July 25, 2025 • 32 mins
This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, we bring our Run the Nation series home with a celebration of the heartland — the Central States. From the wide-open plains of Kansas to the lakeside charm of Minnesota and the rolling hills of Missouri, we highlight ten essential races that showcase the region’s quiet strength and undeniable running spirit. Kyle reflects on his own roots in this part of the country, where runners are humble, weather-tough, and always cheering for each other no matter the pace. Whether you’re gunning for a PR on a flat Nebraska course or just trying to survive the hills of Kansas City, the Midwest has something for every runner. We’ll talk about the race culture, unpredictable weather, and that distinct community vibe that makes these miles feel more grounded and more real. If you’ve ever trained in sideways wind or finished a race with frost in your beard and a smile on your face, this one’s for you.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode
at the Back of the Back Podcast, second one. I'm
your host, Kyle Walker. Thank you so much for tuning in.
First things first, I want to apologize for Monday's episode.
I feel I did not do the Argo half marathon
justice because we had audio issues. I did not know
there were audio issues until I was like already in
post production. At that point, it was either re record
(00:37):
or just try and fix what I could. So I
tried to fix what I could because I didn't want
to rerecord the thing that would feel redundant in my world.
So yeah, apologize. I'm so sorry audio issues. Hopefully we've
got them straight out now. I think we do. I
did a little test and I think we're good now.
I've kind of figured out the problem, I think, and
so again, apologies to those who tuned in listening for
(00:58):
Argo recap and to themselves. I did not do your
raise justice by having messed up audio. Sorry. Now another apology.
I'm sorry if I sound or look dead to you
right now. I just got done with three hours of
yard work in over ninety five degree heat. Why you
might ask, because earlier this week we had torrential downpours
(01:20):
that caused flash flooding here in the Kansas City area.
And it was an overnight situation. And we have this
aqueduct that goes behind Casa de Beka the peck and
it overflowed, flowing up into the yard, and my entire
two piles of wood for fire pits were floating within
the yard. And then as the waters went down, they
(01:41):
just ended up wherever they may have landed. So I
was out there mowing grass, moving logs, taking care of
storm debris, and I am one tired puppy. But that
brings us to our point of today. We are on
our final week of run the nation, and hey, what
does the Midwest have unpredicted weather? So yes, today we
were talking about the Midwest and kind of the whole
(02:03):
Central States region. So we're going all the way up
to the tippy top. We can go all the way
down into Texas if we so desire, and then just
kind of everywhere in the middle of the country. And
so first thing I'm gonna do right now now that
we're talking about this is I'm going to re clarify
for those who still want to give me a hard time. Now,
what did I say, Ohio. That's that's mid South. Okay,
(02:26):
So if you want to go back and study your history,
study the history of pro wrestling where the Ohio territory
was considered mint South wrestling. How about that For the
person who continually tries to give me a hard time
online that Ohio appeared in the Southern episode A list
I didn't put together. I just used. Wasn't my fault, Lisa,
(02:50):
but it was considered mint South. So you can put
all your palls out there that you want min South.
That's what it is is mince South. Go look up
your old progress territories. They were Mitsouth. How about that.
There we go. I found something really obscure to back
up my case. But okay, as for the Midwest, you know,
for me, that is home, sweet home. Home is Kansas
City for me, and you know love the Midwest. We
(03:12):
get all the seasons here, we get all the weather,
whether we want it or not. But we're going to
talk about some of the races here locally. So for me,
I think I've done about every race in this area
about fifty times over at least as far as Kansas
City goes. If you go next door over to Colorado.
I haven't done a single race. Getting believe that I've
never done a race in Colorado. For whatever reason. The
(03:32):
whole elevation thing worries me a little bit. But just
like last week, let's talk about some of the big
races here in the Midwest, big, iconic and things of
that nature. So first on this list, this is a
race that I have done. I did this race in
twenty nineteen. That is Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, a
very big event. The whole town is out for that race.
(03:54):
Duluth not a very big place, far hillier place than
I thought. I know idea it was going to be
such a hilly town, great town. I had a lot
of fun at Grandma's Marathon again in twenty nineteen. So
if you're looking for a very friendly race, I guess
there is a saying called Minnesota and Ice. You will
find a lot of Minnesota and ice up there in
Duluth at the Grandma's Marathon. So that is one that
(04:15):
we highly recommend. It's running mid June and it's about
twenty thousand runners. They do offer a half marathon, but
I can tell tell you I think it's the Gary
Borkland Half Marathon sells out within days, if not hours,
of when it opens every year, so if you want
to go up to Duluth to do that half marathon,
you've got to be on it quick. The full marathon,
(04:38):
I think eventually does sell out, but it's not one
of those things where it's in a matter of moments.
You've got some time, days, weeks, even probably some months
to see if that is something that you want to do.
Very difficult race point to point, you will hopefully get
good weather. I think this year they had abnormally hot weather.
When I went for mid June, it was incredibly cool.
(05:00):
The water that comes off the Great Lake was just
not the water, I'm sorry. The wind, the breeze, the
cool air that comes off the Great Lake was beautiful.
It was actually pretty chilly. The day that we ran
the marathon. It was sunny and it was crystal clear
and it was beautiful, but it was chili but it
was still June sunshine, so I ended up getting just
sunburnt to a crisp even though I never felt like
(05:23):
overly hot the entire time. So it was an interesting experience,
but a race that I definitely do recommend. Number two
is the Lincoln Marathon in Lincoln, Nebraska. We've done this
half marathon twice. Very much enjoy the half marathon. I
very much enjoyed the town of Lincoln, as I've gone
there for both the Lincoln Half and then another race
that they do in Lincoln, the Good Life Havesy. Now,
(05:44):
if you're looking for a November half marathon, might I
suggest to you, and I don't mean to discount the marathon,
we'll be back to that in a second, let me
recommend to you The Good Life Havesey in Lincoln, Nebraska
in November. There is a back of the Pack podcast.
Right now, we're in fourth place. We're one sign up
away from tying for third place. Two sign ups and
(06:06):
we move into third place. Last year we were a
third place. We took up over sixty runners. This year,
I think we're at about forty one. And that's not
even counting like local people who went and did it
last year. These are other fans of the podcasts that
have come across this with them last year, or maybe
someone that I met at that expo last year. But
I will be at the expo again. I do highly
recommend The Good Life havesie, very fun event. I enjoy
(06:30):
the atmosphere on race morning. The course is not overly difficult, challenging,
but not difficult. And it is my half marathon PR
and it is I think still my only half marathon
under two and a half hours, two hours, twenty nine
minutes in fifty seconds. So November I want to say ninth.
Don't quote me on that, but I want to say
(06:50):
November ninth, twenty twenty five, Lincoln, Nebraska, good life, havesie,
let's go. But the Lincoln Marathon is run in May
early May, thirteen thousand runners, a lot of people doing
the half, and the half is an easy course. I
still think the Lincoln Marathon half marathon course is one
of the easiest I've ever done. For a period, it
was my PR back in twenty twenty four. Now there
(07:12):
was no chance at it being a PR in twenty
twenty five as it was the second race of the
Flyover Challenge, which was back to back half marathons Saturday,
Top City in Topeka, Kansas. Another very well done shout
out to Mark a half marathon that runs in May
that's in Tapeka, Kansas. And then we loaded up the
car and we went north up to Lincoln, Nebraska. So
(07:33):
did the Capitol of Kansas Capitol of Nebraska Flyover Challenge.
