January 15, 2024 • 32 mins
It was great going through the epic year of 2023 last week! Now we look forward to everything coming up for all of us in 2024! We're running through the whole calendar with the races we know and the ones we plan on heading to. Join us at any or all of these events! 2024 is going to be one for the record books! Let's Get It!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode of the
Back of the Podcast. I'm yourhost, Kyle Walker. Thank you so
much for tuning in. I wantto thank everyone for watching last week.
Our first episode of twenty twenty fourwas a I would call it a orring
success. Definitely happy with the waythat things turned out. The views and
interactions have been great, so again, I want to thank everyone for that.
(00:34):
It's a good way to start thisseason. I'm okay with that really.
I know that everyone really had nochoice, Like you kind of had
to either watch or listen to thepodcast because going outside right now is absolutely
not an option. It is horribleout there. Like I cannot believe how
freaking cold it is. It ispretty terrible. I hope you guys are
all being very safe and very cautiouswith your running if you are in the
(00:57):
Midwest, really anywhere in the Midwest, everyone is in the deep freeze right
now. You got to be supercareful. I know we want to go
out and run, and I knowwe want to get our miles in,
and we're all definitely already training forspring races, but this is kind of
the unsafe part of the year.Now, thankfully here in Kansas City where
I am at, we're coming outof the other end of that here in
(01:18):
about five days. Like we've gotabout five more days here in the deep
freeze and then it gets back tomore seasonable weather. We've had two days
in a row now where it didnot get above zero. We have had
highs in the negatives, and thatis what we call in the business.
No boy, no, no,we don't like that at all. But
again, everyone just be be reallycautious, be really careful. Another bit
(01:40):
of news, our pre order forthe T shirts is over. We had
fifty pre orders. I think that'sreally good. I am super happy with
that number. So to everyone whopre ordered their brand new back of the
Pack podcast shirt, thank you somuch for ordering. Thank you very much
for kind of believing in us andbeing a part of this. I am
super very excited and very thankful forall of you who did that. If
(02:02):
you didn't see it in time,or you just weren't able to swing at
this time around, no worries,no problem. We're going to do this
again, I'm sure in I don'tknow, probably in spring a second quarter
of twenty twenty four, and thenwe are working to get a store on
the website so that if you justdecide you want a shirt, you can
just go out and order a shirtand it doesn't have to be a pre
order situation and all of that goodstuff. So you know, hey,
(02:23):
go team go Raw Raw Rah.But again, everyone who was able to
order this time, thank you verymuch. We really appreciate it. So
what we're going to talk about today, Yeah, this is this might be
an episode that bores some people.If so, I apologize. This might
be my favorite episode of the year, and I know there's some people like
me that really like this kind ofan episode, this kind of talk.
(02:46):
This is the twenty twenty four racepreview. So these are the races.
You know, last last week wedid twenty twenty three. We reviewed all
the races that we did. Againthere was forty of them, forty eight
races for the podcast for old guylike me, not bad, not bad.
We're gonna try harder and I'm sorryI have to keep fixing my glasses.
Apparently while I talk they want toslide down my nose and it annoys
(03:07):
me. But for twenty twenty four, we're gonna be doing even more at
least that's the hope as long asold my old man me can kind of
keep going and keep on trucking.But we've got some serious miles that we're
gonna be logging in twenty twenty four. But again, I love this stuff.
A lot of us are just raceaddicted. We love going to the
races. Training runs are great,but the race is where the fun is
(03:30):
and that's where the bling is at. So here's everything we're going to do
this year race related. I wouldlove it if you joined us. If
you have another race that we don'tmention, let me know. I am
happy to try and get there toexperience a new race. There's certainly some
there are going to be repeats forme, you know, just I'm we're
not a national phenomenon just yet,working on it, but we're not there
(03:52):
just yet, so I have todo a lot of the local ones.
But we are hitting the road thisyear, and hopefully we're coming to a
race near you or one that you'replanning on going to, because I would
love to meet people who are actuallyworking on trying to have some tables at
races that aren't around the Kansas Cityarea. Like right now, we're going
to try and get into the expofor a Little Rock. Super excited.
Hope it works out. I'm inthe process of doing that. But we
(04:15):
might have a table at Little Rockto meet more people, which is going
to be super fun. So let'sstart with twenty twenty four for us.
It starts in a week. KansasCity Runners, our race season starts in
one week. Are you ready?I don't think you are. I know
that I am not not at allready for what's about to come. But
we're going back to Battle of theBean. Did it last year, doing
it this year. This is arace that we do most years unless something
(04:39):
crazy happens. For all of ushere who are going to Battle of the
Bean, let's not part you know, ear Muff's kids, Let's not try
and be hardasses about this race.Day. Temperature is going to start at
about zero. It's going to becold. I hope it's the coldest race
that we do this year. Ihope every race that we do after is
much warmer. But Battle of theBean is going to be nasty, nasty,
(05:00):
bitter cold. Everyone be ready forit. Don't go out there and
expect your best time, because youmight just go out there and mess up
your lungs if you try a littletoo hard. Want everyone to be safe,
and you know, let's survive inadvance. So let's get through battle
to the bean and we'll just continueon. After that, I will be
up at the Groundhog Run. Sothe Groundhog Run is one that we do
here in Kansas City. Takes placein caves in the industrial caves owned by
(05:23):
a lot of businesses where they storestuff off site. But every year we
can run through those caves. SoI'm doing the Groundhog Run, and for
the first time, I'm doing what'scalled tunnel to tunnel, So that is
where at eight o'clock in the morning, I will run the five k.
I will complete that race. ThenI'll wait until we start the ten k
at ten o'clock in the morning andI'll do both. So that's a little
over nine mile day, not badconsidering I'm supposed to be in marathon training
(05:46):
right now, so I'll take it. That sounds okay. After that the
kickoff five k not gonna lie again. Kansas City person very relieved that we
at least made it past the firstround of the playoffs, so the Chiefs
are moving on in the playoffs now, Kickoff five K is the day of
the Super Bowl. I would lovefor the Chiefs to be in it.
