The 2015 Monster Dash 5k -- Saturday, October 24th at 7:00pm The Lil' Monsters Fun Run (kids' run) starts at 6:30pm. The Costume Contest starts at 6:45pm. The event's official site can be found HERE. The Monster Dash 5k is popular with KC Running Company frequent fliers, not only for the costumes and Halloween theme, but the route is pretty cool, too! The basics remain the same: a start and finish at River Market in Downtown KC and a descent in to and out of Riverfront Park (which, actually, can get a bit spooky with how dark it gets -- oooooooooooohhhhh!!). This one is a night run, and starts just after dark -- so keep that in mind when running the route. Packet Pick-Up Location This year's packet pick-up is at BOTH KC Running Company's retail stores in Leawood, Kansas (4760 W. 135th Street -- across from Prairie Fire) and in Lee's Summit, Missouri (1555 NE Douglas Street - near St. Luke's East). Packet pick-up takes place between 2:00pm noon and 6pm on Friday, October 23rd. The pick-up becomes especially busy at the start and end of packet pick-up, and that is doubly-so considering each the start and end of pick-up is during the lunch-hour and rush-hours, respectively. Additionally, during normal 9-to-5 business hours, the surrounding business in the business parks are open, leaving parking few and far between. Something to keep in mind. YOU CAN ALSO PICK UP YOUR PACKETS ON RACE DAY, near the start/finish line, from 5:30-6:45pm. The Leawood KC Running Company Store is mapped here... ...and the Lee's Summit location is mapped here... Event Parking The race starts and finishes at the intersection of Grand Boulevard and 3rd Street in the River Market district of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. In the past, with an early-enough arrival, I have been able to park right on Grand just south of 3rd Street, only a hundred feet or so from the start line (however, that was when the start line was on 3rd street rather than Grand). Here's a mapping of where there's a few small lots available. If that doesn't work out for you, there should be plenty of parking just south of City Market along both 5th and 6th Streets. KC Running Company put this recommendation in their Athlete Guide in 2014 -- should still hold true this year as well... Additional Race Day Information
Course Preview Link to this route in Google Maps can be found HERE. If you'd like to see one of my old "Virtual Run" features on this route, check it out here. But, honestly, it's so dark most parts of the course, it doesn't really come in handy. It's well-staffed, though -- you'll have no problem navigating. The same route for 2015 as last year. Here are the basics for the route...
Only one climb adorns the route: the climb out of Riverfront Park, sitting at about a quarter mile from the finish, and ascends about 42 feet or so at an average of 5%. Here's what that one looks like...
NO GO FORTH AND CONQUER (whilst adorning batman suits). I'll be Robin -- see you at the start line. Until then, keep R/B/S'ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @
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2015 Amy Thompson 8k Monday, May 25, 2015 @ 8:00am (5k runners start at 8:40am, 2k at 8:50am, and Kiddie Dash at 9:30am) Loose Park Pavillion 5100 Wornall Road Kansas City, Missouri
I love the 8k distance: JUST short enough to really push the pace hard, but JUST long enough to give your endurance engine a workout. For the Kansas City area, there are only really two major 8k runs in the area (both having 5k options): the Cliff Hanger 8k in November, and the Amy Thompson Run 8k, always held on memorial day. This nearly-five-mile run is a popular one, even among the quiver of 5k options available. So it only seems fitting it gets a nice event preview. Onward! Registration (NEW SECTION!) Registration is facilitated via the run's official webpage. Both paper and online registration is available (paper form is on the above top link). Online registration is taken care of via imAthlete (online registration is the above bottom link). Here are the basics...
Here's the pricing break-down... 4/15 and Before
4/16 to 5/15
5/16 to Race Day
Packet Pick-Up Saturday, May 23rd, 10:00am-5:00pm Sunday, May 24th, 12:00-4:00pm Gary Gribble's Running Sports Ward Parkway Shopping Center 8600 Ward Parkway Kansas City, Missouri (also available race day on-site starting at 6:30am) Same as last year, packet pick-up is available the two days prior to race day at Gary Gribble's in Ward Parkway Shopping Center. With two pick-up days, including one that is 7 hours long, along with the plethora of parking available, pick-up is a breeze. The fact that the pick-ups are on weekend days only also helps ease traffic normally associated with lunch-time and after-work rush hour pick-ups (though the noon or 1pm hours typically see increased traffic anyways). Race-day pick-up IS available (alongside race day registration), and runs from 6:30am to about 15 minutes before your respective event. Race Day Parking Ok...this one is a toughie. There are a variety of parking lots that are available on race morning, but they're all small. According to the website... "Please keep in mind that parking is very limited in the Loose Park area. Please carpool and give yourself plenty of time to make your event. Parking is available on nearby side streets, Visitation School, Pembroke Hill School & St. Teresa Academy. Streets on the course are closed beginning at 7:30 a.m." A Google Maps view of the area can be found HERE, or by checking out the map below. Plan accordingly! Honestly, beyond that, that's all the recommendation I can give (each year I've done this run, I've found parking, but it's ALWAYS been in a different place, and ALWAYS in an area I either didn't plan on parking in, or didn't even know was there). Additional Race Day Information (formerly "Race Amenities")
Course Preview with VirtualRun (all images courtesy of Google Earth unless otherwise noted) This section is for the 8k only. A 5k map can be found HERE. The official 8k map can be found HERE. Here are the basics for the 2015 route (same as last year's, by the way)...