But the second half of a half marathon back to back,
I was done. My legs were done. So I could
not repeat the same success at the Lincoln half marathon
that I had in twenty twenty four. Survived, got through,
got my medal, but my time was not great. But
I do really recommend if you need a May half
marathon or full marathon, Lincoln, Nebraska is where you want
(07:56):
to go. The next one, number three is the Go
Saint Louis Marathon. It is in mid April and it's
about ten thousand runners, says Iconic art Views. Of course
bridge let's say bridge crossings and huge community turnout. I've
never done this one now as a lifelong Kansas city
and Go Royals, I loathe most things Saint Louis. I
(08:17):
used to say all things. Now it's not all things.
Shout out to the Oh my God, wow edit this out.
Shout out to the Happy Pace podcast. One of the
good things out of Saint Louis. Credit to them. But yeah,
normally I'm not a big fan of Saint Louis stuff
because again born Kansas City. We are born and bred
to dislike everything Saint Louis, but that race does look fun.
(08:40):
It is one that I would like to get to
at some point in time. The next one the Oklahoma
City Memorial Marathon. I have not run this race, but
I have heard nothing, nothing but incredible things from this race.
It's a late April race, it's twenty five thousand runners,
and it is deeply emotional as it honors the victims
of the nineteen ninety five bombing at the Murrah Federal
(09:00):
Building in Oklahoma City. I actually just rewatched the documentary
on that with my fifteen year old because she's kind
of getting into documentaries in history, and boy, what a
difficult watch that is. And I remember that day playing
a day I was old enough to remember it, and
man that I bet that event is moving even though
it's been so long now, this was what their thirtieth year. Wow, Okay,
(09:25):
I'm gonna need a moment thirty years iike you, Wallas
all right? Number five the Fargo Marathon in Fargo, North Dakota.
We have done this race. It is in mid May.
It is fifteen thousand runners and indoors start and finish
at the Fargo Dome, live bands every half mile. Okay,
when I went, I don't know if it was a
temporary thing or a permanent thing. They were not able
(09:46):
to go into the Fargo Dome. I don't know if
it was under construction or what the situation was. We
started outside the Fargo Dome in the parking lot. Great
thing is because the Fargo Dome is a big arena.
The parking is great for race morning. You just parking
the parking lot of the Fargo Dome and you're right
there by athletes' village leading up to the start line.
(10:06):
They did start weird, and I'm trying to remember how
they started out, but like the full marathoners, I don't
think started first. They like started the half marathoners and
the ten Cares. Then like the five Cares in the Fall,
there was a weird order in which it started, and
you have different courses based on your distance, and after
a certain amount of time everyone comes slamming together. So
(10:28):
I remember, I'm off doing my thing, and I'm running,
and I'm at full marathon pace because I did this
full marathon. It was their twentieth anniversary, and then here
comes all the half or no, here comes all the
ten cares behind me. So my slow plodding full marathon pace,
here's the speedy ten cares near them, just flying right
by me. It was the craziest thing. Next up, we
(10:49):
have the Twin Cities Marathon that's up in Minnesota. Again,
that's a fall race that's in early October twenty yeah,
twenty five thousand runners. And let's see, it is the
most beautiful urban marathon in America. Fall foliage, lakes and
skyline views. Now, they don't give credit to who has
that quote, the most beautiful urban marathon in America, but
it sounds like it must be up there, so it
(11:09):
must be beautiful race. Haven't done the Twin Cities, but
I've definitely heard good things about it. Next up, hey, Home,
Sweet Home, the Garmin Kansas City Marathon full marathon, half marathon,
ten k five k running mid October, ten thousand runners, hilly,
historic and hometown pride. You're likely very familiar with this
one if you're watching this show, and that is one
hundred percent true. As we know I am. I have
(11:31):
done this race many, many, many times. What I love
about this and shout out to Dave who I'm sure
is going to be back on the podcast soon to
talk about this year's Oklahoma talk about this year's garment
Kansas City Marathon. It runs through the most historic parts
of Kansas City. You see the best views that Kansas
City has to offer. Now, I'm referring to the half
(11:52):
marathon a few years back. We're gonna say five for
arguments saying they really had to alter the course. So
when I did this full marathon back in twenty fourteen,
it is no longer the same course that I did
back then eleven years ago. It is a different course.
Ever since they have changed this course, the half marathon
is one of the most beautiful. Now. I am the
(12:12):
first to tell you if you want to run your
first half marathon, or really if you want to run
your first full marathon, I've always told people, do not
do it in the town in which you live. You
know that town, You've seen the sites, you've seen the buildings.
You're gonna get bored out there. Go somewhere brand new,
so you are experiencing everything for twenty six point two
(12:33):
miles or thirteen point one for the first time. Well,
doing the Kansas City Marathon. I still after doing this
course at least five times. I still love our views
from the Kansas City Marathon, I do. I've seen these
buildings one hundred times over, a thousand times over. But
when you're coming over Trinity Hill and you're looking down
(12:54):
and there's Union Station, there's the Kaufmin Center for the
Performing Arts, there's the World War One Museum, the monument,
and then over to the side there's the Sprint Center
and there's the lawn, and it's just it's beautiful. It's
a beautiful view of your own hometown, and you can't
help it, take a little pride in it whenever you
cross that hill and you see it so and then
(13:15):
you run by the Kaffin Center, you run downtown. You're
going up and down Main Street basically, and you're heading back.
You're finishing at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum, which is
one of our best places to go visit in Kansas City.
You're running through the Jazz district of eighteenth and Vine,
past the Negro League Baseball Museum, past the Jazz Museum.
I love this race. It is of course near and
(13:37):
dear to my heart, which is why we've had the
race director on the show before which is why we're
at the expo every year. It's a great race. So
if you've ever wanted to come to Kansas City, if
you ever need to get Missouri, Missouri off your list,
not Kansas, then this is the one for you. Full
marathon or half marathon, ten k, five k, whatever you
want to do. It is a beautiful, beautiful morning. Next
one the Des Moines Marathon that is usually the day
(14:00):
after the Garman Kansas City Marathon. That's part of the
I thirty five Challenge. There's a little fun info for you.
It is up in of course, de Moline, Iowa, mid October.
Ten thousand runners, flat, scenic course and it's a very
supportive crowd and it's great for first timers. I have
heard from people who do this race. It is crazy flat,
crazy flat, like pancake flat, almost Chicago Marathon flat. Speak
(14:26):
of the devil. Next one we're going to throw out there,
even though it didn't make this list for some reason,
the Chicago Marathon, the race that we did back in
twenty eighteen. Chicago, Illinois. What can you say? It's a
world marathon major. It's what at least forty, if not more,
thousand people. The entire city is out supporting it. What
(14:47):
I tell people about Chicago, what I love is as
you're kind of going through the neighborhoods, every neighborhood has
a different feel and a different vibe and a different
section of humanity that is out to support. And I'm
going to to say this, and look, if this is
not politically correct, I apologize for my verbiage, but clearly
I'm not coming at this in any kind of negative tone.
(15:08):
You do go through the Hispanic District and they're out
there and there's mariachi music playing, and they're singing and
dancing and cheering you on most of the time in Spanish,
waving flags from Mexico. They offer tequila shots. Yes, absolutely
did one. So I'm doing tequila shots in the Hispanic district.
