March 25, 2024 • 31 mins
We're talking two things this week. The Liberty Half Marathon and KC running legend Scott Green. The Liberty Half is always the big start to the running season and this year we had a little help in all of us getting across that finish line. We did it for Scott. We will talk about Scott and how now is not the time for tears but the time for cheers. Join us won't you?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:12):
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode of the
Back of the Pack podcast. I'myour host, Kyle Walker. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Iwant to read to you a message that
I received amongst many other people onSaturday morning, So I just I am
going to read it to you asit came to me. It is with
a profound sorrow that we announced thatScott Green passed away at twelve oh three
(00:33):
on three twenty three, twenty four, just two days after his fifty sixth
birthday. He was hot. Hewas at home, surrounded by loved ones
and a care team that saw himthrough to his final breath. He knew
he was loved all the way tothe end. We cannot say thank you
enough for everything that has been donefor Scott and our family. Please continue
to share your favorite memories of theBearded Runner. We do ask please respect
(00:56):
the family's privacy. At this time, his arrangements are being made and we
will keep this page updated with thenew memorial plans. Lastly, a reminder
from Scott himself, take care ofyourself and your family and don't be so
serious. So I wanted to kickoff the show by putting that out there.
We've talked about it before. Wedid the Beard Run just two weeks
ago for Scott to help raise moneyfor him and his family and final expenses
(01:18):
as he fought cancer. Scott didpass the morning of the Liberty Half Marathon,
and we're going to get into whythat's important. But before we get
into that, I am speaking simplyfor me. This is just for Kyle
Walker. This might not even befor anyone else who listens to the Back
of the Pack podcast or helped meproduce it or do anything with it.
This is for me. The reasonthat this is. This is not sad
(01:42):
for me. I am not sheddingtears for Scott right now. I celebrate
everything that Scott did and the onething I want to caution, and again
you can tell me to shove itdirectly, I understand, But for me,
I am never going to sit hereand say that's got lost his battle
with cancer. I don't agree withthat. I don't agree with that at
(02:05):
all. If anything, I thinkScott absolutely whooped cancer's ass. All Scott
did because Scott was a runner andbecause we are all runners. Scott finished
his race, all right. Scottfinished his race here on Earth. This
race is done. I think thathe won. He was in first place.
He wasn't last place. He's justanother finisher of this race called Earth.
(02:25):
And so now whatever is out there, whatever race is next in the
great beyond, I'm sure he hasalready towed the starting line of that one
and is off on his next race, a race where cancer can't touch him.
Cancer can't hurt him, cancer can'taffect him or his loved ones,
or his friends, or his familyor anyone. So I am not going
to sit here and say that cancerbeats Scott, because I don't agree with
(02:47):
that one little bit. Scott absolutelykicked cancer's ass. Scott has moved on
to his next race. We're runners. We don't stop at one race.
We don't just cross one finished lineand be like we're done. No,
that's not what we do. Hecrossed a finish line the Mourning of the
Liberty Half Marathon, and he hasjust simply gone along to the next starting
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line. So that is how Isee it. I certainly mourn the person
that we lost, that we lostselfishly mourn the person that we lost For
him, there's nothing in the worldthat would bring him back. He is
now cancer free and off running hisnext adventure and running his next race.
So trust me, I know he'sthrilled wherever he is at right now,
(03:29):
and that great beyond whatever you thinkis next, then that's where he is
doing his thing. For us.We just mourned that we lost a great
running friend and a great running mentorin a great running I don't know,
just a running ambassador for the areaof Kansas City and for Liberty itself.
So did you guys know that Scottwas from Liberty. I didn't know this
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until very recently. Scott was inLiberty the mourning even a twelve oh three
of the Liberty Half Marathon, ofwhich he was an ambassador of which we
all went up there to run becauseit is one of the bigger half marathons
in this area. It is onethat we all need to do for doing
the Heartland thirty nine point three series, we have to do Liberty. We
(04:14):
want to do Liberty. We cankind of look at Liberty as pretty much
Scott's race, and he passed themorning of that race. So instead instead
of him, maybe because this wasjust talk that had hurt, maybe he
was going to be able to postup somewhere and wave at the runners that
went by, you know, inhis very frail, very tired, very
cancer fighting form. Instead, insteadhe moves on at twelve oh three in
(04:42):
the morning, and he gets towatch over all of us at that race,
and tell me, if you werethere at Liberty and if you knew
that Scott had passed, didn't youfeel it? I felt it, like
I really did. I just Icould feel the love and the presence of
Scott and just the warmth that heput in all the people's hearts. I
felt it that morning, and Ifelt it that race, and I ran
(05:02):
me personally, I ran my bestLiberty half marathon ever and it wasn't even
fuss Now was it a pr forme? No, it was not not
a personal record. However, itwas a Liberty half marathon personal record,
and it was a full eight plusminutes faster than last year. Okay.
I for me, I flew throughthat course better than I ever had before.
(05:23):
And since I knew that mile fivewas the mile that went through Scott's
neighborhood where he lived and where hisfamily and friends were, I mean,
I think I think five was prettyclose to my fastest mile of the entire
race. I don't know about youguys. And again, thankfully mile five
had some downhill to it, whobecause we needed that. But I felt
that presence. I just felt thatjust that rush, that surge that you
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know, I want to do well. Here, I'm feeling good here.
Scott's watching us now. He isa man who many people care about,
who is now out of pain andis not suffering and has moved on to
his next adventure. And so forus, all we could do was run
for Scott at the Liberty half.And I think that that's what we did.
I've seen nothing, nothing but smilingpictures, smiling finisher medals, smiling
(06:12):
everything coming out of that race.People ran good races, people had a
great time. The sense of camaraderiewas there. You could feel it,
even though even though we were standingin the gym when word came down,
when the phones lit up of Scott'spassing. There were some hugs, there
are some tears, but nobody lostheart. No, He's like, oh
man, I don't know if Ican do this race now. You know,
this is just so upsetting. No, no, no, no no.
(06:34):
In my response to the group chatthat we have going when this happened.
It wasn't oh man, this isterrible or og how tragic. No,
it was lace him up tight,because today we're doing work for Scott.
Because that's when he would have wanted. From my understanding of the man
who I never met personally, butwho I know had a profound impact in
the Kansas City running community, hewould not want us to miss a race
(06:59):
or to feel bad for ourselves becauseof his passing. He would want us
to lace up the sneakers and getto the start line and go. And
that's exactly what we did. Again. I saw so many people Saturday morning
at the Liberty Half Marathon, peoplerunning for Scott, people who had just
learned of it as we were there. But nobody turned around and went home.
Nobody was like, oh, Ican't do this. No people showed
(07:21):
up. They put one foot infront of the other, and from what
it looks like, everyone had agreat race. So look, scout,
wherever you are in it now,in the great beyond. You were out
of pain, and your legacy thatyou leave here in Kansas City will be
felt in the running community and beyondfor a very very long time. So
(07:42):
to that, I salute you.Sir, I thank you for everything that
you've done. I hope that youfind peace. I know that you are
now out of pain, and soall of these things they make me happy
knowing that someone is in a betterplace. Again, this is for me,
your opinions or your opinions, butthat's where I'm going to leave it.