I'm sure the race organizers would lovefor the Chiefs to be in it because
(06:06):
then people are more excited and morejazzed up for that race. But if
they're not, we're still gonna gorun the Kickoff five K. We're gonna
be in our km City Chiefs ishgear or maybe a red and yellow Back
of the Pack podcast T shirt thatI'm going to have missus Back of the
Pack podcast create on her cricket.Definitely possible, and so everyone will be
in their football gear fun day,on their fun race on the day of
(06:29):
the Super Bowl, and then yougo home and you eat way too much
food, but you can say youdid a five k that day and that
counts for something. After that,I have the Sweetheart Race five K.
Won't it be lovely? Historically thisis one of the coldest races of the
year. Hopefully we get a niceweekend because we're going back to back that
weekend. We've got the Couple I'msorry, the Sweetheart Race five k,
and then the Couple Shuffle ten K. One is in Oberland Park, Kansas.
(06:54):
One is in Independence, Missouri gota five k and a ten k
again back to back weekend. Aswe are rolling towards our first full marathon
of the year, yikes already.So a lot of us, a lot
of y'all don't know this. Iknow a lot of people signed up for
the John Brown half Marathon. Isigned up for the John Brown Half Marathon
in Osawatamie, Kansas. Difficult course. A lot of people really gridded their
(07:16):
teeth through that race last year,and I know they're planning on gritting their
teeth through it this year. AlthoughI am signed up for it, I
will not be there. Another racehas come up and missus Back of the
Pack podcast gave approval for me togo run it. So a group of
us are now going out to LasVegas for the Rock and Roll Las Vegas
Half Marathon on let's see, that'sFebruary twenty fifth, So that's Sunday evening,
(07:40):
February twenty fifth, where you startat four thirty in the afternoon and
you get to you know, bythe time you're finishing, it's dark,
and so you run down the LasVegas Strip at night. The road is
closed, not for long, butit's closed for everyone to run down the
strip, finish on the strip underthe lights. If you've never been to
Vegas, of course, beautiful town. My most favorite vacation destination. So
(08:01):
we are going out there. Iknow there's two of us are running the
race, and then a lot ofsupporters are going to do the Las Vegas
Half Marathon on the same day asJohn Brown. So you local Kansas City
folks whom I love dearly, havefun at John Brown. I won't be
there. Hopefully I can make ita virtual though. So after that,
then we go down We're doing theBig One, so that's gonna be a
(08:22):
busy weekend. The first weekend inMarch, a lot of us are heading
down to Little Rock, Arkansas forthe Little Rock Marathon. Now several of
us has signed up for the challenge. So the Saturday before the marathon,
we're gonna do the five k inthe morning, go back to the rooms,
rest, car bload, and thenSunday morning is a full marathon.
So full marathon number eleven for mecoming up. It is Little Rock again.
(08:45):
I was there back in twenty thirteen. I think it was the year
of the ice storm, where Iwas fourteen miles into the race and then
it got canceled due to an icestorm. So this is a little bit
of redemption and then a little bitof again trying to expand the reach of
the podcast. We're gonna We're gonnastart targeting some Arkansas, so that's what
we're gonna do. I'm hoping tomaybe get the folks from Little Rock to
come on the podcast. That's inprocess, so that would be cool,
(09:09):
so that any of us who aretraveling to Little Rock and tons of states
are representative Little Rock, they maybecan get a little bit of information before
they go. So we've got theLittle Rock five k Saturday morning and that
is March second. March third isthe Little Rock Marathon dun Dun Don and
really from the Little Rock Marathon untilI don't know Independence Day. It's NonStop.
(09:31):
And if I survived this stretch ofraces, I'm gonna give myself a
big old pat on the back.And I know there's people who are gonna
do it even crazier than me.But here we go. So after the
Little Rock Marathon, we're coming backon March ninth for the Westport Saint Patrick's
Day for miler. We know thisrace well in Kansas City, Missouri.
Also, don't forget that after therace, after the race, sorry,
(09:54):
is the second anniversary party for theBack of the Pack podcast, So I
hope everyone will join us at Kelly'sin Westport as we celebrate two years of
doing this wacky little podcast that weall love so much, right right,
we love it? We do?Yep, sure do. And then after
that the next day, no excuses, no excuses not to be there.
(10:15):
If I am at this race aweek after running a full marathon. You
will be at this race if youare even remotely close to Kansas City.
We talked about it last week andthis is the Beard Run five k and
ten k doing the ten k againafter a four miler a week after a
full marathon, So you have noexcuses, no, no, Lucy,
(10:35):
Everyone's going to be at the BeardRun on March tenth at Shawnee Mission Park
in Lenexa, Kansas, going fora great cause again. I told you,
I told you last week. We'regoing to talk about this again.
We're talking about this again. Makesure that you get signed out. There
is a team. The Back ofthe Pack podcast has a team you can
register under the team. There isno password. Register under the team you'll
save a couple bucks. Looks goodfor us, but ultimately it gets everyone
(10:58):
out to this race. If savinga couple dollars will get you out to
this race, you absolutely sign uponto the back of the pack podcast page
and then when you can donate tothe cause on the next page, maybe
you take whatever the savings was,add a little bit too and donate.
Okay, So that is March tenth, the Beard Run, look it up,
Beard Run, March tent, makesure you're there. After the Beard
(11:20):
Run, we're gonna just do anotherfive k, the Saint Patrick's Day five
k. That's March sixteenth, andagain that's it's a race we've done before.
Last year it held the record asthe coldest friggin' race of the year.
Now it's got competition with this weekend'sBattle of the Bean coming up.
Not gonna lie, but hopefully wecan get a little bit warmer, a
little more seasonal. March is supposedto start being almost decent in this area,
(11:41):
So how about Saint Patrick's Day fivek. We be a little decent
after that, our first half marathonof the Heartland thirty nine point three series.
So The Heartland Half Marathon series startswith the Liberty Half Marathon in Liberty,
Missouri. One we've done many times. They've come on the show.
They'll be on the show again again. There's been some issues up at Liberty
Hospital, but they're they're getting it. They're almost we're talking, we're getting
(12:05):
lined up. It's coming. Butyou can hear all about that race.