Next one over or however, it is the gay district,
(15:31):
and they have huge pride in their showing for the
Chicago Marathon. There are drag dancers out there, there's music play.
I don't remember what alcohol they had, but you can
guarantee it I did it. And they're out there having
a huge old party. There's pride flags waving all over
the place, and look, I don't care what your stance is. Honestly,
(15:51):
I had a great time. It was super duper fun
as they're out there to party as well. Let's see
there was another one. There's you know, there's kind of
the regular hillbilly district. Probably there's a nicer term for
that where I think it was beer. Beer was the
alcoholic choice. But all these different areas have different vibes
in different fields. Pretty sure there was a Germo into
There's definitely an Asian town, definitely like a Chicago China town.
(16:15):
Definitely went through there. They weren't as excited, they didn't
care as much, but you still run through it. That
was right right around mile eighteen or twenty somewhere near.
But it had Every place has a different feel, and
of course it's just such a big race because it's
a World marathon major that you're doing something and it
is another course flat as pancake. Betby next on the list,
and this one near and dear to my heart as well,
(16:36):
the Root sixty six Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was
my very first full marathon ever twenty eleven. I had
been running for one year and I very quickly went
from five to half to full and I still at
that point and never even run a ten k. But
you know, what are you gonna do? So I was
thirty one years old when I completed this race. I
(16:57):
didn't know anything about anything when I did it. It
is definitely race and I'm not throwing shade. They're a
lot like this. They focus more on the first half
where the half marathoners and full marathoners run together. After
they split off and the half marathoners finish party for
the half marathoners, rather boring course for the full marathoners
after that. At least when I did it. And it's
(17:18):
been a long time again those twenty eleven, we're twenty
twenty five. Now, things could have changed. One thing that
they will offer. Let me see if i'm grabbing here.
Oh yes you did, because I just recently came cross.
This has been missing for a while. This is the
challenge coin for the Center of the Universe detour. And
if you do this detour and it's optional, you run
(17:39):
the world's shortest ultra marathon because it adds about zero
point three seven miles is point thirty seven somewhere in there,
not even half a mile, I don't they but it
adds it to your official distance and so it makes
it the shortest Ultra marathon ever. And if you do
the Center of the Universe de tour, they hand you
(17:59):
a challenge coin upon completion. It's got the sponsor on
the back. I'm sorry, it's pretty tarnished. It's fourteen years
old now. It says congratulations, you're living the life of Ultrara.
This was sponsored by Mick Ultra at that time. And
it's got November twentieth, twenty eleven, twenty six point five miles. Okay,
so it's what justo point two zero miles. It's yeah,
(18:20):
but it's present of my by mid culture. So anyway, Yeah,
you get a challenge coin for doing it. That is
a really cool touch. It adds to it. I wish
I had enjoyed more of let's say the expo in
the environment when I went, but I was so new
to the running world I didn't really get it. I went,
I got my package, I left. I didn't like stay
to enjoy the expo. I didn't really see or do
(18:41):
much or learn about other races. It was just very
blinders on narrow vision because the next day I was
gonna do some stuff. I do remember that the day
of the expo, Saturday, it's seventy five degrees outside and
it's hot and muggy. The next day a colt front
had come through. We had wind chills going down into
the low forties, and it was kind of a miserable
day out there. Cloudy, cold, windy. What are you gonna do?
(19:04):
You got eight's Midwest. You gotta be prepared for all conditions.
It runs in late November. It is always the weekend
before Thanksgiving. I can tell you that about twelve thousand
runners known for the detour to a shot wade, it says,
known for dtour to a shot of whiskey. I don't
remember whiskey, no, because it was sponsored by the beer.
(19:25):
They had beer, so that must have changed. And then
custom metals and tons of personality. Their medals are always
themed around autos, automotive or sixty six kind of stuff.
So if you like cars, that's the race for you. Definitely,
and again not throwing shade. Definitely check out their medals
for this year, which have already been released. See if
you like them. They didn't do anything for me. I
(19:48):
thought about going back maybe, but then I saw this
year's medals and thought nah, I'm good. Thanks. Hey, if
you like them, super great. It it's a whale, which
I guess correlates responds to a sign or a statue
along the route sixty six, like it makes sense in
the lower route sixty six. But ohil, I'm good. And
(20:10):
then number ten and see market to market relays that
is in October that goes into both Nebraska and Iowa.
Thirty five hundred runners, longest single day relay in the country,
combines farmland roads and urban vibes. Okay, so let's talk
about some of the terrain and the climate most of
the time, not all of it. You're gonna get flat
and fast, okay, except when it's nine. So many Midwestern
(20:33):
marathon and marathons are pancake flat pr machines like Fargo,
Lincoln Des Moines we mentioned, but others like Kansas City
will humble you with the rolling hills in the sudden climbs. Yes,
Kansas City is not flat. You will actually be surprised
with how hilly our course is. But what I tell
people is what goes up must come down. Now, unlike
(20:54):
ourgo that we talked about on Monday, the downhills on
Kansas City are freaking wonderful. I do know that once
you go up Trinity Hill and then you come down
the backside of it, you're starting to go into downtown.
That mile five is basically all downhill. You're going all
the way from the top of Trinity Hill down to
the front doors of Union Station, past the museums, and
(21:14):
if you know the area at all, you know that
is just all downhill, baby, So it is a great
way to cut your breath. Now, after that, you have
the horrid uphill back to the Coffin Center for the
Performing Arts. That is the worst hill of the course.
But if you can make it past that, then you
just kind of are rolling. And then you get down
into the bottoms going towards the Jazz District. That's really flat.
Gotta go a little bit up to get towards the
(21:35):
finish line, but it's not bad. But I am gonna
let you know it is not flat. We are not
just the pancake flat area that a lot of out
of towners think Kansas City is. It's just it's not. So.
There's always unpredictable weather, that is, for darn sure. You
could be training a ninety degree heat on one day
and thirty degree windchill on the next one hundred percent trough.
We get it all the time runners here where the
(21:58):
term it builds character like a badge, Tornado, sirens, sideways, rain, snow,
and spring, and we just keep on running. That's true. Anymore,
there is no more off season. There is no off
season for running, so we will a lot of our
holiday races happen kind of mid December, and then you'll
have two weeks off, and then you've got the Hangover
Half on New Year's Day, you've got the Time Travel
(22:20):
Half Marathon the first weekend in January, whatever it is,
and then a week later or two weeks later, you're
a Battle of the Bean and that's the unofficial official
start of running season. And on you go. You've got
races almost every weekend. So anymore in Kansas City, we
can't be scared of weather because we get everything, and
we can get everything all in the span of a week.
So we just keep on running anyway. And I couldn't
(22:40):
even tell you the last time a race was canceled
because of rain, you know, knock on wood. I don't
want it to be, but yeah, it's it's something right here.
The agriculture and landscape. There are cornfields yep, silos yep,
prairie wind yep, cows yep. We've got running with the Cows,
which is out in the middle of farmland and you
can do that too. We have a race coming up
(23:00):
in October that is through a vineyard, so you can
go run a five came through a vineyard. I just
signed up for the new Martin City Vineyard five K
so I'll be at that one in October. Why the
heck not? Sounds like fun. And then also urban meets
rural like the Twin Cities Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Saint Louis.
They offer big city courses, but small town charm is
never far. And again like for Kansas City, yes, the
(23:23):
Kansa City Marathon is in the heart of downtown. You
can go twenty miles in any direction to find a
small town, little diner, cafe and get that small town feel.