So again to say it's got greenthe Bearder Runner. Thank you.
(08:03):
Now let's move on to the restof the Liberty Half Marathon weekend. It
was actually a great weekend for thepodcast. As most of you know,
especially if you went to the race. We had a table at the expo,
So thank you very much to theLiberty Half Marathon for allowing us to
have a table up there. Itwas a lot of fun. I was
a little worried, not gonna lie, because the morning was kind of slow,
but thankfully the afternoon picked up quitea bit, and so ran into
(08:28):
a ton of people who listened tothe show, people that either I know
or people that I don't know wholistened to the show. One big shout
out that I want to give iswe actually had a listener from Arkansas who
heard about the show. Is listenedto the show, doesn't completely hate It
likes It came up to do thisrace and I got to meet him at
the expo, So mister Richardson fromGreenwood, Arkansas, and I want to
(08:52):
make sure I got to the townright. Thank you very much. It
was absolutely my pleasure to meet you, sir, and I can't wait to
run into you again other races.But it was a joy to talk to
you both at the expo and thenrace morning as we walked to the start
line. I would love to knowwhat you thought about that race, because
Liberty, even though we all didpretty well, Liberty is no joke,
(09:13):
and I hope you handled those hillswithout any problems, which I'm sure you
did much faster runner than I.But again, the expo was a wonderful
time. We had a good spotright before you got to the apparel table
that is where the Back of thePack podcast was set up. So we
got to see people as they wentto pack a pickup, after they got
their packets, and as they werecoming back around to leave. So that
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was good. Connected with some othervendors, connected with some other races.
Our buddy Mark was there from theTop City Half Marathon, Top Cities coming
up. Everybody April twenty seven.Don't forget. And I know he was
offering a good special at the expo, so keep a lookout for him.
Next we're going to be at theRock the Parkway Expo, so make sure
that you look out for us there. But so well, have it all
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set up for the podcast at Rockthe Parkway the second race in the Heartland
thirty nine point three series. Sowhat does that mean? Means I have
to eat a little crow from lastweek because I was totally off. I
said that Rock the Parkway was thefirst race in the Heartland series, completely
wrong. It was Saturday at Liberty, so I was way off. Liberty
is the first race in the Heartlandseries. That's done. Second race,
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Rock the Parkway coming up in lessthan two weeks. Last race Garmin Land
of Oz Half Marathon, then wecomplete the series. I don't know what
I was thinking. I don't knowwhy I was so off. It was
definitely I don't know, runners,fog, runner brain, I don't know,
whatever you want to call it.But when we get so many races
coming up that we have, yougotta forgive me forgetting just a hair confused
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once or twice. But our nextrace is the Easter Egg ten K in
Overland Park, Kansas that is comingup this weekend, and then we're right
back to the half marathons. SoI hope to see you all at the
Easter Egg ten K. I didgo to request and we've already taken care
of it that on our website www. Dot botppod so Back of the Pack
(11:05):
pod so botppod dot com. Someoneasked if we could put a calendar up
there of all the races we're goingto be at. What a fantastic idea
that I should have done a longtime ago and just never did. But
we have the calendar up now.I am in the process of updating it
as we speak, so you canjust kind of go to the calendar,
hover over it you'll see what racewe're doing on that weekend. So if
you choose to join us, supergreat. If you're doing a different race,
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no problem. Remember every Monday,we are doing Metal Monday on Instagram
and Facebook. Use the hashtag Backof the Pack Podcast when you post on
Instagram, or you can just respondon Facebook in the thread right there and
just show us what you ran thatweekend. It's Metal Monday. Doesn't have
to be the race that I do. I actually want to see what races
you do. If you do adifferent race and it's a really cool metal,
I want to know about it becausethen I'll probably want that metal for
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myself and I'll go do it.So check out the website and check out
the calendar. Always make sure you'restaying tuned in too social media because Instagram
and face Book our two biggest socialmedia platforms. That's where you will see
all the fun stuff that we do. So I'm trying to find something almost
every day. But we've got metalMonday, we've got race shirt Thursday,
and recently we have started flashback Friday. So on Monday, show us your
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metal. On Thursdays, show usa race shirt that you like. Doesn't
have to be the most current onethat you've worn, just a race shirt,
one that you think is really coolor it means something to you,
or was a memorable race. Andthen Friday we go to the wayback machine
and we want to see pictures fromprevious from however long ago, you know,
whenever. It could be an importantrace, could be a first race,
could be any race, the onethat you ran with your bestest friends,
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doesn't matter. That's what we're tryingto do, just to have some
fun on social media, because ifwe're not having fun, what are we
actually doing here? Right? So, okay, Liberty Half Marathon, it
is hilly. We knew that.We knew that going into it. The
morning was beautiful. So I gotto the race. It was about six
in the morning. I think whenI got there, I wanted to be
(13:01):
able to park close to the buildingand not have to take the bus in
because I'm just like that. Theonly problem is I got there too early.
So yes, I got to parkby the building where we all meet,
but I was all the way atthe ass end of the parking lot,
so it was still a long walkfor me to get inside. Got
inside, powdered my nose because asa runner, you always want to look
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your best before a race. Therewere going to be a lot of photographers
out there. Got the message aboutScott as I was there for just a
couple of minutes, kind of gatheredwith close friends. We all shared the
information with each other. We all, you know, talked, just kind
of hung out together. It wasactually it was really nice. It was
It was it was good to bearound fellow people, people who knew Scott
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way better than I. But again, nobody was. No one was packing
it in, no one was foldingtheir tent and saying I just can't.
Everyone was kind of feeling it.Everyone's like, you know what, We're
ready now, like we're ready togo. This is this is what what
we do. Yes, we havelost a lot of people, lost a
really close friend, but we're notgonna let that beat us. We are
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ready to run. So as themorning went along, more and more people
come into the gym, people aretalking, pictures are being taken, and
then it is time to head tothe start line. And that's exactly what
we did. We all head outof the gym. It was a chilli
morning. It started around thirty oneto thirty two degrees, so we're riot
it freezing for the start of therace. Nice breeze out of the north.
(14:30):
That is the one thing. AndI know I've said this about Liberty.
I know the breeze was out ofthe north. I can see which
way the flags are going, butI tell you, on that course,
it does not matter what direction youturn, the wind is in your face.
There is never a point in timewhere the wind is at your back.
But that breeze made it a littlecooler. So for me, I
had on long pants. I havemy knee pads underneath. When I wear
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long pants, I wear the kneepads because my knees hurt these days.
I had on two layers of shirt. I even wore the gloves. But
yeah, I didn't want to Ididn't want to start cold, so dressed
up. Stiff breeze. We're readyto go, Liberty. Credit to you
guys. Stroke of eight o'clock,we were gone. You might have even
gotten this at like seven fifty nineand forty five seconds. If something like
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that, it seemed like we're bamready to go. So credit. I
love it when races start on time. That is one of my most favoritest
things ever. Don't leave us sittingthere five minutes after the fact and we're
off. The course has not reallychanged over the last couple of years.