Again. Challenging, challenging race worthit at the end. Once you finish,
you feel like you've really done something. So I highly recommend Liberty Half
Marathon. After that, another funone Easter egg there's a five k ten
Kate's in Overland Park, Kansas.I'm at the ten k Easter themed race.
Can't beat that. That's on Marchthirtieth. And then we are at
(12:26):
Rock the Parkway, Rock the Parkway, another big half marathon, the second
race in the Heartland thirty nine pointthree series. Gotta love Rock the Parkway.
And then I'm hitting the road andI'm heading out for another full marathon
because I'm stupid and that's what Ido. But I'm excited about this one.
So now I am finally officially registeredfor the Too Slow for Boston Marathon.
(12:50):
Yep, too slow for Boston.So if you want to look it
up, it's the number two,the word slow, the number four Boston
Marathon. So too slow for Boston. I love the idea of this race.
It is in Greer, South Carolina, so I will be traveling to
South Carolina. They maybe have onehundred people who do this race. It
is a one point three mile loopand you just do it until your watch
(13:13):
says you've hit a full marathon.The winner of this race is the last
place finisher. Second to last placeis the second place finisher. This is
not for the elite. This isnot for people who are going out there
to blister the course. This isfor people who one hundred percent want to
celebrate every runner out there, becausethere will be people from all different skill
(13:35):
levels, all different backgrounds who areat this race. And I'll tell I
am not going home until the lastperson finishes. So I'm gonna go and
I'm gonna run my full marathon.And trust me, I am not going
to be setting any records for myself. Well, I mean, look for
arguments sake. Let's say it takesme six hours. I certainly know the
(13:56):
last place finisher will probably be somewheremore around ten or eleven hours. I
will be there once I finished arace. In my car, I'm gonna
have a change of clothes. I'mgonna have a cooler of adult beverage and
some food and some dry clothing,and I'm just I'm gonna take my I'm
gonna take my chair, I'm gonnatake my dry clothes, I'm gonna take
my cooler, and I'm gonna setup at the finish line and I'm going
(14:16):
to talk to everyone I can,and I'm gonna celebrate every runner that I
can. I am really excited forthis race. They are familiar with us,
They're aware of our existence through interactionson social media. Gonna try and
get them on the show to talkabout this race. But I love the
idea, and as you know,for the Boston Marathon, you can see
it right here, all right,look at if you're watching YouTube, right
here, you see this is aBoston medal. Now this was the virtual
(14:37):
year, but you can get theidea. Unicorn right got the unicorn right
here on the metal from the virtualBoston. Every Boston has a unicorn.
The animal representation for the Too Slowfor Boston Marathon is a mule. It
is a stubborn jackass. That iswhat is on the metal for the Too
Slow for Boston Marathon, and I'mhere for it, so I'm super excit.
(15:00):
I will be going to Greer,South Carolina to take care of that
and we're gonna have a good time. So you will see a lot of
videos on the YouTube channel which you'resupposed to be subscribing to. You'll see
a lot of videos coming out ofSouth Carolina from the Too Slow for Boston
Marathon. We're gonna come back andwe're gonna immediately jump right back into the
Heartland thirty nine point three series withthe Garment Half Marathon in a Laitha Kansas.
(15:20):
It is always a Wizard of Ozthemed race, so if you are
a big fan of the Wizard ofOz, you need to get signed up
for this race, no question.After that, we are gonna go to
the go down into a Peak ofKansas for the Top City Half Marathon.
Again. We've talked about Top City. They're gonna be on the show.
We're actually recording with them this week. So next week, next week's episode,
you're gonna hear from the top thefolks at Top City and they will
(15:43):
be giving us this humble little podcasttheir metal reveal for this year's race.
So super excited for Top City.Then it's back on the road, you
see. While I'm getting a littleworried and these are all back to back
weekends here, But back on theroad, head up to Lincoln, Nebraska
for the Lincoln Half Marathon. Solittle background as to why I chose to
(16:06):
do this. Last November when Iwent to Lincoln and did the Good Life
Havesie, a lot of people rememberme talking about the Good Life haves E.
I got my medal when I finished, and a lot of people got
another medal that said the Capital CityChallenge, and it was a big old
honking medal. I wanted that.Well, you have to run the Lincoln
Half in May. Then you've gotto run Good Life Havesy, which this
year in twenty twenty four is atthe very end of October. You have
(16:27):
to do them both to get theCapital City Challenge. Okay, well fine,
you talk me into it, Metalwhoror that. I am here we
go May fifth. I'm going toLincoln, Nebraska. Everyone is welcome to
join me for the Lincoln Half Marathon. We're gonna come back now, okay
after Lincoln. Some of these aregetting a little fuzzy. A lot of
races aren't announced yet, some kindof approximating the date. Some of them
(16:51):
haven't even said that they're completely comingback yet because they have an update on
anything. This is everything, well, most of the things from this point
on, not everything. There's somefirm ones. Most of the things from
this point on are tentative, butwe're gonna do them. So the next
one after that, we're going backbecause I've missed it for the last I
missed it last year to be Cyrus, Kansas for running with the cows.
(17:11):
That is that race is a beastAnd here's why it's not an easy course.
I've heard that change the course madeit even more difficult. And at
this point in May, you couldhave a forty degree morning or you could
have an eighty degree morning here inthis part of the town. So you
don't know what you're gonna get.Very hard to prepare. And trust me,
even if you get that eighty degreemorning, you can guarantee that at
(17:33):
some point in the week previous youwere still in the forties and so you're
not ready yet. You're not readyfor that hot weather running and that's where
the biggest problem lies with running withthe cows. Just that time of year
in Kansas City, You'd never knowwhat the weather's gonna do from cold to
hot. And if it gets hotand you're out there in Bucyrus where there's
not a lot of tree coverage andyou're just out in the middle of gods
nowhere, it's rough and people havereally struggled with it. Ask me how
(17:56):
I know I am people. Iam one of the people who have struggled
with the quick heat for running withthe cows. But I'm planning on head
and back there this year after that, and again I think I'm going to
this the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon that'sdown in Joplin, Missouri, Okay,
so close to the Arkansas border,close to Oklahoma. Joplin, Missouri,
(18:17):
they have done a half marathon everyyear since the massive tornado came through that
chewed up half the town, killedseveral people, and so they've done a
memorial run every year. I've nevergone to it. Many times it was
on my radar and things just didn'twork out the way they did. They
have announced that this year is itslast year. This is the last time
they're going to do it, theysaid, declining participation, volunteer fatigue,
(18:40):
and just you know, they're kindof ready to do other things. So
this is it. This is thelast Joplin half marathon. I kind of
figure May eighteenth, I better bedown there and I better be doing it
because it's the last time. Andso now I plan on being down there,
and like I said, May eighteenthfor the Joplin Memorial half Marathon.