That's Midwest. That's just kind of what we do. So
the culture in the Midwest mentality, humble but fierce. Midwestern
runners don't brag, they just show up and get it done.
Can confirm quiet confidence is everywhere, no nonsense, just miles
(23:44):
can confirm community over competition. So neighborhoods turn up to
cheer cops way from the turtle cars, and people cheer
on everyone. This is true our community, and I've said
this on many an episode. I do think the Kansas
City running commune or the Midwest rank community is pretty
second to none. Most people are not out there in
(24:05):
competition with others. We're out there in competition with only ourselves.
But we do enjoy seeing everyone on race morning. And
so the community and the culture in at least my
neck of the woods, I think is great and I
love every minute of it. If you're ever limping towards
the finish, someone will walk with you. Can confirm because
it just happened to Nargo. When I had two and
(24:26):
a half miles left and I was dying a slow,
painful death. Here comes Michelle to take me in the
last two and a half miles. Again, we just talked
about it. It just happened to me, and it is
not the first time that it has happened to me.
Probably not the first time it has happened to you either,
if you're around this area, so no frills, but full
of heart. Smaller races might not have a DJ or
(24:46):
confetti cannons, but they'll remember your name. It's a nice
little cinnamon here. Volunteers often hand out homemade cookies or
hot coco. True. So what was it? The honoring our heroes?
Half marathon in Rolla, Missouri? We did last November. Another
race I will mention to you very very well done
half marathon. I enjoyed it. But it's very small town.
(25:07):
So the people come out and all the eight stations
were staffed by just locals, and they would bring out
the jolly ranchers or the homemade cookies or crackers or
any of the stuff that they brought from home or
they made to give to the runners. So very small town.
Feel very friendly and very supportive of all the people
doing this race, which is great. You run through all
four seasons. As we talked about, this is four season
(25:28):
running from black ice January jogs to brutal July humidity. Well,
as I just did three hours outside working in the yard,
I can't confirm it is brutally hot and humid right
now in July. Yeah, weather Bilt's character could be the
official Midwestern mono. Yeah I could. All right, Runner and
walker friendly, These races really support the back of the pack,
many have long time, long race limits, pace teams and
(25:52):
local fan fair just as loud as the finishers as
for front runners. They said this, and this is kind
of true. I wish it was more true. It's not
always true, but it's kind of true. But we'll give
it to them. I do wish that at times there
was more support for back of the back runners, but
I do know that there are races who are trying
to change that. There was the Claire Marathon. They reached
(26:13):
out to me. They are like, how do we make
our race more back of the back friendly? So races
have reached out to me to ask how do we
do that? And so I'm just I'm glad people are
kind of taking notice. It's a good thing. Okay, So
local group runs are a big thing, like and this
is where I'm going to kind of throw out the
first of many announcements to come. I was approached by
a brewery to work with them and get their own
(26:36):
brew crew kind of thing lined up. Now, what I
told them, because I am a realistic person, is I
would love to be involved in that. But I know
that by way of group runs, by way of brew
crew runs, where people run at different breweries or different bars,
and this thing, everyone's already got one. Like, there's not
a lot of free agents out there looking to change groups.
(27:00):
So when we launch it, we're gonna launch it in
late August. We're only gonna do every other week. It's
always going to be from the same brewery, and it's
going to be for more of the back of the
pack runners. Here's the thing for me. For me personally,
people wonder why I don't go to group runs, It
is because I don't ever want to be the guy
left in the dust. And I've seen some of the
(27:21):
people and look, I'm gonna throw a name out there,
and there's no shade you Look at run eight one six.
They are some sleek, fast, sexy sons of bitches out there.
I am intimidated. I can't hang with them, so I've
never tried to go out and run with them. I know,
I'm not even saying I guess. I know. They are
perfectly lovely people and they are out there to make
(27:43):
their running community the best that they can. They are
also intimidating as hell. I get it. So if you
are intimidated by the really fast, really good looking runners
out there. I get it, and it makes sense. This
is going to be more for the people who just
need a play to go and they know that they're
gonna be there. There's gonna be people there for them.
(28:04):
And the reason that I know there's gonna be people
for out there for them is because I'm going to
be for them. I fully plan to be the last
person to the barn every group run. So if you're
the if you're out there and you're walking the thing,
or you've fallen behind whoever's running in front, don't worry
about it. I'm gonna be right behind you. Oh I'm
gonna walk with you. That That's gonna be my approach
to this new group run theory is I will always
(28:28):
be the last one there. I will always be the
back of the pack. So you run how much you're
in to run, you walk how much you're wanna walk.
You were never going to be left behind because this
guy is gonna be bringing up the rear every time.
We're also never gonna do more than three miles. Okay,
this is not gonna be your long runs for whatever
(28:48):
marathon you're you're doing. This is we come out, we
run three miles, No one left behind, we get back
to the brewery, we have a beer or two, everyone
pays air tab, and you go home on a Thursday night. Okay,
that's what this is. Beat. I feel that's the most
responsible thing to be. No one's gonna be a drinking
to excess, no one's gonna be left on the course.
We're gonna go, We're gonna We're gonna go, run, get back,
(29:10):
enjoy a beer or whatever you want, and then go home. Now,
I said a few weeks ago when we did the
Packing Awards that I wanted to find a place where
we could do a live packy episode. Found one. They've
already said, yep, bring it on. It'll be a Tuesday night.
They will open up for us because they're not open
on Tuesdays, and we will be able to hold the
Packing Awards at Discourse Brewery in Overland Park. That's who
(29:32):
we're gonna be working with. So it's an idea. We
just met about it. It's starting to come together, but
I'm getting kind of excited about it the more I
think about it. But I understand, if you have your
brew crew, if they're doing it for you, then by
all means, enjoy it. Stick with them. Do your thing.
If you got your run club and you're enjoying it
and you're feeling welcome and it's everything you want it
to be, then by all means, stick with them. If
(29:54):
you are one of these young, sexy ass runners, then
you know what you do your thing and you just
run fast and be sexy and I'll just be a
little jelly over here. All right, All of it is great. Remember,
we never want to We're never trying to take anyone
away from anything. We only care about the growth of
the sport. That is what we care about, and that's
what's gonna happen with these new runs when they start
(30:16):
towards the end of August. More information to follow, but
I wanted to throw it out there, so we talked
about the weather. It's awful, it's brutal. I see that
we're getting short on time here. Sorry, I've gotten a
little long winded. So these are just kind of the
races you can do in the Central States. You know
that weather is always going to be an issue. You
can go from hot to cold, to windy, to rainy,
to snow to ice to eat humidity. We get it all.
(30:41):
But if you've been here more than five minutes. You're
kind of used to it. And if you don't like
the weather Way five minutes, it'll change. Never heard that
one before, So that's gonna do it for really for
this series here in July. A hope that you guys
enjoyed it. I'm liking these series on Fridays. I don't
know what we're gonna do in August, but I'm going
to try and figure it out. As of now, I
am going to be out of here on my vacation,
(31:04):
my little lake weekend away, and I just got notified
because it just got sent to me. But on Monday,
you get Karen, Yeah you do. Karen is gonna be
taking Monday's episode with her science backed nonsense that only
she can do. So I hope you're as excited as
I am. I'm gonna go night now and I'm gonna
listen to what Karen sent me because I'm super stoked
(31:25):
and it's gonna be great. So that's gonna be it.