If there were changes, they arevery minimal. We're cruising along, cruising
along, and I'll tell you this, I love it. I absolutely love
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it when on the course somebody says, hey like your podcast, or had
one person say hey, I'm listeningto you right now. I don't care
how much I'm huffing them puffing.I am absolutely If I can't talk,
I will give you the thumbs upbecause I love hearing that. You guys
are you know, listening or fansor whatever. That just makes my whole
race. So I had that afew times along the course. I consider
myself fortunate for that, cruising along. Ran a pretty good first five k
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right at hill, right at hillthree. But you can see where my
mind is. Right around mile markerthree is when we get to our first
real bad hill, I mean realbad. There were already some hills beforehand,
but mile three our first real badhill. We get up that.
It kind of takes us up tothe top to a school. Then we
turned right at the school and we'reup some more hills. We're kind of
meandering around back there in the back. We got to around hill to mile
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five. I keep saying hills likethis. It's like this is a hilly
course or something. Right around tomile marker five, we get some downhills.
We're trek along and then it takesus up to the the Uh,
oh my goodness, my brain justturned off. Could you guys see it?
Did you see? Like the hamsterjust stopped running and things. Anyway,
we got to the front edge Road, the road that runs along the
(16:48):
highway that takes us down to LibertyHospital. I hate that road. I
really hate that road. Now Iget it, you cannot shut down traffic
absolutely everywhere, like cars have tobe able to move here, there,
and yonder. But I hate thatroad because that is always where you run
into traffic issues and it always makesme nervous when they let a car turn.
(17:11):
Now we're heading along the right sideof the road. It's one lane
each way, so any car thatwants to turn right, they should be
in our lane. That's where we'rerunning. But they go to the other
lane and they're driving along the wrongway to try and get out and get
away from the runners. And Iget that, but there's a lot of
hills. It's just a lot ofrolls on that little frontage road. So
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when they get towards the top,I'm always scared to death there's gonna be
a car coming in the other directionon the other side that they're not gonna
see each other, and we're gonnahave a big old issue. Thankfully,
no issues as far as I couldsee. Thankful for that. We go
down. We turn off the frontageroad onto a street by the hospital.
That's where you hit your halfway pointmile six. I'm cruising along and feeling
good, like I honestly, ifat least for the first ten k was
(17:56):
feeling great. We tootle along,get through an eight station, cross the
halfway mats, and then we're this. This is another part that I don't
like about this race. Is itis it make or break? No?
Is it something that's like I'll neverrun this race again? Absolutely not.
We go on this walking path likekind of not really through a park,
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but kind of through a park,but it gets real narrow and with trees
along the side. Roots have kindof pushed up the walking path, so
it's very uneven. But it's theonly real part of this stretch I don't
like is that walking path, because, like I said, very narrow.
You almost have to run single file. And the only way you're gonna you
know you're not run single file isif you're passing someone and you better pass
(18:38):
them quick. But again, smallpotatoes in the grand scheme of things.
But we come out of the walkingpath. Now we know that when you
come out of the walking path andyou have kind of the hospital behind you,
and it's a scenical lil area.There's a photographer. He's always right
there. He is a little rightthere when you're done with the walking paths,
so make sure that you're ready.You put on your best smile.
(18:59):
For people like me, we tryand sucking in a little bit so we
look good on the picture. Givehim the thumbs up, and then you
move along, coming up to milemarker seven. Super great. After mile
marker seven, we go across thestreet. Thank you to all the Liberty
police officers who kept us all verysafe during the race. And then we
go back into this industrial area.Okay, the industrial area is where you
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come up with some more hills andthese are not the pleasant hills, and
this is kind of where you're outin the middle of nowhere. You're not
by downtown, you're not by OldLiberty, you're not by the hospital.
It's a Saturday morning and it's anindustrial area, so there's not a lot
going on out there. Very wideopen. You can tell it's one of
the newer parts of town, butit's just very empty. And so ran
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into Andy, our buddy, theCasey cosplay runner. Make sure you check
him out on social media. Heand I were kind of back and forth
all day. He had like completelytracked off and left me in the dust
earlier, apparently a restroom stop laterand he's catching up to me again.
I'm like, where did you comefrom? You're a way up there anyway,
came across him around mile we werecoming up to mal marker eight,
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which is at the top of oneof the ungodly hills. First hill where
I actually started to struggle a bit, so mile eight. I wasn't really
doing great. Ha ha. Imade a rhyme, isn't that adorable?
But we fight through. That's whatwe do. Get up the big hill
past mile mark eight, hang theleft into more of an industrial area,
and that's where there's still some moreuphill. But then we started downhill.
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We get a little bit more rolling. Okay, we're rolling along, rolling
along all right. I'm kind ofcatching a second wind. Actually get a
phone call. I get a phonecall around mile marker nine. I had
a medical issue with a relative comeup. So I was being called by
the surgeon who performed some surgery.So yes, I felt like a morn.
I'm there at mile marker nine,running along. I checked my watch
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because phones. You know, mywatch thing, it lights up when I
have a phone call, so Ihit it. So I have my phones
on and I'm like trying to coverit up so i can hear, and
I'm talking into my watch. Imean, this is an absolute Dick Tracy
moment right here. But it tookme down to a walk. So while
I'm talking to a surgeon, I'mkind of catching my breath and doing a
(21:14):
little bit of an uphill. Bythe time we wrap up that phone call,
I'm ready to go. Like,for whatever reason, that was enough
recovery for me. I hit thatdownhill at mile marker nine and I'm feeling
real good and I'm just trucking rightalong at that point, like actually my
split started to come back down alittle bit, which doesn't happen for me
when he gets to mile marker nine, trust me or beyond. Then we
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get to a part and I thinkthis is going to be a problem that
every runner can identify with it becauseit absolutely has hit me before. And
you can see if you're watching thevideo, I just leaned against my sign
and it turned off. Whoops.Sorry. Before this race, there was
a part I was thinking about therewas this really bad hill, and I
was thinking about it that morning.I'm like, man, that hill.
I'm still glad that hill was runningwith the cows and we don't have to
(22:00):
deal with that hill today. Wrong. The hill I was thinking of was
actually part of the Liberty Half Marathon. So the hill around mile ten,
the one where you go down ahill you go over I don't know what
would be a little creek which youknow, floods if it rains too much,
then you have to go up upup up up up up up up
(22:22):
up up up up this steep freakinghill around mile markers and and it is
no mercy. So that hill gotme. But once I completed that hill,
thankfully, I was able to findmy pace again. All Right,
They did not completely derail me forthe whole rest of the race or take
me out of it. I definitelywalked up that hill because that hill hill
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gets me every year. And ofcourse it was a mental thing at that
point, because I had already thoughtabout that hill, but I had already
placed it at a different race,and so it wasn't wasn't something I thought
I was gonna have to face today. So when I got to it,
Oh no, that was a littlementally deflating. But again, I just
had a conversation with a surgeon.I knew I had family issues things going
(23:07):
on. I need to get mybutton gear and get a move on.
So after that hill, got tothe top of it and away I went.
Went down the back side of thathill a little bit. Then you
just kind of do this little hanga left, run out one hundred or
two hundred yards going around the cone, and then come right back the way
you came. But when you makethat turn, that's where you know you're
making the turn and you're heading towardsthe finish line. That's like kind of
(23:29):
the last piece. Then it's justalmost straight shot to the finish line.