Then we're coming back up here andwe're going from Joplin to Manhattan, Kansas.
Manhattan, Kansas, and we talkedabout this one before the Bill Snyder
(19:03):
Highway half Marathon. This is MemorialDay weekend. Love this race still my
half marathon pr. So if anyonewants to go to Manhattan, Kansas,
I can't recommend this race enough.It is a super fun race. Good
course, you get a little upand down on the hills, but on
that highway, the real gradual,nice hills. You know, once you
get up the hill, you gota nice downhill to kind of catch your
breath, and then you cruise allinto the camp into town, then onto
(19:26):
the campus finish in the middle ofK State's football field. Last year because
of construction, it had to bethe practice field. This year they're back
on the big boy field, likethe actual field. So if you're a
football fan, if you're a kState fan, if you're a half marathon
fan, then you should get outthere for Bill Snyder. After that,
all right, hitting the road again. June first, I'm going to be
up in Fargo, North Dakota witha Fargo Marathon. I don't know what
(19:52):
to tell you about this race.It's it looks fun. It's gonna get
North Dakota off the list of fullmarathons. No idea. If it's an
easy course, no idea. Ifit's a big race, it looks pretty
well done. But we're gonna gofigure it out. So we're going up
to Fargo, North Dakota. Ifyou're gonna be at Fargo, let me
know, because uh yeah, thisone's a little bit of a question mark.
But I'm super excited for it comingback, and of course I'm coming
(20:14):
back, but actually I'm giving myselfa week off. It's my first week
off this entire time. So thesecond weekend in June I won't have a
race. I was told by missusback of the back podcast. I had
to keep that day clear for somethingelse that's going on that's not running related.
I have to do something not runningrelated. How ridiculous is that?
But no, I was told tokeep the eighth, the ninth of June
clear, So we're keeping it clear. So I'm gonna take a week off
(20:36):
after that full marathon. Then we'regoing down to Clinton, Missouri, and
we're gonna be running the Clinton HistoricHalf Marathon. That's like I said,
Clinton Missouri never done that race before. I hear it as very hilly,
pretty but very hilly. So it'sgonna be one hill of a course,
hah. And then we're gonna beback up here again. Tentative date,
but I think this is when it'sgonna be on June twenty second. The
(20:56):
Keeping Clean for Coop five K thatwe do in shawne Can It is one
mile from my home. I loveit and it's a great cause. We've
had them on the show twice.We really support Keeping Clean for Coop and
the Fighting Fentanyl five K is actuallywhat it's called the Fighting Fentanyl five K
for Keeping Clean for Coop all aboutthe opiids and the fentanyl crisis in America.
(21:17):
So we'll be there. We'll dothat race again. We've done it
every year since they've started it,and this year will be no different.
Unless they just magically change that date, which I hope they don't keep it
on June twenty second, then we'regoing to fast forward to July fourth.
There's several races on July fourth,find your Independence Day themed race and have
at it. I honestly don't knowwhich one I'm going to yet, because
(21:37):
there's several options. Do I wantto do one that I've done before many
times? Do I want to doone that I've done before a few times.
Do I want to try and findsomething different. I don't know.
We'll get it figure it out afterthat. Again, we're really starting to
get into the weeds here of thingsthat could happen. The Amelia Earhart Run
in Atchison, Kansas, that's gonnahappen July twentieth, be there at that
(21:57):
Rock Island Trail Half Marathon doesn't havea date yet. They're part of a
series this year, so I'm assumingthey're gonna have a date. I know
we talked about it last week.What a brutal, brutal race that is,
the problem is especially here in Kansas. When we get into the summer
half marathon stop because of the heat. It makes all the sense. But
(22:18):
af you're training for an early fallmarathon like I am, you still got
to be getting miles and it's alot back me up on this, folks.
It's a lot easier to get milesat a race than if you're just
out running by yourself. I wouldrather run thirteen miles and a half marathon
where I get a medal at theend than run thirteen miles by myself around
my neighborhood. That just never worksout well for me. So I'm hoping
to find some half marathons. Buthopefully Rock is Rock Island is it.
(22:42):
I hope they do the early startagain because that was a stroke of brilliance
last time. And then we're justgonna have to be careful and even still,
I'm gonna have to hydrate even better, and I thought I hydrated well
last time. Can always do betterthough, after that Spencer Sea Duncan five
K Gardner, Kansas been there before, carry a Nation five K done this
one before a lot of people showedoff their medal last year, and I
thought I'd like that metal Then Weare going to August seventeenth Rexy Run down
(23:08):
in Lawrence, Kansas, home ofthe k Jayhawks. That is where Baby
Jay's Legacy of Hope does. Rexyrun five k. Last year was an
a K. We'll see if theygo back to an a K or ten
k or whatever K they feel likedoing. We'll be there, doesn't matter
the distance because we absolutely support BabyJ's legacy for hope. We'll be there
at Rexy Runes. That's how itworks, no other way about it.
(23:29):
After that, we're getting the LaborDay weekend, the Race for the Cure
five k, and the Leewood LaborDay Dash in that area. There's also
I'm sorry, the Leewood Rotary LaborDay Run. Then there's a Labor Day
Dash, a lot of races rightaround Labor Day. We're gonna hit what
we can. Again, I knowthat's forever a way, so we don't
care quite as much. After that, we're gonna start the Heartland thirty k
series with the Plaza ten k.Plaza ten k one of the biggest ten
(23:51):
k's in the area. If you'venot done the Plaza ten k in Kansas
City, Missouri, sign up doit. Thank me later, beautiful course,
be there no problem. That islisted as September fifteenth, which is
a little later than they usually doit. So after that I'm leaving town
all right, So the next weekendI won't have a race because I'm gonna
(24:11):
be out of town. I willbe flying over to Scotland where some friends
of ours are getting married. Andthen from Scotland, I'm heading over to
Berlin, Germany for the Berlin Marathon. So late September Berlin Marathon. Baby,
we're getting the big one, numberfour on the Abbott Big six.
