Runner's Edge of the Rockies went to Kansas City as a group race in October 2007. A bunch of members signed up to run the full Marathon, and several more the Half. Since I had run a full marathon only six days before, I opted to go with a leg of the relay. Fortunately I was able to get connected with a team who was one man short.
Coach David rented a charter bus and about 30 of us hit the road early Thursday morning to drive all day into KC. We stopped off at a place called Rim Rock Farm for a quick 5k taper run, which was very enjoyable--nice and relaxed.
We got into town late that evening, about 7:30 or so, and checked into our hotel. Most of us were at the Hyatt, a few at the nearby Westin. After getting settled in and showered, we went to Manny's for some dinner on the recommendation of the concierge of the Westin (which is where I stayed). That was a bit of a trip--walking into the restaurant and saying "Hi, can you accommodate a party of 30?" To their credit, they did a great job of setting a giant table for us.
Friday was a day for relaxing. We went to the Expo to pick up our bags (I got the bags for the other 3 members of my relay team), then some of us took a bus tour of the marathon course hosted by Coach Eladio of the (original) Kansas City Runner's Edge. That was great for me, since it was the only way I had to see the rest of the course after my leg of the relay.
The pasta dinner Friday night was excellent. The food was great, and we even had live entertainment--a lounge lizard singing Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet and Bobby Darin. He noticed me singing along and, during "New York New York," came over to the table and asked me to sing with him--his mistake. I commandeered the microphone and belted out a lusty finale to the song, to the delight of the Runner's Edge crew. I sure hope they got some good pictures...
Race morning was beautiful, a huge improvement over Denver the previous weekend. A clear sky, nice and cool (actually we started at 7 am, before the sun rose. We ran the first two miles in the dark!). It didn't even start to get warm until almost everybody was finished with the race.
My relay leg was 6.4 miles. I knew I could do it in 65 minutes. I hoped to finish sub-60. I actually ran it in 56:30. That made me very happy.
Then it was on to Jack Stack Barbecue for dinner, followed by a few final drinks before hitting the road late Saturday and driving all through the night to get back to town at about 7:30 Sunday morning--right in the middle of a snowstorm!
Coach says we might do another road trip next year. Sign me up!
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