Start to 4k (~2.5mi) As previously stated, the run begins at Loose Park. Specifically the start line is located on Wornall Road downhill from Loose Park Pavillion (off the circle drive). Runners head south on Wornall from the start line to 55th Street. Right away, the road begins to climb. About 0.35 miles in to the route, take a right turn heading west on 55th street. By now, runners would've already climbed 30 feet, and continue to climb after the turn up to a total of near 50 feet over the course of 0.6 miles to the next turn. Turn right again, continuing to follow along the outskirts of Loose Park, on to Summit Street, and climbing continues just a few meters further before dropping out, down about 20 feet (before climbing once again!). By the map, mile marker 1 comes in just after the turn from Summit Street to 52nd Terrance, although past experience (and the image above) puts it just before the turn. The short stint along 52nd presents runners with a short-but-steep climb of just under 40 feet. The next mile is spent on Belleview to a split in the road, which is the approximate location of mile marker 2. Stay left of the median at the split, and come the fork in the road, turn left for a brief stint on 61st street back to Summit. The road begins to pitch upwards again at mile marker 2. Stay right to turn back on to Summit, where you'll stay for another quarter mile or so, where it will merge with Valley Road. At the merge, the road climbs again after a short, brief break. A right hand turn off of Valley Road on to W 64th Terrace pretty much spells the end of climbing for the day. The remainder of the route is either flat or downhill (with a few minor bumps on the way, but nothing significant). After a short run westbound on 64th, a right-hand turn will take you on to Ward Parkway, including past the famous Meyer Circle and Mirror Pool Fountains. The run along Ward continues all the way to just past 56th Street. A slight-right off of Ward Parkway and quick right turn and you're headed back the way towards Belleview, and the two-way runner traffic. You'll pass mile marker 4 along the way. Stay on Belleview all the way to 52nd Street (when outbound, you came off of 52nd TERRACE). From here on out, it's all but completely downhill! Here you'll once again skirt the outsides of Loose Park. Just keep up against loose park, all the way to the slight right on to 51st Street. The Loose Park Pavilion and finish line will start to come in to view on the right. Turn right on to Wornall, and then an immediate right in to the circle drive leading up to the Loose Park Pavilion. Remember: you finish in a different place from where you started. The finish is actually uphill for the final 50 meters, but pays off with the well-deserved finish line and medal.
That's all I got here! Go forth and conquer! -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ 2014 Longview Half -- Saturday, November 15th, 8:00am This event's official webpage can be found HERE. Another new half, this year will certainly be known as the "year of halves" for me: this will be my 7th of 2014. As far as late-autumn races go, this is certainly one of the most popular, and definitely the most popular late-season half-marathon after the Kansas City Half. This event specifically is dedicated solely to the half, and no other distances are offered. I've raced out at Longivew several times, but always on the bike, and on-foot, only on the surrounding trails. It is always an interesting perspective to run along a route you have biked so many times before. Packet Pick-Up
Race-Day Parking Okay, now this one is a bit tricky. I've been to numerous events out at Longview Lake, including at the specific site for this year's start and finish. There's likely to be parking near the start-finish in the grassy area behind the start area, but the only entrance and exit is on-course, so don't expect to get out immediately after finishing if you decide to park here. Instead, I recommend parking in the park area to the North of the start finish line, just East of Raytown Road, off of Longview Road (see map below). There is ample parking here, and although it is quite the walk to the start/finish line, you are guaranteed an easy exit (barring waiting for a break in runners). Really, though, it's just a tough area for parking. And the route in relation to the start/finish sort of "traps you in." Course Preview Intro This route has changed from earlier iterations. I believe earlier in the year the route included more of the Scherer Road climb, all the way east to SW Simpson Road, and didn't include the Raytown Road extension past Scherer. This means less climbing on route, as you are only going up (part) of the High Grove climb once, and then turning around at the top. Before, you went up and down and past the Scherer Road climb, then turned around, and went back up it from the other side again.Virtual Run is featured below for this race, although the pictures may be more few-and-far between. Other than Scherer, the course is straight and flat and straightforward. But more on that later. Route Basics/Metrics Here are the basics for the 2014 route...
