official Athlete's Guide can be found HERE. The final event in the Heartland 30k series is the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot 10k. Here's a quick run-down of the ever-popular course... Course Preview The route taken for the Dot-to-Dot 10k is a double-lap iteration of a route popular with several 5- and 10k's throughout the year. Girls on the Run 5k uses the single-lap course, as does the Jazz in the Woods 10k. For the Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot, both a 5k and 10k are offered. Here are the basics for the 2014 10k route...
Of the three 10k's in the Heartland 30k series, this sits comfortably in the middle for total elevation gain. There is an average of about 65 feet of elevation gain per mile, so obviously nowhere near the 120+ feet per mile that Broadway Bridge saw.
Two main climbs adorn the route, each of which will be climbed twice because of the double-lapped nature of the 10k course. The Farley Street hill (climbs #1 and #3) always feels the most tortuous to runners given the length of the climb, though the Benson Drive Turnaround actually poses more overall elevation gain and a steeper grade. Here's a run-down of the two main climbs on-route...
The remainder of the course is relatively flat, though after the first lap, those climbs do start to wear on the legs. Competitive runners will quickly grab a good placing out of the gate, just in time for the first climb up the Benson Drive Turnaround on the Southeast corner of the route. Usually by the turnaround, the top 15 spots are set. Then runners should sit in and hold off attacks until the last climb up Farley Street Hill, where any attacks will crush the souls who can't match. Full report to follow. Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ The event's official site can be found HERE. This year is the first that three of KC area's favorite fall-time 10k's are being rounded together in to their own series: the Heartland 30k. Similar to the Heartland 39.3 (three half-marathons over five weeks), this challenge can only be defeated by finishing all three events. Different from the 39.3 series, this 30k series has no off-weeks between each race: all three 10k's are on three consecutive weeks. Included in the series is the ever-popular Broadway Bridge 10k, the ever-popular Plaza 10k, and the newly-popular Paulina Cooper Dot-to-Dot 10k. With last week's Hy-Vee Triathlon, I had very little time to post a course preview for Broadway Bridge, but throughout each of the series I will try and get a course preview posted days prior to race day. With that, let's get to the first race in the 30k series, the Broadway Bridge 10k. Course Preview Each of the Broadway Bridge routes this year has changed dramatically. Still featured in the 10k and Half-Marathon iterations is the Broadway Bridge, though 5k'ers only get a front-row run to the Bridge, as the run over the bridge has been removed from the 5k route. Linked are the official maps for the Half-Marathon, 10k, and 5k, but for this in-depth course preview, I will only be covering the 10k. Here are the basics for the new 2014 10k route...
The Broadway Bridge 10k has always been an elevation-challenged route; with the original start line in River Market, the immediate area is river-front, with the surrounding areas over a hundred feet higher in elevation. Overall, there are 640 hard-fought feet in elevation gain from start to finish, spanning over 5 climbs, one of which is massively difficult. Here's a small outline of each...