Came across another runner who said shewas actively listening to me while running the
race. Thank you so much.I always appreciate it made me smile.
Ran into another runner who I hadmet the day before at the Expo,
and so awesome seeing her. Weran for just a little bit around mile
marker eleven as we're kind of doinglittle more rolling hills before you get a
(23:52):
great down hill and then a biglast uphill. So the big last uphill
is before a mile mark or twelve, but it's and it takes you back
to the campus. So yeah,you go downhill, you kind of go
by, you go under the highwayand you go buy a little bit of
a construction is a type area.I don't know the road. The road
is always covered in dirt and mud, so I figure there's construction somewhere there.
(24:14):
But anyway, once you get pastthat under the bridge, you go
back up and that's where you headto the campus. Once you get on
campus, that's where you hit milemarker twelve and you know, okay,
we're there, like we're a mileaway and you're on campus. The campus
of William Jewell College is the campusthat takes place or is the host I
should say of the Liberty half.So thank you to William Jewel. Hit
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mile marker twelve and I'm trucking,truck and trucking. We go through the
frat house loop, and we allknow the frat house loop. All the
frat guys are out there. Youhave your choice, and I don't know
how they did it. I don'tknow how they did it. They they
shocked me. I figured, okay, because I always will have a beer
when we go by the frat houses. Okay, I've always joked that the
(24:59):
only thing they will hand is alukewarm you know, Natty light or you
know something a cheap beer that islike lukewarm. But I told myself,
hey, we are in luck thisyear. It's cold out here this morning.
It's you know, thirty two degreesby the time I got to them,
maybe thirty four to thirty five somewherein there. The beer should be
nice and cold. Nope, somehowthey still gave me a lukewarm beer,
(25:22):
even though the beer had been probablysitting out for hours. I don't know
how they do it. They're magical, magical the ways that they can still
get me a lukewarm beer here.I thought it was getting cold, getting
go right, You think I've beendrinking already. I thought I was going
to get a cold one. Ithought wrong, So I took myself down
to a walk with them. Cheershad had half of my Natty Light.
(25:45):
Actually, I think it was Bushlight that they were giving out. Not
a sponsor of the show. Butif anyone wants to talk to me,
you know, just give me acall. I'm negotiable on my beer brands
that will advertise for this show,and so after that then it was just
run, run, run last hill. The hill takes you back to the
stadium the stadium, you go kindof you go past the gym to the
(26:07):
stadium, down into the stadium,one loop around the track and there's the
finish line. And so once Ihit the track, it was all just
find a nice little pace so youdon't run out of gas at the end.
And I finished. I finished withthe time of around two minutes forty
one second. I'm sorry, twominutes forty one seconds. H huh,
yeah, that's a new record.Hen No, two hours forty one minutes
and then a couple seconds. Sofor me, that is the best Liberty
(26:32):
half I've ever done. Last yearis a two forty eight and some change.
So I will gladly take the improvementfor this year. Gives me a
little bit of hope of going intoRock the Parkway. If you haven't done
Rock the Parkway but you have doneLiberty, I can assure you Rock the
Parkway is much easier. It's notflat. I'm not gonna sear her and
say it's flat. It's not flat, but it's easier. The hills aren't
(26:55):
as extreme there's not as many,there's more downhills. Rock the Parkway an
easier course. So if you didwell at Liberty, you're gonna do well
at rockda Parkway. So just beready. Like I'm already gearing up,
I'm thinking to myself, could Icould I possibly PR? So I did
Liberty and I was about what wasI about five minutes? Five minutes off
(27:17):
of my PR for Liberty? Okay, Well, gives me a little bit
of hope that I might just mightbe able to pull a rabbit out of
the hat at Rock to Parkway andmaybe improve on my half marathon personal record.
I can hope. So that ismy goal going into it. So
I'm going to see how we feelafter next weekends ten k, getting Easter
(27:37):
Egg, ten k Nobland Park,and then you know what, I might
make a stab at it. Imight make a stab at a new record
for Rock to Parkway and a newrecord overall for a half marathon. We'll
see. I might line up withthe two thirty five pacers and just hang
with them as best I can.You know, if I fall back a
little bit, that's fine. MyPR is somewhere around two thirty six,
two thirty six and a half,maybe even two thirty six forty five,
(28:00):
not that that number matters to youwhatsoever. Now I'm just trying to figure
it out in my own brain,but it's somewhere around there. It was
at last year's Bill Snyder Highway halfMarathon, which I've heard they're completely changing
the course of that this year,so I'm not expecting another pr there.
It sounds like it's going to bemore difficult, but who knows. Maybe
Rock the Parkway, which was myvery first half marathon in twenty eleven,
(28:21):
could be a new personal record intwenty twenty four, wouldn't that be meat?
Who knows. We'll see how itgoes. So that is it for
the Liberty Half episode. I guessyou know. That's just where we're at.
It was a great race. Iwant to again thank everyone involved with
Liberty for a wonderful experience, bothas a vendor at the expo and as
(28:44):
a runner for the half marathon,just as a runner in general, and
again everyone, I know that Scott'spassing has hit a lot of people very
hard, and I just want youguys to know that I love you all,
I personally, with my own personalbeliefs that I won't dive into.
I think he is in a betterplace and cancer can absolutely go suck an
(29:06):
egg. It didn't win. Scottbeat it and now doesn't have to worry
about it anymore. So wherever heis right now, whatever he is running
currently, you know, whether itbe the Great Beyond Marathon or the Heavenly
Marathon, or wherever you want toput it, I know that he is
up there running and looking over allof us, because we absolutely could feel
him smiling upon us at the LibertyHalf in his hometown. He passed the
(29:30):
day of You know you, Almos, you can't write this stuff right,
You can't write this stuff. Itwas just it was so perfect, And
I personally will celebrate anyone who nolonger has to live in pain. There
is no pain, there is nochemotherapy, there is no cancer. He
did not lose that battle. Hekicked that battle's ass. So Scott,
wherever you are in this universe,man, we thank you again from all
(29:53):
of us here in the Kansas Cityrunning community. Can't say enough good things
about what you have done for us. This community is as strong if there
was no Scott Green, there wasa Scott Green and we are an amazing
running community here, and so we'regonna take that and move forward and continue
your legacy as running ambassadors and peoplewho will just get others into running simply
(30:14):
by showing our love for it.So again, we thank you. I
thank all of you for tuning in. I thank you for listening. I
thank you for telling me at racesthat you listen. I thank you for
your support on social media. Ithank you for downloading episodes, likes,
comments, all that stuff. Whateveryou do to help us out, I
thank you. I thank Scott,and you know what that's gonna do it.
For this week's episode of the Backof the Pack podcast, I'm your
(30:34):
host, Kyle Walker. It isabsolutely my pleasure. As always, we
will be back next week after theEaster eight ten k and then we continue
on through this awesome spring running seasonnow with Scott watching over all of us,
and so I expect nothing but greatraces for the rest of this season.