(24:33):
So if you're chasing all the worldmarathon majors, I'll be at number four.
Once I get done with Berlin inSeptember, just leaves London in Tokyo,
two of the hardest thinking ones toget into. But we're gonna keep
trying. We're not giving up onthat. So that big one is the
Berlin Marathon. We're gonna come backthen we're in October. We can really
kind of guess in here. LewisBurg Sider Run ten k always beautiful,
(24:56):
they do it louis Burg, Kansas. That's a good run. So I'll
be back for that nice little shakeoutrun after the full marathon. Then we've
got Okay, I think I'm gonnatry it now. A lot of people
did it in twenty twenty three.All right, I'll be honest. I'll
be honest. Don't get mad atme. A lot of people did this
in twenty twenty three because it wasthe easy way to do it. Well,
(25:17):
now i'm gonna give you static andI'm gonna make you guys do it
the hard way. We're going todo the I seventy challenge, and we're
gonna do it the way that you'resupposed to do it. So on where
did it go on my list?There it is On Saturday, October nineteenth.
We're gonna be at the Garmin KansasCity Half Marathon here in town our
race the nineteenth of October, andthen then we're gonna immediately be shipping up
(25:45):
north to Des Moines, Iowa,and the next morning we're running the IMT
to Moine Half Marathon to do theI seventy challenge. So the I seventy
challenge is two half marathons back toback days. You can do two full
marathons. You could do the GarmanKansas City Full and the IMT de Moine
full and really knock out that challenge. To that, I say, nope,
(26:06):
I am not doing that. Iwill do the halves. So I'm
gonna do the IMBI challenge again thatway the way it's supposed to be,
but half marathon wise, I'm notthat crazy. After that, we're getting
into late October, going back upto finish the Capital City Challenge by doing
the Good Life HAVESI. I wanteveryone to come to Good Life. That's
(26:26):
a fun race and I would loveto have a group of us up there
in Lincoln, Nebraska to really havea good time during a fundraise. So
again everyone is invited to Good LifeHavesie. After that again, now we're
getting into November really guessing here.Hopefully the Yeti weekend will return. I
missed it this year because I wasa good life. This dog here in
the end of my hat is goingto drive me insane. There we go,
(26:48):
So the Yeti half marathon is whatI'm gonna be aiming for. If
you don't know here locally in thisarea, in least Summit, Missouri,
you can do the Yeddi Challenge eitherfive k ten k on Saturday and then
half or full on Sunday, yougo back and forth to whichever once.
So I'm gonna do the Yeddy probablymaybe the ten k in the half sounds
like a winner to me. Thenwe're getting into Veterans Day weekend. I'll
(27:11):
probably be at the KU Veterans Dayfive K Lawrence, Kansas. Never done
that one before. Right before Thanksgiving, right now, I've got it listed
that I'll do what's called Turkey Trails, which is a five K ten K,
no big deal, done by bodies. I'm thinking I might try and
find a full marathon that weekend justto kind of keep things going after Berlin,
so I don't sit around get lazyand not do anything. So I
(27:33):
don't know. Around Thanksgiving, I'mlooking at maybe adding my fifth full marathon
of the year. We'll see.We'll see if my legs still functioned at
that point. How about that?That might be the bigger question. Do
my legs still work by November?After that, we do have the weekend
before Thanksgiving. Sorry, is theLoggerhead half marathon. We've talked about Loggerhead
before. They've said this is theirlast year. I think it's the twenty
(27:56):
third. Maybe I'm wrong, butlogger had half Marathon in Ottawa, Kansas.
If you haven't done it, thisis your last chance. Whatever reason,
this course beats me every year,but I want another shot. I'm
not giving up on it. Butwe're going back to the Loggerhead in Ottawa
for the last time in November.Stay tuned, we'll get the race.
I'll run the ten k or fivek on Thanksgiving Day. We'll see how
(28:18):
that goes. And then the lastone I've got listed is the Case Santa
Dash, the one we do inWestport the last few years. Almos a
fun race, and then we're justgonna have to see what else pops up
between now and then, especially ifwe're talking about a December race. I
mean that's eleven months away. Nowonder they haven't planned it yet. So
anyway, but I just wanted togive you guys kind of the heads up.
(28:40):
This is what I'm looking at.This is a crazy year. At
forty five races. Okay, Idid forty last year. Now I'm looking
at forty five before or five ofthose are gonna end up being full marathons,
whereas last year it was only two. Last year it was Boston and
Memphis. This year we got LittleRock two slow for Boston, Fargo,
Berlin, and then possibly add anotherone if I haven't keeled over yet.
(29:04):
So that's that's kind of where we'reat. We're biting off a lot more.
But you know, if it doesn'tchallenge you, then what are we
doing it for. Seriously, ifwe're not challenging ourselves, if we're just
going through the paces, then whydo we even care about running at this
point? Always challenge yourself. Alwaysstrive to do better, even if better
is beating your last week's time bya second or going back to of course
(29:26):
you've done before and you do betterthis time again. We're just we're here
to always try and do a littlebetter. So I'm gonna push myself just
a little harder. Five races harder, but some of them are longer distance
because that's what I'm gonna do.Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do.
And then I'm going to push youall even harder. To make sure that
you subscribe to the YouTube channel theBack of the Pack Podcast. Subscribe to
(29:48):
the YouTube channel, always like andshare our videos, comment on all the
nonsense that we post because we uhjust tell you. So. This was
the weekend of missus Back of thePack's birthday. So we went up and
went to a little spa retreat fora couple of days. And while we
were up there, we were brainstorming, like we were working on this podcast,
coming up with ideas, coming upwith things, putting some orders in
(30:11):
for things that we think you guyswill like. But we're really, like
I told you last week, we'rereally buying in this. Yere really going
hard. But we only succeed withyour help. I cannot just do it
all myself. So if you likewhat we do, you got to help
us out. Subscribe, like,comment, share, tell other people,
annoy your friends. You can alwaysgo to the Back of the Back podcast
(30:33):
Facebook page and then kind of underneaththe pictures on the right side, you
might have to hit the little morebutton, but you can find invite friends.