I'm out of here, I'm going to the lake. You
guys got Karen on Monday, so you I know you
are in wonderful hands. That's gonna do it for this
week's episode of the Back of the Pack Podcast, second one.
I'm HOS Kyle Walker and it is my pleasure. As always,
everyone has a safe week of training. We will see
you next week.
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode
at the Back of the Back Podcast, second one. I'm
your host, Kyle Walker. Thank you so much for tuning in.
First things first, I want to apologize for Monday's episode.
I feel I did not do the Argo half marathon
justice because we had audio issues. I did not know
there were audio issues until I was like already in
post production. At that point, it was either re record
(00:37):
or just try and fix what I could. So I
tried to fix what I could because I didn't want
to rerecord the thing that would feel redundant in my world.
So yeah, apologize. I'm so sorry audio issues. Hopefully we've
got them straight out now. I think we do. I
did a little test and I think we're good now.
I've kind of figured out the problem, I think, and
so again, apologies to those who tuned in listening for
(00:58):
Argo recap and to themselves. I did not do your
raise justice by having messed up audio. Sorry. Now another apology.
I'm sorry if I sound or look dead to you
right now. I just got done with three hours of
yard work in over ninety five degree heat. Why you
might ask, because earlier this week we had torrential downpours
(01:20):
that caused flash flooding here in the Kansas City area.
And it was an overnight situation. And we have this
aqueduct that goes behind Casa de Beka the peck and
it overflowed, flowing up into the yard, and my entire
two piles of wood for fire pits were floating within
the yard. And then as the waters went down, they
(01:41):
just ended up wherever they may have landed. So I
was out there mowing grass, moving logs, taking care of
storm debris, and I am one tired puppy. But that
brings us to our point of today. We are on
our final week of run the nation, and hey, what
does the Midwest have unpredicted weather? So yes, today we
were talking about the Midwest and kind of the whole
(02:03):
Central States region. So we're going all the way up
to the tippy top. We can go all the way
down into Texas if we so desire, and then just
kind of everywhere in the middle of the country. And
so first thing I'm gonna do right now now that
we're talking about this is I'm going to re clarify
for those who still want to give me a hard time. Now,
what did I say, Ohio. That's that's mid South. Okay,
(02:26):
So if you want to go back and study your history,
study the history of pro wrestling where the Ohio territory
was considered mint South wrestling. How about that For the
person who continually tries to give me a hard time
online that Ohio appeared in the Southern episode A list
I didn't put together. I just used. Wasn't my fault, Lisa,
(02:50):
but it was considered mint South. So you can put
all your palls out there that you want min South.
That's what it is is mince South. Go look up
your old progress territories. They were Mitsouth. How about that.
There we go. I found something really obscure to back
up my case. But okay, as for the Midwest, you know,
for me, that is home, sweet home. Home is Kansas
City for me, and you know love the Midwest. We
(03:12):
get all the seasons here, we get all the weather,
whether we want it or not. But we're going to
talk about some of the races here locally. So for me,
I think I've done about every race in this area
about fifty times over at least as far as Kansas
City goes. If you go next door over to Colorado.
I haven't done a single race. Getting believe that I've
never done a race in Colorado. For whatever reason. The
(03:32):
whole elevation thing worries me a little bit. But just
like last week, let's talk about some of the big
races here in the Midwest, big, iconic and things of
that nature. So first on this list, this is a
race that I have done. I did this race in
twenty nineteen. That is Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, a
very big event. The whole town is out for that race.
(03:54):
Duluth not a very big place, far hillier place than
I thought. I know idea it was going to be
such a hilly town, great town. I had a lot
of fun at Grandma's Marathon again in twenty nineteen. So
if you're looking for a very friendly race, I guess
there is a saying called Minnesota and Ice. You will
find a lot of Minnesota and ice up there in
Duluth at the Grandma's Marathon. So that is one that
(04:15):
we highly recommend. It's running mid June and it's about
twenty thousand runners. They do offer a half marathon, but
I can tell tell you I think it's the Gary
Borkland Half Marathon sells out within days, if not hours,
of when it opens every year, so if you want
to go up to Duluth to do that half marathon,
you've got to be on it quick. The full marathon,
(04:38):
I think eventually does sell out, but it's not one
of those things where it's in a matter of moments.
You've got some time, days, weeks, even probably some months
to see if that is something that you want to do.
Very difficult race point to point, you will hopefully get
good weather. I think this year they had abnormally hot weather.
When I went for mid June, it was incredibly cool.
(05:00):
The water that comes off the Great Lake was just
not the water, I'm sorry. The wind, the breeze, the
cool air that comes off the Great Lake was beautiful.
It was actually pretty chilly. The day that we ran
the marathon. It was sunny and it was crystal clear
and it was beautiful, but it was chili but it
was still June sunshine, so I ended up getting just
sunburnt to a crisp even though I never felt like
(05:23):
overly hot the entire time. So it was an interesting experience,
but a race that I definitely do recommend. Number two
is the Lincoln Marathon in Lincoln, Nebraska. We've done this
half marathon twice. Very much enjoy the half marathon. I
very much enjoyed the town of Lincoln, as I've gone
there for both the Lincoln Half and then another race
that they do in Lincoln, the Good Life Havesy. Now,
(05:44):
if you're looking for a November half marathon, might I
suggest to you, and I don't mean to discount the marathon,
we'll be back to that in a second, let me
recommend to you The Good Life Havesey in Lincoln, Nebraska
in November. There is a back of the Pack podcast.
Right now, we're in fourth place. We're one sign up
away from tying for third place. Two sign ups and
(06:06):
we move into third place. Last year we were a
third place. We took up over sixty runners. This year,
I think we're at about forty one. And that's not
even counting like local people who went and did it
last year. These are other fans of the podcasts that
have come across this with them last year, or maybe
someone that I met at that expo last year. But
I will be at the expo again. I do highly
recommend The Good Life havesie, very fun event. I enjoy
(06:30):
the atmosphere on race morning. The course is not overly difficult, challenging,
but not difficult. And it is my half marathon PR
and it is I think still my only half marathon
under two and a half hours, two hours, twenty nine
minutes in fifty seconds. So November I want to say ninth.
Don't quote me on that, but I want to say
(06:50):
November ninth, twenty twenty five, Lincoln, Nebraska, good life, havesie,
let's go. But the Lincoln Marathon is run in May
early May, thirteen thousand runners, a lot of people doing
the half, and the half is an easy course. I
still think the Lincoln Marathon half marathon course is one
of the easiest I've ever done. For a period, it
was my PR back in twenty twenty four. Now there
(07:12):
was no chance at it being a PR in twenty
twenty five as it was the second race of the
Flyover Challenge, which was back to back half marathons Saturday,
Top City in Topeka, Kansas. Another very well done shout
out to Mark a half marathon that runs in May
that's in Tapeka, Kansas. And then we loaded up the
car and we went north up to Lincoln, Nebraska. So
(07:33):
did the Capitol of Kansas Capitol of Nebraska Flyover Challenge.