(30:55):
No doubt. We'll see you nextweek. Sh
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode of the
Back of the Pack podcast. I'myour host, Kyle Walker. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Iwant to read to you a message that
I received amongst many other people onSaturday morning, So I just I am
going to read it to you asit came to me. It is with
a profound sorrow that we announced thatScott Green passed away at twelve oh three
(00:33):
on three twenty three, twenty four, just two days after his fifty sixth
birthday. He was hot. Hewas at home, surrounded by loved ones
and a care team that saw himthrough to his final breath. He knew
he was loved all the way tothe end. We cannot say thank you
enough for everything that has been donefor Scott and our family. Please continue
to share your favorite memories of theBearded Runner. We do ask please respect
(00:56):
the family's privacy. At this time, his arrangements are being made and we
will keep this page updated with thenew memorial plans. Lastly, a reminder
from Scott himself, take care ofyourself and your family and don't be so
serious. So I wanted to kickoff the show by putting that out there.
We've talked about it before. Wedid the Beard Run just two weeks
ago for Scott to help raise moneyfor him and his family and final expenses
(01:18):
as he fought cancer. Scott didpass the morning of the Liberty Half Marathon,
and we're going to get into whythat's important. But before we get
into that, I am speaking simplyfor me. This is just for Kyle
Walker. This might not even befor anyone else who listens to the Back
of the Pack podcast or helped meproduce it or do anything with it.
This is for me. The reasonthat this is. This is not sad
(01:42):
for me. I am not sheddingtears for Scott right now. I celebrate
everything that Scott did and the onething I want to caution, and again
you can tell me to shove itdirectly, I understand, But for me,
I am never going to sit hereand say that's got lost his battle
with cancer. I don't agree withthat. I don't agree with that at
(02:05):
all. If anything, I thinkScott absolutely whooped cancer's ass. All Scott
did because Scott was a runner andbecause we are all runners. Scott finished
his race, all right. Scottfinished his race here on Earth. This
race is done. I think thathe won. He was in first place.
He wasn't last place. He's justanother finisher of this race called Earth.
(02:25):
And so now whatever is out there, whatever race is next in the
great beyond, I'm sure he hasalready towed the starting line of that one
and is off on his next race, a race where cancer can't touch him.
Cancer can't hurt him, cancer can'taffect him or his loved ones,
or his friends, or his familyor anyone. So I am not going
to sit here and say that cancerbeats Scott, because I don't agree with
(02:47):
that one little bit. Scott absolutelykicked cancer's ass. Scott has moved on
to his next race. We're runners. We don't stop at one race.
We don't just cross one finished lineand be like we're done. No,
that's not what we do. Hecrossed a finish line the Mourning of the
Liberty Half Marathon, and he hasjust simply gone along to the next starting
(03:08):
line. So that is how Isee it. I certainly mourn the person
that we lost, that we lostselfishly mourn the person that we lost For
him, there's nothing in the worldthat would bring him back. He is
now cancer free and off running hisnext adventure and running his next race.
So trust me, I know he'sthrilled wherever he is at right now,
(03:29):
and that great beyond whatever you thinkis next, then that's where he is
doing his thing. For us.We just mourned that we lost a great
running friend and a great running mentorin a great running I don't know,
just a running ambassador for the areaof Kansas City and for Liberty itself.
So did you guys know that Scottwas from Liberty. I didn't know this
(03:52):
until very recently. Scott was inLiberty the mourning even a twelve oh three
of the Liberty Half Marathon, ofwhich he was an ambassador of which we
all went up there to run becauseit is one of the bigger half marathons
in this area. It is onethat we all need to do for doing
the Heartland thirty nine point three series, we have to do Liberty. We
(04:14):
want to do Liberty. We cankind of look at Liberty as pretty much
Scott's race, and he passed themorning of that race. So instead instead
of him, maybe because this wasjust talk that had hurt, maybe he
was going to be able to postup somewhere and wave at the runners that
went by, you know, inhis very frail, very tired, very
cancer fighting form. Instead, insteadhe moves on at twelve oh three in
(04:42):
the morning, and he gets towatch over all of us at that race,
and tell me, if you werethere at Liberty and if you knew
that Scott had passed, didn't youfeel it? I felt it, like
I really did. I just Icould feel the love and the presence of
Scott and just the warmth that heput in all the people's hearts. I
felt it that morning, and Ifelt it that race, and I ran
(05:02):
me personally, I ran my bestLiberty half marathon ever and it wasn't even
fuss Now was it a pr forme? No, it was not not
a personal record. However, itwas a Liberty half marathon personal record,
and it was a full eight plusminutes faster than last year. Okay.
I for me, I flew throughthat course better than I ever had before.
(05:23):
And since I knew that mile fivewas the mile that went through Scott's
neighborhood where he lived and where hisfamily and friends were, I mean,
I think I think five was prettyclose to my fastest mile of the entire
race. I don't know about youguys. And again, thankfully mile five
had some downhill to it, whobecause we needed that. But I felt
that presence. I just felt thatjust that rush, that surge that you
(05:46):
know, I want to do well. Here, I'm feeling good here.
Scott's watching us now. He isa man who many people care about,
who is now out of pain andis not suffering and has moved on to
his next adventure. And so forus, all we could do was run
for Scott at the Liberty half.And I think that that's what we did.
I've seen nothing, nothing but smilingpictures, smiling finisher medals, smiling
(06:12):
everything coming out of that race.People ran good races, people had a
great time. The sense of camaraderiewas there. You could feel it,
even though even though we were standingin the gym when word came down,
when the phones lit up of Scott'spassing. There were some hugs, there
are some tears, but nobody lostheart. No, He's like, oh
man, I don't know if Ican do this race now. You know,
this is just so upsetting. No, no, no, no no.
(06:34):
In my response to the group chatthat we have going when this happened.
It wasn't oh man, this isterrible or og how tragic. No,
it was lace him up tight,because today we're doing work for Scott.
Because that's when he would have wanted. From my understanding of the man
who I never met personally, butwho I know had a profound impact in
the Kansas City running community, hewould not want us to miss a race
(06:59):
or to feel bad for ourselves becauseof his passing. He would want us
to lace up the sneakers and getto the start line and go. And
that's exactly what we did. Again. I saw so many people Saturday morning
at the Liberty Half Marathon, peoplerunning for Scott, people who had just
learned of it as we were there. But nobody turned around and went home.
Nobody was like, oh, Ican't do this. No people showed
(07:21):
up. They put one foot infront of the other, and from what
it looks like, everyone had agreat race. So look, scout,
wherever you are in it now,in the great beyond. You were out
of pain, and your legacy thatyou leave here in Kansas City will be
felt in the running community and beyondfor a very very long time. So
(07:42):
to that, I salute you.Sir, I thank you for everything that
you've done. I hope that youfind peace. I know that you are
now out of pain, and soall of these things they make me happy
knowing that someone is in a betterplace. Again, this is for me,
your opinions or your opinions, butthat's where I'm going to leave it.
So again to say it's got greenthe Bearder Runner. Thank you.