Hit the invite friends and this ischeck mark. Everyone Just invite them,
invite them to like the page.Cares man, They're not going to
unfriend you because they invited you tolike a podcast. It's fine, it's
fine. I give you permission,all right. So we do those things.
(30:56):
This place goes crazy and we allhave a great time again trying to
get out there trying to get tomore places, do more things, just
to help this bad boy girl.So that's what we're doing. If you
have a race that you would likeus to run, by all means reach
out. If you have a businesswho might want to run a little commercial,
work out, a little sponsorship typething. I'm here for it.
(31:17):
Anything we can do to help growthis bad boy but it takes us all
to do it. So again,crazy crazy cold right now in Kansas City
and through most of the Midwest.Everyone be super careful, do not hurt
yourselves trying to be a hard assWilliam. So please, everyone be super
careful with all the darn cold weather. Y'all are freaking nuts. Stay inside
until we get a break. Thebreak is coming, it's like five days
(31:40):
away, and we get back tonormal temperatures and then run to your little
hearts content it's fine. So allright, everyone, have a great week
of training whatever that looks like.Hopefully indoors, we will see you next
week where we're going to talk talkto the people from the Top City Half
Marathon in toe Peeka, Kansas.So that's gonna be a full one.
Make sure you don't miss it.We'll see you next week fe
Hello, everyone, greetings and salutations. Welcome back to another episode of the
Back of the Podcast. I'm yourhost, Kyle Walker. Thank you so
much for tuning in. I wantto thank everyone for watching last week.
Our first episode of twenty twenty fourwas a I would call it a orring
success. Definitely happy with the waythat things turned out. The views and
interactions have been great, so again, I want to thank everyone for that.
(00:34):
It's a good way to start thisseason. I'm okay with that really.
I know that everyone really had nochoice, Like you kind of had
to either watch or listen to thepodcast because going outside right now is absolutely
not an option. It is horribleout there. Like I cannot believe how
freaking cold it is. It ispretty terrible. I hope you guys are
all being very safe and very cautiouswith your running if you are in the
(00:57):
Midwest, really anywhere in the Midwest, everyone is in the deep freeze right
now. You got to be supercareful. I know we want to go
out and run, and I knowwe want to get our miles in,
and we're all definitely already training forspring races, but this is kind of
the unsafe part of the year.Now, thankfully here in Kansas City where
I am at, we're coming outof the other end of that here in
(01:18):
about five days. Like we've gotabout five more days here in the deep
freeze and then it gets back tomore seasonable weather. We've had two days
in a row now where it didnot get above zero. We have had
highs in the negatives, and thatis what we call in the business.
No boy, no, no,we don't like that at all. But
again, everyone just be be reallycautious, be really careful. Another bit
(01:40):
of news, our pre order forthe T shirts is over. We had
fifty pre orders. I think that'sreally good. I am super happy with
that number. So to everyone whopre ordered their brand new back of the
Pack podcast shirt, thank you somuch for ordering. Thank you very much
for kind of believing in us andbeing a part of this. I am
super very excited and very thankful forall of you who did that. If
(02:02):
you didn't see it in time,or you just weren't able to swing at
this time around, no worries,no problem. We're going to do this
again, I'm sure in I don'tknow, probably in spring a second quarter
of twenty twenty four, and thenwe are working to get a store on
the website so that if you justdecide you want a shirt, you can
just go out and order a shirtand it doesn't have to be a pre
order situation and all of that goodstuff. So you know, hey,
(02:23):
go team go Raw Raw Rah.But again, everyone who was able to
order this time, thank you verymuch. We really appreciate it. So
what we're going to talk about today, Yeah, this is this might be
an episode that bores some people.If so, I apologize. This might
be my favorite episode of the year, and I know there's some people like
me that really like this kind ofan episode, this kind of talk.
(02:46):
This is the twenty twenty four racepreview. So these are the races.
You know, last last week wedid twenty twenty three. We reviewed all
the races that we did. Againthere was forty of them, forty eight
races for the podcast for old guylike me, not bad, not bad.
We're gonna try harder and I'm sorryI have to keep fixing my glasses.
Apparently while I talk they want toslide down my nose and it annoys
(03:07):
me. But for twenty twenty four, we're gonna be doing even more at
least that's the hope as long asold my old man me can kind of
keep going and keep on trucking.But we've got some serious miles that we're
gonna be logging in twenty twenty four. But again, I love this stuff.
A lot of us are just raceaddicted. We love going to the
races. Training runs are great,but the race is where the fun is
(03:30):
and that's where the bling is at. So here's everything we're going to do
this year race related. I wouldlove it if you joined us. If
you have another race that we don'tmention, let me know. I am
happy to try and get there toexperience a new race. There's certainly some
there are going to be repeats forme, you know, just I'm we're
not a national phenomenon just yet,working on it, but we're not there
(03:52):
just yet, so I have todo a lot of the local ones.
But we are hitting the road thisyear, and hopefully we're coming to a
race near you or one that you'replanning on going to, because I would
love to meet people who are actuallyworking on trying to have some tables at
races that aren't around the Kansas Cityarea. Like right now, we're going
to try and get into the expofor a Little Rock. Super excited.
Hope it works out. I'm inthe process of doing that. But we
(04:15):
might have a table at Little Rockto meet more people, which is going
to be super fun. So let'sstart with twenty twenty four for us.