By far the most significant climb is Quality Hill, which tacks on a whopping 186 feet of climbing on the back end of the climb up the Broadway Bridge (which actually increases in altitude when south-bound). It is long, it is steep, it is slow. Beyond Broadway Bridge and Quality Hill, the remaining climbs are about what you'd expect for downtown Kansas City, although race organizers seem to have had fun finding elevation increases when developing the new route. Competitive runners will do best to save energy for those latter-stage climbs, particularly Quality Hill, but also the often-overlooked climb back in to the Power & Lights District to finish off the race. Packet Pick-Up & Race Day Packet Pick-Up Packet pick-up this year was featured at Sprint Center, also the location for race start and finish. Entrance in to the Sprint Center's main lobby was accessible via the College Basketball Experience doors, to the left of the main lobby doors. A quick walk-through of a metal detector and we were good to roll. Though the packet pick-up was set up expo-style, there really wasn't much to browse, other than some lovely items that were to be auctioned off for a charity silent auction on race morning. For packet pick-up, the flow seemed to be from right-to-left; first grab race packets at the first table on the right side of the lobby (as well as Heartland 30k shirts, if so-entered), then move along to the long middle table to pick up the Broadway Bridge-specific t-shirt. I arrived at packet pick-up just as rush hour was perking up outdoors, so foot traffic hadn't arrived quite yet -- I was in-and-out in less than 5 minutes. I would assume, with Friday rush hour, most would be opting for the Saturday pick-up option anyways. Race Day Sunday arrived with the slight chill in the air so-common to autumn-time races. Of the first chilly mornings of the year, I slapped on some arm warmers and head out the door. Upon arrival at Power & Lights District -- an hour before race time, mind you -- parking was quick and painless. Although, of note, I parked in a flat $5 rate garage, which most opted against anyways. To me, $5 was worth the quick access, and easy entrance and exit -- especially considering I like to hit the car and grab a change of clothes and a protein shake before heading back to the finish line to watch my friends cross. Any further, and I wouldn't have had time. As is generally the case, nature calls it seems just before start time. With the Broadway Bridge event including each a 5k, 10k and a Half-Marathon, this meant more restroom-ers than normal. Yes, there were plenty of port-o-john's, but there were also actually that many people waiting to use them. A solid 30 minutes of wait meant a solid warm-up was out of the question. I grabbed a quick quarter mile jaunt up the block and back before it was time to toe the line. From the get-go, the run was uphill -- specifically up the climb to the East Village and City Courthouse. This lead to divides in the runners right out of the gate. The lighter, more efficient runners sped on ahead, while the less efficient began to lag halfway up. I was able to maintain effort up and over, about 15 runners out of 1st overall. Runners love to take advantage of the downhills, knowing little what the hard landings do to their quads. Knowing I had to make my way back up Broadway Hill late in the race, I tried to maintain as smooth a turnover as possible cruising down towards River Market. Yes, I wanted gravity to help, but I wanted fresh quads more. I was overtaken for 16th. Once through River Market, another descent came with the crossing of the Broadway Bridge. Take advantage of this downhill, as it is slight, and gorgeous. On the approach to Wheeler Airport, you're at the lowest point of the race -- everything from there to finish is uphill. First, from Wheeler to the Broadway Bridge itself provides a short-but-steep start to the climb that is Broadway Bridge (there's a sizable difference in altitude between north of the river and south of the river). Once overcome, only a couple hundred meters gave me a short time to catch my breath before taking on the massive Broadway Hill climb. At the base, I'd lost to 17th, but pulled up behind P-16 and maintained an equal pace for the entire climb. Once elevation started to even out, I was able to take back P-16, with what leftover energy, I'm not sure. Late in the race now, we passed over I-70 towards the Crossroads District, a nice long and shallow decline. What left I had in energy reserve I would have to dig up for the final climb -- albeit shallow -- back to the Power & Lights District. I lost some space to a late-break runner, falling again to 17th. It was a matter of time before at least one negative-split caught up with me. We turned around just short of Crown Center, and made our way back north. The climb started, and I put space between myself and P-18. Steady pace, steady cadence. A quick left turn at the Sprint Center, and another quick right to put us on Grand and the final stretch. Once the finish line was within sight, I looked back to see no one challenging. I could cruise in. Then I saw the finish clock: 44:00! I'd never clocked a sub-45 before. I'd come close a couple of times, but never could reach the line before 45 minutes came and went. I sure as hell wasn't going to let it go now. I turned the effort up to 11, which, given my exhaustion at this point, didn't translate in to much additional speed. Especially considering the uphill finish to the line. 44:15, 44:30...and I was there. With time to spare, I crossed at 44:39. A PR, and my first-ever sub-45 10k. And good enough for a 2nd-place in-category, and 17th overall. (photo credits: KC Running Company)
2014 Broadway Bridge 10k Race Metrics
Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ |
Archives
|