Climbs & King of the Mountain Though you can expect undulation throughout the course (as is so-common for KC Metro area events), there is one significant climb featured on the course. New this year, KC Running Company is featuring a King of the Mountain Competition for the climb on-route. Sitting at just short of a mile, timing mats will be placed at the bottom and top of the High Grove climb (deets below). The fastest 15 men and fastest 15 women for the king of the mountain will be awarded special King of the Mountain (or Queen of the Mountain) plaques. The climb is pretty beastly, up 183 feet at an average of 5% (12% in a few spots), so it will by no means be an easy task. I have climbed this hill several times on the bike during various races (duathlons, mostly), and it's fairly punishing on the bike even (perhaps I will post a video of it on here soon). KC Running Company claims it to be closer to a mile than I have measured and experienced in the past, but it is possible that the timing mats will show up earlier than the true start of the climb, and after the true end of the climb (probably at the turnaround). Here is the information on the climb itself (as opposed to how the timing mats will be situated, which I have no information about)...
Aid Stations Aid stations with water and sports drinks are reportedly to be featured every other mile. At mile the mile 8 aid station, GU energy gel will be available as well (perfect for me, as I've been training with GU this year). Course Description w. Virtual Run Start to 2.00mi: The start line is in the parking lot of one of the many parks that line Longview Lake. This particular park is just off Raytown Road (West side of the lake), on Pittenger Road. The opening miles head out of the park along Pittenger Road to Raytown Road, first heading Southbound. From the start line to Raytown Road is actually uphill a little bit, so be expecting that (only about 30 feet of climbing before leveling out). From there, it is nearly flat. all the way to the first and only significant climb of the day. The scenery also remains the same, with runners heading South (in the Northbound/left lane, by the way), Longview Lake on the left. 2.00mi to 4.00mi: Just before the 2-mile marker, runners take a left on to High Grove Road. Not long after the turn (and the 2-mile marker), athletes pick up the first and only climb of the day. And it is quite the climb, up nearly 180 feet in only seven-tenths of a mile. This also is the climb that features the new King/Queen of the Mountain competition. Continue on High Grove, up the hill, until the turnaround at SE Raytown Road (a different Raytown Road from the one before). Just past the turnaround, you hit 3 miles, and begin the fast descent down High Grove. 2.90mi: Though High Grove continues to climb, runners will top out at the stop sign pictured here, as they will turn back around (this time to the opposite, Eastbound lane heading West) and head back West on High Grove. The 3-mile marker is about here on the opposite side of the road (after the turnaround). On the approach back to Raytown Road from High Grove, rather than turning back right heading North, runners will turn left going South (I believe it the street changes names to Kurzwell Road, also). Mile marker 4 comes just after the turn on to Kurzwell. 4.00mi to 9.00mi: After the turn on to Southbound Kurzwell, head to the very end of the road. There will be a small cul-de-sac (sorta) that will turn runners back around heading North on Kurzwell. Just after the turn North on Kurzwell, mile marker 5 hits. Eventually, Kurzwell will turn back in to Raytown Road (at High Grove). The Northbound run on Raytown is the same as was the outbound Southern run on Raytown, with two exceptions: one, you'll be travelling in the left-side/Southbound lane, and two, instead of turning back in to the park on Pittenger, you'll continue Northward. The Northern sections of Raytown Road tend to undulate a little bit, with uphills here and there, particularly before turning right on to 109th Street at mile 8.6. 9.00mi to Finish: The scenery doesn't change much after the turn on to 109th Street. The 10-mile marker comes right at the turnaround back West on 109th Street. Again keeping in the left-side lanes, the return along 109th Street followed by Raytown road is the same as the outbound trek. The only difference is you finally get to head back in to the park (and thus, finish line) on Pittenger Road. Coming off of Raytown on to Pittenger, runners have only a tenth of a mile to go.