But the second half of a half marathon back to back,
I was done. My legs were done. So I could
not repeat the same success at the Lincoln half marathon
that I had in twenty twenty four. Survived, got through,
got my medal, but my time was not great. But
I do really recommend if you need a May half
marathon or full marathon, Lincoln, Nebraska is where you want
(07:56):
to go. The next one, number three is the Go
Saint Louis Marathon. It is in mid April and it's
about ten thousand runners, says Iconic art Views. Of course
bridge let's say bridge crossings and huge community turnout. I've
never done this one now as a lifelong Kansas city
and Go Royals, I loathe most things Saint Louis. I
(08:17):
used to say all things. Now it's not all things.
Shout out to the Oh my God, wow edit this out.
Shout out to the Happy Pace podcast. One of the
good things out of Saint Louis. Credit to them. But yeah,
normally I'm not a big fan of Saint Louis stuff
because again born Kansas City. We are born and bred
to dislike everything Saint Louis, but that race does look fun.
(08:40):
It is one that I would like to get to
at some point in time. The next one the Oklahoma
City Memorial Marathon. I have not run this race, but
I have heard nothing, nothing but incredible things from this race.
It's a late April race, it's twenty five thousand runners,
and it is deeply emotional as it honors the victims
of the nineteen ninety five bombing at the Murrah Federal
(09:00):
Building in Oklahoma City. I actually just rewatched the documentary
on that with my fifteen year old because she's kind
of getting into documentaries in history, and boy, what a
difficult watch that is. And I remember that day playing
a day I was old enough to remember it, and
man that I bet that event is moving even though
it's been so long now, this was what their thirtieth year. Wow, Okay,
(09:25):
I'm gonna need a moment thirty years iike you, Wallas
all right? Number five the Fargo Marathon in Fargo, North Dakota.
We have done this race. It is in mid May.
It is fifteen thousand runners and indoors start and finish
at the Fargo Dome, live bands every half mile. Okay,
when I went, I don't know if it was a
temporary thing or a permanent thing. They were not able
(09:46):
to go into the Fargo Dome. I don't know if
it was under construction or what the situation was. We
started outside the Fargo Dome in the parking lot. Great
thing is because the Fargo Dome is a big arena.
The parking is great for race morning. You just parking
the parking lot of the Fargo Dome and you're right
there by athletes' village leading up to the start line.
(10:06):
They did start weird, and I'm trying to remember how
they started out, but like the full marathoners, I don't
think started first. They like started the half marathoners and
the ten Cares. Then like the five Cares in the Fall,
there was a weird order in which it started, and
you have different courses based on your distance, and after
a certain amount of time everyone comes slamming together. So
(10:28):
I remember, I'm off doing my thing, and I'm running,
and I'm at full marathon pace because I did this
full marathon. It was their twentieth anniversary, and then here
comes all the half or no, here comes all the
ten cares behind me. So my slow plodding full marathon pace,
here's the speedy ten cares near them, just flying right
by me. It was the craziest thing. Next up, we
(10:49):
have the Twin Cities Marathon that's up in Minnesota. Again,
that's a fall race that's in early October twenty yeah,
twenty five thousand runners. And let's see, it is the
most beautiful urban marathon in America. Fall foliage, lakes and
skyline views. Now, they don't give credit to who has
that quote, the most beautiful urban marathon in America, but
it sounds like it must be up there, so it
(11:09):
must be beautiful race. Haven't done the Twin Cities, but
I've definitely heard good things about it. Next up, hey, Home,
Sweet Home, the Garmin Kansas City Marathon full marathon, half marathon,
ten k five k running mid October, ten thousand runners, hilly,
historic and hometown pride. You're likely very familiar with this
one if you're watching this show, and that is one
hundred percent true. As we know I am. I have
(11:31):
done this race many, many, many times. What I love
about this and shout out to Dave who I'm sure
is going to be back on the podcast soon to
talk about this year's Oklahoma talk about this year's garment
Kansas City Marathon. It runs through the most historic parts
of Kansas City. You see the best views that Kansas
City has to offer. Now, I'm referring to the half
(11:52):
marathon a few years back. We're gonna say five for
arguments saying they really had to alter the course. So
when I did this full marathon back in twenty fourteen,
it is no longer the same course that I did
back then eleven years ago. It is a different course.
Ever since they have changed this course, the half marathon
is one of the most beautiful. Now. I am the
(12:12):
first to tell you if you want to run your
first half marathon, or really if you want to run
your first full marathon, I've always told people, do not
do it in the town in which you live. You
know that town, You've seen the sites, you've seen the buildings.
You're gonna get bored out there. Go somewhere brand new,
so you are experiencing everything for twenty six point two
(12:33):
miles or thirteen point one for the first time. Well,
doing the Kansas City Marathon. I still after doing this
course at least five times. I still love our views
from the Kansas City Marathon, I do. I've seen these
buildings one hundred times over, a thousand times over. But
when you're coming over Trinity Hill and you're looking down
(12:54):
and there's Union Station, there's the Kaufmin Center for the
Performing Arts, there's the World War One Museum, the monument,
and then over to the side there's the Sprint Center
and there's the lawn, and it's just it's beautiful. It's
a beautiful view of your own hometown, and you can't
help it, take a little pride in it whenever you
cross that hill and you see it so and then
(13:15):
you run by the Kaffin Center, you run downtown. You're
going up and down Main Street basically, and you're heading back.
You're finishing at the Nelson Atkins Art Museum, which is
one of our best places to go visit in Kansas City.
You're running through the Jazz district of eighteenth and Vine,
past the Negro League Baseball Museum, past the Jazz Museum.
I love this race. It is of course near and
(13:37):
dear to my heart, which is why we've had the
race director on the show before which is why we're
at the expo every year. It's a great race. So
if you've ever wanted to come to Kansas City, if
you ever need to get Missouri, Missouri off your list,
not Kansas, then this is the one for you. Full
marathon or half marathon, ten k, five k, whatever you
want to do. It is a beautiful, beautiful morning. Next
one the Des Moines Marathon that is usually the day
(14:00):
after the Garman Kansas City Marathon. That's part of the
I thirty five Challenge. There's a little fun info for you.
It is up in of course, de Moline, Iowa, mid October.
Ten thousand runners, flat, scenic course and it's a very
supportive crowd and it's great for first timers. I have
heard from people who do this race. It is crazy flat,
crazy flat, like pancake flat, almost Chicago Marathon flat. Speak
(14:26):
of the devil. Next one we're going to throw out there,
even though it didn't make this list for some reason,
the Chicago Marathon, the race that we did back in
twenty eighteen. Chicago, Illinois. What can you say? It's a
world marathon major. It's what at least forty, if not more,
thousand people. The entire city is out supporting it. What
(14:47):
I tell people about Chicago, what I love is as
you're kind of going through the neighborhoods, every neighborhood has
a different feel and a different vibe and a different
section of humanity that is out to support. And I'm
going to to say this, and look, if this is
not politically correct, I apologize for my verbiage, but clearly
I'm not coming at this in any kind of negative tone.
(15:08):
You do go through the Hispanic District and they're out
there and there's mariachi music playing, and they're singing and
dancing and cheering you on most of the time in Spanish,
waving flags from Mexico. They offer tequila shots. Yes, absolutely
did one. So I'm doing tequila shots in the Hispanic district.
Next one over or however, it is the gay district,
(15:31):
and they have huge pride in their showing for the
Chicago Marathon. There are drag dancers out there, there's music play.