(08:03):
Now let's move on to the restof the Liberty Half Marathon weekend. It
was actually a great weekend for thepodcast. As most of you know,
especially if you went to the race. We had a table at the expo,
So thank you very much to theLiberty Half Marathon for allowing us to
have a table up there. Itwas a lot of fun. I was
a little worried, not gonna lie, because the morning was kind of slow,
but thankfully the afternoon picked up quitea bit, and so ran into
(08:28):
a ton of people who listened tothe show, people that either I know
or people that I don't know wholistened to the show. One big shout
out that I want to give iswe actually had a listener from Arkansas who
heard about the show. Is listenedto the show, doesn't completely hate It
likes It came up to do thisrace and I got to meet him at
the expo, So mister Richardson fromGreenwood, Arkansas, and I want to
(08:52):
make sure I got to the townright. Thank you very much. It
was absolutely my pleasure to meet you, sir, and I can't wait to
run into you again other races.But it was a joy to talk to
you both at the expo and thenrace morning as we walked to the start
line. I would love to knowwhat you thought about that race, because
Liberty, even though we all didpretty well, Liberty is no joke,
(09:13):
and I hope you handled those hillswithout any problems, which I'm sure you
did much faster runner than I.But again, the expo was a wonderful
time. We had a good spotright before you got to the apparel table
that is where the Back of thePack podcast was set up. So we
got to see people as they wentto pack a pickup, after they got
their packets, and as they werecoming back around to leave. So that
(09:35):
was good. Connected with some othervendors, connected with some other races.
Our buddy Mark was there from theTop City Half Marathon, Top Cities coming
up. Everybody April twenty seven.Don't forget. And I know he was
offering a good special at the expo, so keep a lookout for him.
Next we're going to be at theRock the Parkway Expo, so make sure
that you look out for us there. But so well, have it all
(09:56):
set up for the podcast at Rockthe Parkway the second race in the Heartland
thirty nine point three series. Sowhat does that mean? Means I have
to eat a little crow from lastweek because I was totally off. I
said that Rock the Parkway was thefirst race in the Heartland series, completely
wrong. It was Saturday at Liberty, so I was way off. Liberty
is the first race in the Heartlandseries. That's done. Second race,
(10:20):
Rock the Parkway coming up in lessthan two weeks. Last race Garmin Land
of Oz Half Marathon, then wecomplete the series. I don't know what
I was thinking. I don't knowwhy I was so off. It was
definitely I don't know, runners,fog, runner brain, I don't know,
whatever you want to call it.But when we get so many races
coming up that we have, yougotta forgive me forgetting just a hair confused
(10:43):
once or twice. But our nextrace is the Easter Egg ten K in
Overland Park, Kansas that is comingup this weekend, and then we're right
back to the half marathons. SoI hope to see you all at the
Easter Egg ten K. I didgo to request and we've already taken care
of it that on our website www. Dot botppod so Back of the Pack
(11:05):
pod so botppod dot com. Someoneasked if we could put a calendar up
there of all the races we're goingto be at. What a fantastic idea
that I should have done a longtime ago and just never did. But
we have the calendar up now.I am in the process of updating it
as we speak, so you canjust kind of go to the calendar,
hover over it you'll see what racewe're doing on that weekend. So if
you choose to join us, supergreat. If you're doing a different race,
(11:28):
no problem. Remember every Monday,we are doing Metal Monday on Instagram
and Facebook. Use the hashtag Backof the Pack Podcast when you post on
Instagram, or you can just respondon Facebook in the thread right there and
just show us what you ran thatweekend. It's Metal Monday. Doesn't have
to be the race that I do. I actually want to see what races
you do. If you do adifferent race and it's a really cool metal,
I want to know about it becausethen I'll probably want that metal for
(11:52):
myself and I'll go do it.So check out the website and check out
the calendar. Always make sure you'restaying tuned in too social media because Instagram
and face Book our two biggest socialmedia platforms. That's where you will see
all the fun stuff that we do. So I'm trying to find something almost
every day. But we've got metalMonday, we've got race shirt Thursday,
and recently we have started flashback Friday. So on Monday, show us your
(12:16):
metal. On Thursdays, show usa race shirt that you like. Doesn't
have to be the most current onethat you've worn, just a race shirt,
one that you think is really coolor it means something to you,
or was a memorable race. Andthen Friday we go to the wayback machine
and we want to see pictures fromprevious from however long ago, you know,
whenever. It could be an importantrace, could be a first race,
could be any race, the onethat you ran with your bestest friends,
(12:39):
doesn't matter. That's what we're tryingto do, just to have some
fun on social media, because ifwe're not having fun, what are we
actually doing here? Right? So, okay, Liberty Half Marathon, it
is hilly. We knew that.We knew that going into it. The
morning was beautiful. So I gotto the race. It was about six
in the morning. I think whenI got there, I wanted to be
(13:01):
able to park close to the buildingand not have to take the bus in
because I'm just like that. Theonly problem is I got there too early.
So yes, I got to parkby the building where we all meet,
but I was all the way atthe ass end of the parking lot,
so it was still a long walkfor me to get inside. Got
inside, powdered my nose because asa runner, you always want to look
(13:22):
your best before a race. Therewere going to be a lot of photographers
out there. Got the message aboutScott as I was there for just a
couple of minutes, kind of gatheredwith close friends. We all shared the
information with each other. We all, you know, talked, just kind
of hung out together. It wasactually it was really nice. It was
It was it was good to bearound fellow people, people who knew Scott
(13:45):
way better than I. But again, nobody was. No one was packing
it in, no one was foldingtheir tent and saying I just can't.
Everyone was kind of feeling it.Everyone's like, you know what, We're
ready now, like we're ready togo. This is this is what what
we do. Yes, we havelost a lot of people, lost a
really close friend, but we're notgonna let that beat us. We are
(14:07):
ready to run. So as themorning went along, more and more people
come into the gym, people aretalking, pictures are being taken, and
then it is time to head tothe start line. And that's exactly what
we did. We all head outof the gym. It was a chilli
morning. It started around thirty oneto thirty two degrees, so we're riot
it freezing for the start of therace. Nice breeze out of the north.
(14:30):
That is the one thing. AndI know I've said this about Liberty.
I know the breeze was out ofthe north. I can see which
way the flags are going, butI tell you, on that course,
it does not matter what direction youturn, the wind is in your face.
There is never a point in timewhere the wind is at your back.
But that breeze made it a littlecooler. So for me, I
had on long pants. I havemy knee pads underneath. When I wear
(14:52):
long pants, I wear the kneepads because my knees hurt these days.
I had on two layers of shirt. I even wore the gloves. But
yeah, I didn't want to Ididn't want to start cold, so dressed
up. Stiff breeze. We're readyto go, Liberty. Credit to you
guys. Stroke of eight o'clock,we were gone. You might have even
gotten this at like seven fifty nineand forty five seconds. If something like
(15:16):
that, it seemed like we're bamready to go. So credit. I
love it when races start on time. That is one of my most favoritest
things ever. Don't leave us sittingthere five minutes after the fact and we're
off. The course has not reallychanged over the last couple of years.