It starts in a week. KansasCity Runners, our race season starts in
one week. Are you ready?I don't think you are. I know
that I am not not at allready for what's about to come. But
we're going back to Battle of theBean. Did it last year, doing
it this year. This is arace that we do most years unless something
(04:39):
crazy happens. For all of ushere who are going to Battle of the
Bean, let's not part you know, ear Muff's kids, Let's not try
and be hardasses about this race.Day. Temperature is going to start at
about zero. It's going to becold. I hope it's the coldest race
that we do this year. Ihope every race that we do after is
much warmer. But Battle of theBean is going to be nasty, nasty,
(05:00):
bitter cold. Everyone be ready forit. Don't go out there and
expect your best time, because youmight just go out there and mess up
your lungs if you try a littletoo hard. Want everyone to be safe,
and you know, let's survive inadvance. So let's get through battle
to the bean and we'll just continueon. After that, I will be
up at the Groundhog Run. Sothe Groundhog Run is one that we do
here in Kansas City. Takes placein caves in the industrial caves owned by
(05:23):
a lot of businesses where they storestuff off site. But every year we
can run through those caves. SoI'm doing the Groundhog Run, and for
the first time, I'm doing what'scalled tunnel to tunnel, So that is
where at eight o'clock in the morning, I will run the five k.
I will complete that race. ThenI'll wait until we start the ten k
at ten o'clock in the morning andI'll do both. So that's a little
over nine mile day, not badconsidering I'm supposed to be in marathon training
(05:46):
right now, so I'll take it. That sounds okay. After that the
kickoff five k not gonna lie again. Kansas City person very relieved that we
at least made it past the firstround of the playoffs, so the Chiefs
are moving on in the playoffs now, Kickoff five K is the day of
the Super Bowl. I would lovefor the Chiefs to be in it.
I'm sure the race organizers would lovefor the Chiefs to be in it because
(06:06):
then people are more excited and morejazzed up for that race. But if
they're not, we're still gonna gorun the Kickoff five K. We're gonna
be in our km City Chiefs ishgear or maybe a red and yellow Back
of the Pack podcast T shirt thatI'm going to have missus Back of the
Pack podcast create on her cricket.Definitely possible, and so everyone will be
in their football gear fun day,on their fun race on the day of
(06:29):
the Super Bowl, and then yougo home and you eat way too much
food, but you can say youdid a five k that day and that
counts for something. After that,I have the Sweetheart Race five K.
Won't it be lovely? Historically thisis one of the coldest races of the
year. Hopefully we get a niceweekend because we're going back to back that
weekend. We've got the Couple I'msorry, the Sweetheart Race five k,
and then the Couple Shuffle ten K. One is in Oberland Park, Kansas.
(06:54):
One is in Independence, Missouri gota five k and a ten k
again back to back weekend. Aswe are rolling towards our first full marathon
of the year, yikes already.So a lot of us, a lot
of y'all don't know this. Iknow a lot of people signed up for
the John Brown half Marathon. Isigned up for the John Brown Half Marathon
in Osawatamie, Kansas. Difficult course. A lot of people really gridded their
(07:16):
teeth through that race last year,and I know they're planning on gritting their
teeth through it this year. AlthoughI am signed up for it, I
will not be there. Another racehas come up and missus Back of the
Pack podcast gave approval for me togo run it. So a group of
us are now going out to LasVegas for the Rock and Roll Las Vegas
Half Marathon on let's see, that'sFebruary twenty fifth, So that's Sunday evening,
(07:40):
February twenty fifth, where you startat four thirty in the afternoon and
you get to you know, bythe time you're finishing, it's dark,
and so you run down the LasVegas Strip at night. The road is
closed, not for long, butit's closed for everyone to run down the
strip, finish on the strip underthe lights. If you've never been to
Vegas, of course, beautiful town. My most favorite vacation destination. So
(08:01):
we are going out there. Iknow there's two of us are running the
race, and then a lot ofsupporters are going to do the Las Vegas
Half Marathon on the same day asJohn Brown. So you local Kansas City
folks whom I love dearly, havefun at John Brown. I won't be
there. Hopefully I can make ita virtual though. So after that,
then we go down We're doing theBig One, so that's gonna be a
(08:22):
busy weekend. The first weekend inMarch, a lot of us are heading
down to Little Rock, Arkansas forthe Little Rock Marathon. Now several of
us has signed up for the challenge. So the Saturday before the marathon,
we're gonna do the five k inthe morning, go back to the rooms,
rest, car bload, and thenSunday morning is a full marathon.
So full marathon number eleven for mecoming up. It is Little Rock again.
(08:45):
I was there back in twenty thirteen. I think it was the year
of the ice storm, where Iwas fourteen miles into the race and then
it got canceled due to an icestorm. So this is a little bit
of redemption and then a little bitof again trying to expand the reach of
the podcast. We're gonna We're gonnastart targeting some Arkansas, so that's what
we're gonna do. I'm hoping tomaybe get the folks from Little Rock to
come on the podcast. That's inprocess, so that would be cool,
(09:09):
so that any of us who aretraveling to Little Rock and tons of states
are representative Little Rock, they maybecan get a little bit of information before
they go. So we've got theLittle Rock five k Saturday morning and that
is March second. March third isthe Little Rock Marathon dun Dun Don and
really from the Little Rock Marathon untilI don't know Independence Day. It's NonStop.
(09:31):
And if I survived this stretch ofraces, I'm gonna give myself a
big old pat on the back.And I know there's people who are gonna
do it even crazier than me.But here we go. So after the
Little Rock Marathon, we're coming backon March ninth for the Westport Saint Patrick's
Day for miler. We know thisrace well in Kansas City, Missouri.
Also, don't forget that after therace, after the race, sorry,
(09:54):
is the second anniversary party for theBack of the Pack podcast, So I
hope everyone will join us at Kelly'sin Westport as we celebrate two years of
doing this wacky little podcast that weall love so much, right right,
we love it? We do?Yep, sure do. And then after
that the next day, no excuses, no excuses not to be there.
(10:15):
If I am at this race aweek after running a full marathon. You
will be at this race if youare even remotely close to Kansas City.
We talked about it last week andthis is the Beard Run five k and
ten k doing the ten k againafter a four miler a week after a
full marathon, So you have noexcuses, no, no, Lucy,
(10:35):
Everyone's going to be at the BeardRun on March tenth at Shawnee Mission Park
in Lenexa, Kansas, going fora great cause again. I told you,
I told you last week. We'regoing to talk about this again.