I don't remember what alcohol they had, but you can
guarantee it I did it. And they're out there having
a huge old party. There's pride flags waving all over
the place, and look, I don't care what your stance is. Honestly,
(15:51):
I had a great time. It was super duper fun
as they're out there to party as well. Let's see
there was another one. There's you know, there's kind of
the regular hillbilly district. Probably there's a nicer term for
that where I think it was beer. Beer was the
alcoholic choice. But all these different areas have different vibes
in different fields. Pretty sure there was a Germo into
There's definitely an Asian town, definitely like a Chicago China town.
(16:15):
Definitely went through there. They weren't as excited, they didn't
care as much, but you still run through it. That
was right right around mile eighteen or twenty somewhere near.
But it had Every place has a different feel, and
of course it's just such a big race because it's
a World marathon major that you're doing something and it
is another course flat as pancake. Betby next on the list,
and this one near and dear to my heart as well,
(16:36):
the Root sixty six Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was
my very first full marathon ever twenty eleven. I had
been running for one year and I very quickly went
from five to half to full and I still at
that point and never even run a ten k. But
you know, what are you gonna do? So I was
thirty one years old when I completed this race. I
(16:57):
didn't know anything about anything when I did it. It
is definitely race and I'm not throwing shade. They're a
lot like this. They focus more on the first half
where the half marathoners and full marathoners run together. After
they split off and the half marathoners finish party for
the half marathoners, rather boring course for the full marathoners
after that. At least when I did it. And it's
(17:18):
been a long time again those twenty eleven, we're twenty
twenty five. Now, things could have changed. One thing that
they will offer. Let me see if i'm grabbing here.
Oh yes you did, because I just recently came cross.
This has been missing for a while. This is the
challenge coin for the Center of the Universe detour. And
if you do this detour and it's optional, you run
(17:39):
the world's shortest ultra marathon because it adds about zero
point three seven miles is point thirty seven somewhere in there,
not even half a mile, I don't they but it
adds it to your official distance and so it makes
it the shortest Ultra marathon ever. And if you do
the Center of the Universe de tour, they hand you
(17:59):
a challenge coin upon completion. It's got the sponsor on
the back. I'm sorry, it's pretty tarnished. It's fourteen years
old now. It says congratulations, you're living the life of Ultrara.
This was sponsored by Mick Ultra at that time. And
it's got November twentieth, twenty eleven, twenty six point five miles. Okay,
so it's what justo point two zero miles. It's yeah,
(18:20):
but it's present of my by mid culture. So anyway, Yeah,
you get a challenge coin for doing it. That is
a really cool touch. It adds to it. I wish
I had enjoyed more of let's say the expo in
the environment when I went, but I was so new
to the running world I didn't really get it. I went,
I got my package, I left. I didn't like stay
to enjoy the expo. I didn't really see or do
(18:41):
much or learn about other races. It was just very
blinders on narrow vision because the next day I was
gonna do some stuff. I do remember that the day
of the expo, Saturday, it's seventy five degrees outside and
it's hot and muggy. The next day a colt front
had come through. We had wind chills going down into
the low forties, and it was kind of a miserable
day out there. Cloudy, cold, windy. What are you gonna do?
(19:04):
You got eight's Midwest. You gotta be prepared for all conditions.
It runs in late November. It is always the weekend
before Thanksgiving. I can tell you that about twelve thousand
runners known for the detour to a shot wade, it says,
known for dtour to a shot of whiskey. I don't
remember whiskey, no, because it was sponsored by the beer.
(19:25):
They had beer, so that must have changed. And then
custom metals and tons of personality. Their medals are always
themed around autos, automotive or sixty six kind of stuff.
So if you like cars, that's the race for you. Definitely,
and again not throwing shade. Definitely check out their medals
for this year, which have already been released. See if
you like them. They didn't do anything for me. I
(19:48):
thought about going back maybe, but then I saw this
year's medals and thought nah, I'm good. Thanks. Hey, if
you like them, super great. It it's a whale, which
I guess correlates responds to a sign or a statue
along the route sixty six, like it makes sense in
the lower route sixty six. But ohil, I'm good. And
(20:10):
then number ten and see market to market relays that
is in October that goes into both Nebraska and Iowa.
Thirty five hundred runners, longest single day relay in the country,
combines farmland roads and urban vibes. Okay, so let's talk
about some of the terrain and the climate most of
the time, not all of it. You're gonna get flat
and fast, okay, except when it's nine. So many Midwestern
(20:33):
marathon and marathons are pancake flat pr machines like Fargo,
Lincoln Des Moines we mentioned, but others like Kansas City
will humble you with the rolling hills in the sudden climbs. Yes,
Kansas City is not flat. You will actually be surprised
with how hilly our course is. But what I tell
people is what goes up must come down. Now, unlike
(20:54):
ourgo that we talked about on Monday, the downhills on
Kansas City are freaking wonderful. I do know that once
you go up Trinity Hill and then you come down
the backside of it, you're starting to go into downtown.
That mile five is basically all downhill. You're going all
the way from the top of Trinity Hill down to
the front doors of Union Station, past the museums, and
(21:14):
if you know the area at all, you know that
is just all downhill, baby, So it is a great
way to cut your breath. Now, after that, you have
the horrid uphill back to the Coffin Center for the
Performing Arts. That is the worst hill of the course.
But if you can make it past that, then you
just kind of are rolling. And then you get down
into the bottoms going towards the Jazz District. That's really flat.
Gotta go a little bit up to get towards the
(21:35):
finish line, but it's not bad. But I am gonna
let you know it is not flat. We are not
just the pancake flat area that a lot of out
of towners think Kansas City is. It's just it's not. So.
There's always unpredictable weather, that is, for darn sure. You
could be training a ninety degree heat on one day
and thirty degree windchill on the next one hundred percent trough.
We get it all the time runners here where the
(21:58):
term it builds character like a badge, Tornado, sirens, sideways, rain, snow,
and spring, and we just keep on running. That's true. Anymore,
there is no more off season. There is no off
season for running, so we will a lot of our
holiday races happen kind of mid December, and then you'll
have two weeks off, and then you've got the Hangover
Half on New Year's Day, you've got the Time Travel
(22:20):
Half Marathon the first weekend in January, whatever it is,
and then a week later or two weeks later, you're
a Battle of the Bean and that's the unofficial official
start of running season. And on you go. You've got
races almost every weekend. So anymore in Kansas City, we
can't be scared of weather because we get everything, and
we can get everything all in the span of a week.
So we just keep on running anyway. And I couldn't
(22:40):
even tell you the last time a race was canceled
because of rain, you know, knock on wood. I don't
want it to be, but yeah, it's it's something right here.
The agriculture and landscape. There are cornfields yep, silos yep,
prairie wind yep, cows yep. We've got running with the Cows,
which is out in the middle of farmland and you
can do that too. We have a race coming up
(23:00):
in October that is through a vineyard, so you can
go run a five came through a vineyard. I just
signed up for the new Martin City Vineyard five K
so I'll be at that one in October. Why the
heck not? Sounds like fun. And then also urban meets
rural like the Twin Cities Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Saint Louis.
They offer big city courses, but small town charm is
never far. And again like for Kansas City, yes, the
(23:23):
Kansa City Marathon is in the heart of downtown. You
can go twenty miles in any direction to find a
small town, little diner, cafe and get that small town feel.
That's Midwest. That's just kind of what we do. So
the culture in the Midwest mentality, humble but fierce. Midwestern
runners don't brag, they just show up and get it done.