That's all I got for now. I'll y'all out there! Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ Local runners may be familiar with this one; perhaps one of the more popular themed races is the Mustache Dash 5k. This year there are five offerings throughout the midwest, including Omaha, St. Louis, Wichita, Tulsa (OK), and Leawood (KS). This one will, of course, be covering the KC-area version, Leawood. Pre Race Course Preview Link to this route in Google Maps can be found HERE. For my in-depth course preview write-up, visit the course preview post HERE. Battling both kinds of cold. My time spent at the packet pick-up (this year located at KC Running Company's new retail store -- which is awesome, by the way) was short-lived and sans-pictures. This year, three days out, I came under the spell of a nasty sinus infection. By Friday, my race plans were tentative, as any prolonged time spent vertical left my sinuses throbbing and my head spinning. Certainly running in this condition was next to physically impossible. The final days of the week presented with dreary and cold conditions as well -- which wasn't helping. Jump to Friday morning, 6:30am, and I woke up surprisingly clear. No, I wasn't anywhere near 100%, but I could stand. Therefore, I would run. The only concern at this point: barely-40-degree morning weather might put me back under the...well...weather. And only one week until KC Marathon race day? Yikes. I jacket-ed up, and nearly succumbed to tights as well (I didn't). Arriving on-site, I could tell the initial adrenaline of waking on race morning was wearing off. Out in the cold, my sinuses (and lungs) were started to argue with me once more. My head swimming, I barely got in a warm-up run, misplacing the correct start time by about 30 minutes. I got in as many strides as I could before it was time to line up. This wasn't going to be pretty... Race Day The start line was still cold, even after a warm-up. Some of that could still have been the infection running through my veins, though. Five minutes from start, I had no idea what to expect out of my legs, and my body. I'd been on nearly four complete days of rest, sick during all, and not a solid mile run in nearly a week (I had planned for a long run the day I came down with the illness). The pre-race time expired, and all were off. Within the first 300m, a natural group of five formed. I didn't quite have the speed, so I held off from attempting to stick. By 500m, the group shed two more runners, with myself remaining in sixth (P6). Seventh and eighth were gaining a touch, but I was able to hold well through the first mile marker. As my watched beeped one mile, I could feel my lungs start to sting from the cold, and the cold (redundancy intended). I ignored my watch -- I didn't want to see how poorly I was running, although I was happy with retaining a top-10 spot. Surely I couldn't keep it for long, with my lungs starting to argue with me (but, surprisingly, my legs holding firm). Beyond mile marker 1, the road began to pick up. Ascents adorned the first mile, too, but nothing that registered with my legs. Ascending toward College Boulevard, my legs still held, by my lungs turned from sting to sear. But still, I pushed, following the turnover of my legs as much as possible. Turning off of College and to Roe, there was another uptick towards the 2-mile marker. I could hear the steps of P7 and P8 edging up behind me. Oh the uptick, I was able to hold, followed by a long descent. Here, both 7th and 8th passed, pushing me in to P8. My legs were finally fatiguing, and the quad-pounding of the down-slopes proved painful. Then, the only significant climb on-route hit on approach back towards Town Center. With the brief break for my breathing, I was able to give a slight surge. Turning on to 117th towards Town Center, I looked back towards the corner -- 9th was a ways back, but if I let up too much I could risk my 8th place finish. Up ahead, I was able to match pace with P6 and P7, but not gain any ground. P5 was losing ground to 6th and 7th, but not enough that I could overtake. Approaching mile 3, the name of the game would be maintenance. In through the Park Place parking garage, I did a double-check behind me. I had a good 15-second lead over 9th. Final corner and on to the final stretch, I let up a touch. Then, looking towards the finish line, I saw what I had yet to see ever: 19:50. A sub-20 time!???? For me, over the last year, that was the holy grail. With nearly a tenth of a mile to go, there's no way I could cover 10 seconds or less. But suddenly the sub-20 seemed within reach. Ignoring my watch the whole race, I had no idea how close I was. I started to ask: did ignoring my watch help my time? Or would seeing my watch and how close to sub-20 I was given me the extra push to actually grab sub-20? Hard to tell, but one thing was fore sure...I had to surge now -- a PR was no on the line. I kicked -- hard -- and crossed at 20:16. Sub-6:30 for the first time ever. The long-awaited PR. I had been aiming for this for seven months now. I had ticked sub-6:30 finally. Now the only next stop was sub-20. Then, who knows. Sub-6:00?? The coveted 5:30??? A door I had been knocking at all year finally chose to creak open. All whilst batting the cold and a cold. Who would've thought?? Race Metrics
Keep R/B/S-ing. -tds ~~__o _-/<,_ @/ @ |
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