If there were changes, they arevery minimal. We're cruising along, cruising
along, and I'll tell you this, I love it. I absolutely love
(15:39):
it when on the course somebody says, hey like your podcast, or had
one person say hey, I'm listeningto you right now. I don't care
how much I'm huffing them puffing.I am absolutely If I can't talk,
I will give you the thumbs upbecause I love hearing that. You guys
are you know, listening or fansor whatever. That just makes my whole
race. So I had that afew times along the course. I consider
myself fortunate for that, cruising along. Ran a pretty good first five k
(16:03):
right at hill, right at hillthree. But you can see where my
mind is. Right around mile markerthree is when we get to our first
real bad hill, I mean realbad. There were already some hills beforehand,
but mile three our first real badhill. We get up that.
It kind of takes us up tothe top to a school. Then we
turned right at the school and we'reup some more hills. We're kind of
meandering around back there in the back. We got to around hill to mile
(16:27):
five. I keep saying hills likethis. It's like this is a hilly
course or something. Right around tomile marker five, we get some downhills.
We're trek along and then it takesus up to the the Uh,
oh my goodness, my brain justturned off. Could you guys see it?
Did you see? Like the hamsterjust stopped running and things. Anyway,
we got to the front edge Road, the road that runs along the
(16:48):
highway that takes us down to LibertyHospital. I hate that road. I
really hate that road. Now Iget it, you cannot shut down traffic
absolutely everywhere, like cars have tobe able to move here, there,
and yonder. But I hate thatroad because that is always where you run
into traffic issues and it always makesme nervous when they let a car turn.
(17:11):
Now we're heading along the right sideof the road. It's one lane
each way, so any car thatwants to turn right, they should be
in our lane. That's where we'rerunning. But they go to the other
lane and they're driving along the wrongway to try and get out and get
away from the runners. And Iget that, but there's a lot of
hills. It's just a lot ofrolls on that little frontage road. So
(17:33):
when they get towards the top,I'm always scared to death there's gonna be
a car coming in the other directionon the other side that they're not gonna
see each other, and we're gonnahave a big old issue. Thankfully,
no issues as far as I couldsee. Thankful for that. We go
down. We turn off the frontageroad onto a street by the hospital.
That's where you hit your halfway pointmile six. I'm cruising along and feeling
good, like I honestly, ifat least for the first ten k was
(17:56):
feeling great. We tootle along,get through an eight station, cross the
halfway mats, and then we're this. This is another part that I don't
like about this race. Is itis it make or break? No?
Is it something that's like I'll neverrun this race again? Absolutely not.
We go on this walking path likekind of not really through a park,
(18:17):
but kind of through a park,but it gets real narrow and with trees
along the side. Roots have kindof pushed up the walking path, so
it's very uneven. But it's theonly real part of this stretch I don't
like is that walking path, because, like I said, very narrow.
You almost have to run single file. And the only way you're gonna you
know you're not run single file isif you're passing someone and you better pass
(18:38):
them quick. But again, smallpotatoes in the grand scheme of things.
But we come out of the walkingpath. Now we know that when you
come out of the walking path andyou have kind of the hospital behind you,
and it's a scenical lil area.There's a photographer. He's always right
there. He is a little rightthere when you're done with the walking paths,
so make sure that you're ready.You put on your best smile.
(18:59):
For people like me, we tryand sucking in a little bit so we
look good on the picture. Givehim the thumbs up, and then you
move along, coming up to milemarker seven. Super great. After mile
marker seven, we go across thestreet. Thank you to all the Liberty
police officers who kept us all verysafe during the race. And then we
go back into this industrial area.Okay, the industrial area is where you
(19:22):
come up with some more hills andthese are not the pleasant hills, and
this is kind of where you're outin the middle of nowhere. You're not
by downtown, you're not by OldLiberty, you're not by the hospital.
It's a Saturday morning and it's anindustrial area, so there's not a lot
going on out there. Very wideopen. You can tell it's one of
the newer parts of town, butit's just very empty. And so ran
(19:44):
into Andy, our buddy, theCasey cosplay runner. Make sure you check
him out on social media. Heand I were kind of back and forth
all day. He had like completelytracked off and left me in the dust
earlier, apparently a restroom stop laterand he's catching up to me again.
I'm like, where did you comefrom? You're a way up there anyway,
came across him around mile we werecoming up to mal marker eight,
(20:06):
which is at the top of oneof the ungodly hills. First hill where
I actually started to struggle a bit, so mile eight. I wasn't really
doing great. Ha ha. Imade a rhyme, isn't that adorable?
But we fight through. That's whatwe do. Get up the big hill
past mile mark eight, hang theleft into more of an industrial area,
and that's where there's still some moreuphill. But then we started downhill.
(20:29):
We get a little bit more rolling. Okay, we're rolling along, rolling
along all right. I'm kind ofcatching a second wind. Actually get a
phone call. I get a phonecall around mile marker nine. I had
a medical issue with a relative comeup. So I was being called by
the surgeon who performed some surgery.So yes, I felt like a morn.
I'm there at mile marker nine,running along. I checked my watch
(20:52):
because phones. You know, mywatch thing, it lights up when I
have a phone call, so Ihit it. So I have my phones
on and I'm like trying to coverit up so i can hear, and
I'm talking into my watch. Imean, this is an absolute Dick Tracy
moment right here. But it tookme down to a walk. So while
I'm talking to a surgeon, I'mkind of catching my breath and doing a
(21:14):
little bit of an uphill. Bythe time we wrap up that phone call,
I'm ready to go. Like,for whatever reason, that was enough
recovery for me. I hit thatdownhill at mile marker nine and I'm feeling
real good and I'm just trucking rightalong at that point, like actually my
split started to come back down alittle bit, which doesn't happen for me
when he gets to mile marker nine, trust me or beyond. Then we
(21:37):
get to a part and I thinkthis is going to be a problem that
every runner can identify with it becauseit absolutely has hit me before. And
you can see if you're watching thevideo, I just leaned against my sign
and it turned off. Whoops.Sorry. Before this race, there was
a part I was thinking about therewas this really bad hill, and I
was thinking about it that morning.I'm like, man, that hill.
I'm still glad that hill was runningwith the cows and we don't have to
(22:00):
deal with that hill today. Wrong. The hill I was thinking of was
actually part of the Liberty Half Marathon. So the hill around mile ten,
the one where you go down ahill you go over I don't know what
would be a little creek which youknow, floods if it rains too much,
then you have to go up upup up up up up up up
(22:22):
up up up up this steep freakinghill around mile markers and and it is
no mercy. So that hill gotme. But once I completed that hill,
thankfully, I was able to findmy pace again. All Right,
They did not completely derail me forthe whole rest of the race or take
me out of it. I definitelywalked up that hill because that hill hill
(22:47):
gets me every year. And ofcourse it was a mental thing at that
point, because I had already thoughtabout that hill, but I had already
placed it at a different race,and so it wasn't wasn't something I thought
I was gonna have to face today. So when I got to it,
Oh no, that was a littlementally deflating. But again, I just
had a conversation with a surgeon.I knew I had family issues things going
(23:07):
on. I need to get mybutton gear and get a move on.
So after that hill, got tothe top of it and away I went.
Went down the back side of thathill a little bit. Then you
just kind of do this little hanga left, run out one hundred or
two hundred yards going around the cone, and then come right back the way
you came. But when you makethat turn, that's where you know you're
making the turn and you're heading towardsthe finish line. That's like kind of
(23:29):
the last piece. Then it's justalmost straight shot to the finish line.