Can confirm quiet confidence is everywhere, no nonsense, just miles
(23:44):
can confirm community over competition. So neighborhoods turn up to
cheer cops way from the turtle cars, and people cheer
on everyone. This is true our community, and I've said
this on many an episode. I do think the Kansas
City running commune or the Midwest rank community is pretty
second to none. Most people are not out there in
(24:05):
competition with others. We're out there in competition with only ourselves.
But we do enjoy seeing everyone on race morning. And
so the community and the culture in at least my
neck of the woods, I think is great and I
love every minute of it. If you're ever limping towards
the finish, someone will walk with you. Can confirm because
it just happened to Nargo. When I had two and
(24:26):
a half miles left and I was dying a slow,
painful death. Here comes Michelle to take me in the
last two and a half miles. Again, we just talked
about it. It just happened to me, and it is
not the first time that it has happened to me.
Probably not the first time it has happened to you either,
if you're around this area, so no frills, but full
of heart. Smaller races might not have a DJ or
(24:46):
confetti cannons, but they'll remember your name. It's a nice
little cinnamon here. Volunteers often hand out homemade cookies or
hot coco. True. So what was it? The honoring our heroes?
Half marathon in Rolla, Missouri? We did last November. Another
race I will mention to you very very well done
half marathon. I enjoyed it. But it's very small town.
(25:07):
So the people come out and all the eight stations
were staffed by just locals, and they would bring out
the jolly ranchers or the homemade cookies or crackers or
any of the stuff that they brought from home or
they made to give to the runners. So very small town.
Feel very friendly and very supportive of all the people
doing this race, which is great. You run through all
four seasons. As we talked about, this is four season
(25:28):
running from black ice January jogs to brutal July humidity. Well,
as I just did three hours outside working in the yard,
I can't confirm it is brutally hot and humid right
now in July. Yeah, weather Bilt's character could be the
official Midwestern mono. Yeah I could. All right, Runner and
walker friendly, These races really support the back of the pack,
many have long time, long race limits, pace teams and
(25:52):
local fan fair just as loud as the finishers as
for front runners. They said this, and this is kind
of true. I wish it was more true. It's not
always true, but it's kind of true. But we'll give
it to them. I do wish that at times there
was more support for back of the back runners, but
I do know that there are races who are trying
to change that. There was the Claire Marathon. They reached
(26:13):
out to me. They are like, how do we make
our race more back of the back friendly? So races
have reached out to me to ask how do we
do that? And so I'm just I'm glad people are
kind of taking notice. It's a good thing. Okay, So
local group runs are a big thing, like and this
is where I'm going to kind of throw out the
first of many announcements to come. I was approached by
a brewery to work with them and get their own
(26:36):
brew crew kind of thing lined up. Now, what I
told them, because I am a realistic person, is I
would love to be involved in that. But I know
that by way of group runs, by way of brew
crew runs, where people run at different breweries or different bars,
and this thing, everyone's already got one. Like, there's not
a lot of free agents out there looking to change groups.
(27:00):
So when we launch it, we're gonna launch it in
late August. We're only gonna do every other week. It's
always going to be from the same brewery, and it's
going to be for more of the back of the
pack runners. Here's the thing for me. For me personally,
people wonder why I don't go to group runs, It
is because I don't ever want to be the guy
left in the dust. And I've seen some of the
(27:21):
people and look, I'm gonna throw a name out there,
and there's no shade you Look at run eight one six.
They are some sleek, fast, sexy sons of bitches out there.
I am intimidated. I can't hang with them, so I've
never tried to go out and run with them. I know,
I'm not even saying I guess. I know. They are
perfectly lovely people and they are out there to make
(27:43):
their running community the best that they can. They are
also intimidating as hell. I get it. So if you
are intimidated by the really fast, really good looking runners
out there. I get it, and it makes sense. This
is going to be more for the people who just
need a play to go and they know that they're
gonna be there. There's gonna be people there for them.
(28:04):
And the reason that I know there's gonna be people
for out there for them is because I'm going to
be for them. I fully plan to be the last
person to the barn every group run. So if you're
the if you're out there and you're walking the thing,
or you've fallen behind whoever's running in front, don't worry
about it. I'm gonna be right behind you. Oh I'm
gonna walk with you. That That's gonna be my approach
to this new group run theory is I will always
(28:28):
be the last one there. I will always be the
back of the pack. So you run how much you're
in to run, you walk how much you're wanna walk.
You were never going to be left behind because this
guy is gonna be bringing up the rear every time.
We're also never gonna do more than three miles. Okay,
this is not gonna be your long runs for whatever
(28:48):
marathon you're you're doing. This is we come out, we
run three miles, No one left behind, we get back
to the brewery, we have a beer or two, everyone
pays air tab, and you go home on a Thursday night. Okay,
that's what this is. Beat. I feel that's the most
responsible thing to be. No one's gonna be a drinking
to excess, no one's gonna be left on the course.
We're gonna go, We're gonna We're gonna go, run, get back,
(29:10):
enjoy a beer or whatever you want, and then go home. Now,
I said a few weeks ago when we did the
Packing Awards that I wanted to find a place where
we could do a live packy episode. Found one. They've
already said, yep, bring it on. It'll be a Tuesday night.
They will open up for us because they're not open
on Tuesdays, and we will be able to hold the
Packing Awards at Discourse Brewery in Overland Park. That's who
(29:32):
we're gonna be working with. So it's an idea. We
just met about it. It's starting to come together, but
I'm getting kind of excited about it the more I
think about it. But I understand, if you have your
brew crew, if they're doing it for you, then by
all means, enjoy it. Stick with them. Do your thing.
If you got your run club and you're enjoying it
and you're feeling welcome and it's everything you want it
to be, then by all means, stick with them. If
(29:54):
you are one of these young, sexy ass runners, then
you know what you do your thing and you just
run fast and be sexy and I'll just be a
little jelly over here. All right, All of it is great. Remember,
we never want to We're never trying to take anyone
away from anything. We only care about the growth of
the sport. That is what we care about, and that's
what's gonna happen with these new runs when they start
(30:16):
towards the end of August. More information to follow, but
I wanted to throw it out there, so we talked
about the weather. It's awful, it's brutal. I see that
we're getting short on time here. Sorry, I've gotten a
little long winded. So these are just kind of the
races you can do in the Central States. You know
that weather is always going to be an issue. You
can go from hot to cold, to windy, to rainy,
to snow to ice to eat humidity. We get it all.
(30:41):
But if you've been here more than five minutes. You're
kind of used to it. And if you don't like
the weather Way five minutes, it'll change. Never heard that
one before, So that's gonna do it for really for
this series here in July. A hope that you guys
enjoyed it. I'm liking these series on Fridays. I don't
know what we're gonna do in August, but I'm going
to try and figure it out. As of now, I
am going to be out of here on my vacation,
(31:04):
my little lake weekend away, and I just got notified
because it just got sent to me. But on Monday,
you get Karen, Yeah you do. Karen is gonna be
taking Monday's episode with her science backed nonsense that only
she can do. So I hope you're as excited as
I am. I'm gonna go night now and I'm gonna
listen to what Karen sent me because I'm super stoked
(31:25):
and it's gonna be great. So that's gonna be it.
I'm out of here, I'm going to the lake. You
guys got Karen on Monday, so you I know you
are in wonderful hands. That's gonna do it for this
week's episode of the Back of the Pack Podcast, second one.
I'm HOS Kyle Walker and it is my pleasure. As always,
everyone has a safe week of training. We will see
you next week.
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