Came across another runner who said shewas actively listening to me while running the
race. Thank you so much.I always appreciate it made me smile.
Ran into another runner who I hadmet the day before at the Expo,
and so awesome seeing her. Weran for just a little bit around mile
marker eleven as we're kind of doinglittle more rolling hills before you get a
(23:52):
great down hill and then a biglast uphill. So the big last uphill
is before a mile mark or twelve, but it's and it takes you back
to the campus. So yeah,you go downhill, you kind of go
by, you go under the highwayand you go buy a little bit of
a construction is a type area.I don't know the road. The road
is always covered in dirt and mud, so I figure there's construction somewhere there.
(24:14):
But anyway, once you get pastthat under the bridge, you go
back up and that's where you headto the campus. Once you get on
campus, that's where you hit milemarker twelve and you know, okay,
we're there, like we're a mileaway and you're on campus. The campus
of William Jewell College is the campusthat takes place or is the host I
should say of the Liberty half.So thank you to William Jewel. Hit
(24:34):
mile marker twelve and I'm trucking,truck and trucking. We go through the
frat house loop, and we allknow the frat house loop. All the
frat guys are out there. Youhave your choice, and I don't know
how they did it. I don'tknow how they did it. They they
shocked me. I figured, okay, because I always will have a beer
when we go by the frat houses. Okay, I've always joked that the
(24:59):
only thing they will hand is alukewarm you know, Natty light or you
know something a cheap beer that islike lukewarm. But I told myself,
hey, we are in luck thisyear. It's cold out here this morning.
It's you know, thirty two degreesby the time I got to them,
maybe thirty four to thirty five somewherein there. The beer should be
nice and cold. Nope, somehowthey still gave me a lukewarm beer,
(25:22):
even though the beer had been probablysitting out for hours. I don't know
how they do it. They're magical, magical the ways that they can still
get me a lukewarm beer here.I thought it was getting cold, getting
go right, You think I've beendrinking already. I thought I was going
to get a cold one. Ithought wrong, So I took myself down
to a walk with them. Cheershad had half of my Natty Light.
(25:45):
Actually, I think it was Bushlight that they were giving out. Not
a sponsor of the show. Butif anyone wants to talk to me,
you know, just give me acall. I'm negotiable on my beer brands
that will advertise for this show,and so after that then it was just
run, run, run last hill. The hill takes you back to the
stadium the stadium, you go kindof you go past the gym to the
(26:07):
stadium, down into the stadium,one loop around the track and there's the
finish line. And so once Ihit the track, it was all just
find a nice little pace so youdon't run out of gas at the end.
And I finished. I finished withthe time of around two minutes forty
one second. I'm sorry, twominutes forty one seconds. H huh,
yeah, that's a new record.Hen No, two hours forty one minutes
and then a couple seconds. Sofor me, that is the best Liberty
(26:32):
half I've ever done. Last yearis a two forty eight and some change.
So I will gladly take the improvementfor this year. Gives me a
little bit of hope of going intoRock the Parkway. If you haven't done
Rock the Parkway but you have doneLiberty, I can assure you Rock the
Parkway is much easier. It's notflat. I'm not gonna sear her and
say it's flat. It's not flat, but it's easier. The hills aren't
(26:55):
as extreme there's not as many,there's more downhills. Rock the Parkway an
easier course. So if you didwell at Liberty, you're gonna do well
at rockda Parkway. So just beready. Like I'm already gearing up,
I'm thinking to myself, could Icould I possibly PR? So I did
Liberty and I was about what wasI about five minutes? Five minutes off
(27:17):
of my PR for Liberty? Okay, Well, gives me a little bit
of hope that I might just mightbe able to pull a rabbit out of
the hat at Rock to Parkway andmaybe improve on my half marathon personal record.
I can hope. So that ismy goal going into it. So
I'm going to see how we feelafter next weekends ten k, getting Easter
(27:37):
Egg, ten k Nobland Park,and then you know what, I might
make a stab at it. Imight make a stab at a new record
for Rock to Parkway and a newrecord overall for a half marathon. We'll
see. I might line up withthe two thirty five pacers and just hang
with them as best I can.You know, if I fall back a
little bit, that's fine. MyPR is somewhere around two thirty six,
two thirty six and a half,maybe even two thirty six forty five,
(28:00):
not that that number matters to youwhatsoever. Now I'm just trying to figure
it out in my own brain,but it's somewhere around there. It was
at last year's Bill Snyder Highway halfMarathon, which I've heard they're completely changing
the course of that this year,so I'm not expecting another pr there.
It sounds like it's going to bemore difficult, but who knows. Maybe
Rock the Parkway, which was myvery first half marathon in twenty eleven,
(28:21):
could be a new personal record intwenty twenty four, wouldn't that be meat?
Who knows. We'll see how itgoes. So that is it for
the Liberty Half episode. I guessyou know. That's just where we're at.
It was a great race. Iwant to again thank everyone involved with
Liberty for a wonderful experience, bothas a vendor at the expo and as
(28:44):
a runner for the half marathon,just as a runner in general, and
again everyone, I know that Scott'spassing has hit a lot of people very
hard, and I just want youguys to know that I love you all,
I personally, with my own personalbeliefs that I won't dive into.
I think he is in a betterplace and cancer can absolutely go suck an
(29:06):
egg. It didn't win. Scottbeat it and now doesn't have to worry
about it anymore. So wherever heis right now, whatever he is running
currently, you know, whether itbe the Great Beyond Marathon or the Heavenly
Marathon, or wherever you want toput it, I know that he is
up there running and looking over allof us, because we absolutely could feel
him smiling upon us at the LibertyHalf in his hometown. He passed the
(29:30):
day of You know you, Almos, you can't write this stuff right,
You can't write this stuff. Itwas just it was so perfect, And
I personally will celebrate anyone who nolonger has to live in pain. There
is no pain, there is nochemotherapy, there is no cancer. He
did not lose that battle. Hekicked that battle's ass. So Scott,
wherever you are in this universe,man, we thank you again from all
(29:53):
of us here in the Kansas Cityrunning community. Can't say enough good things
about what you have done for us. This community is as strong if there
was no Scott Green, there wasa Scott Green and we are an amazing
running community here, and so we'regonna take that and move forward and continue
your legacy as running ambassadors and peoplewho will just get others into running simply
(30:14):
by showing our love for it.So again, we thank you. I
thank all of you for tuning in. I thank you for listening. I
thank you for telling me at racesthat you listen. I thank you for
your support on social media. Ithank you for downloading episodes, likes,
comments, all that stuff. Whateveryou do to help us out, I
thank you. I thank Scott,and you know what that's gonna do it.
For this week's episode of the Backof the Pack podcast, I'm your
(30:34):
host, Kyle Walker. It isabsolutely my pleasure. As always, we
will be back next week after theEaster eight ten k and then we continue
on through this awesome spring running seasonnow with Scott watching over all of us,
and so I expect nothing but greatraces for the rest of this season.
(30:55):
No doubt. We'll see you nextweek. Sh
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