We're talking about this again. Makesure that you get signed out. There
is a team. The Back ofthe Pack podcast has a team you can
register under the team. There isno password. Register under the team you'll
save a couple bucks. Looks goodfor us, but ultimately it gets everyone
(10:58):
out to this race. If savinga couple dollars will get you out to
this race, you absolutely sign uponto the back of the pack podcast page
and then when you can donate tothe cause on the next page, maybe
you take whatever the savings was,add a little bit too and donate.
Okay, So that is March tenth, the Beard Run, look it up,
Beard Run, March tent, makesure you're there. After the Beard
(11:20):
Run, we're gonna just do anotherfive k, the Saint Patrick's Day five
k. That's March sixteenth, andagain that's it's a race we've done before.
Last year it held the record asthe coldest friggin' race of the year.
Now it's got competition with this weekend'sBattle of the Bean coming up.
Not gonna lie, but hopefully wecan get a little bit warmer, a
little more seasonal. March is supposedto start being almost decent in this area,
(11:41):
So how about Saint Patrick's Day fivek. We be a little decent
after that, our first half marathonof the Heartland thirty nine point three series.
So The Heartland Half Marathon series startswith the Liberty Half Marathon in Liberty,
Missouri. One we've done many times. They've come on the show.
They'll be on the show again again. There's been some issues up at Liberty
Hospital, but they're they're getting it. They're almost we're talking, we're getting
(12:05):
lined up. It's coming. Butyou can hear all about that race.
Again. Challenging, challenging race worthit at the end. Once you finish,
you feel like you've really done something. So I highly recommend Liberty Half
Marathon. After that, another funone Easter egg there's a five k ten
Kate's in Overland Park, Kansas.I'm at the ten k Easter themed race.
Can't beat that. That's on Marchthirtieth. And then we are at
(12:26):
Rock the Parkway, Rock the Parkway, another big half marathon, the second
race in the Heartland thirty nine pointthree series. Gotta love Rock the Parkway.
And then I'm hitting the road andI'm heading out for another full marathon
because I'm stupid and that's what Ido. But I'm excited about this one.
So now I am finally officially registeredfor the Too Slow for Boston Marathon.
(12:50):
Yep, too slow for Boston.So if you want to look it
up, it's the number two,the word slow, the number four Boston
Marathon. So too slow for Boston. I love the idea of this race.
It is in Greer, South Carolina, so I will be traveling to
South Carolina. They maybe have onehundred people who do this race. It
is a one point three mile loopand you just do it until your watch
(13:13):
says you've hit a full marathon.The winner of this race is the last
place finisher. Second to last placeis the second place finisher. This is
not for the elite. This isnot for people who are going out there
to blister the course. This isfor people who one hundred percent want to
celebrate every runner out there, becausethere will be people from all different skill
(13:35):
levels, all different backgrounds who areat this race. And I'll tell I
am not going home until the lastperson finishes. So I'm gonna go and
I'm gonna run my full marathon.And trust me, I am not going
to be setting any records for myself. Well, I mean, look for
arguments sake. Let's say it takesme six hours. I certainly know the
(13:56):
last place finisher will probably be somewheremore around ten or eleven hours. I
will be there once I finished arace. In my car, I'm gonna
have a change of clothes. I'mgonna have a cooler of adult beverage and
some food and some dry clothing,and I'm just I'm gonna take my I'm
gonna take my chair, I'm gonnatake my dry clothes, I'm gonna take
my cooler, and I'm gonna setup at the finish line and I'm going
(14:16):
to talk to everyone I can,and I'm gonna celebrate every runner that I
can. I am really excited forthis race. They are familiar with us,
They're aware of our existence through interactionson social media. Gonna try and
get them on the show to talkabout this race. But I love the
idea, and as you know,for the Boston Marathon, you can see
it right here, all right,look at if you're watching YouTube, right
here, you see this is aBoston medal. Now this was the virtual
(14:37):
year, but you can get theidea. Unicorn right got the unicorn right
here on the metal from the virtualBoston. Every Boston has a unicorn.
The animal representation for the Too Slowfor Boston Marathon is a mule. It
is a stubborn jackass. That iswhat is on the metal for the Too
Slow for Boston Marathon, and I'mhere for it, so I'm super excit.
(15:00):
I will be going to Greer,South Carolina to take care of that
and we're gonna have a good time. So you will see a lot of
videos on the YouTube channel which you'resupposed to be subscribing to. You'll see
a lot of videos coming out ofSouth Carolina from the Too Slow for Boston
Marathon. We're gonna come back andwe're gonna immediately jump right back into the
Heartland thirty nine point three series withthe Garment Half Marathon in a Laitha Kansas.
(15:20):
It is always a Wizard of Ozthemed race, so if you are
a big fan of the Wizard ofOz, you need to get signed up
for this race, no question.After that, we are gonna go to
the go down into a Peak ofKansas for the Top City Half Marathon.
Again. We've talked about Top City. They're gonna be on the show.
We're actually recording with them this week. So next week, next week's episode,
you're gonna hear from the top thefolks at Top City and they will
(15:43):
be giving us this humble little podcasttheir metal reveal for this year's race.
So super excited for Top City.Then it's back on the road, you
see. While I'm getting a littleworried and these are all back to back
weekends here, But back on theroad, head up to Lincoln, Nebraska
for the Lincoln Half Marathon. Solittle background as to why I chose to
(16:06):
do this. Last November when Iwent to Lincoln and did the Good Life
Havesie, a lot of people rememberme talking about the Good Life haves E.
I got my medal when I finished, and a lot of people got
another medal that said the Capital CityChallenge, and it was a big old
honking medal. I wanted that.Well, you have to run the Lincoln
Half in May. Then you've gotto run Good Life Havesy, which this
year in twenty twenty four is atthe very end of October. You have
(16:27):
to do them both to get theCapital City Challenge. Okay, well fine,
you talk me into it, Metalwhoror that. I am here we
go May fifth. I'm going toLincoln, Nebraska. Everyone is welcome to
join me for the Lincoln Half Marathon. We're gonna come back now, okay
after Lincoln. Some of these aregetting a little fuzzy. A lot of
races aren't announced yet, some kindof approximating the date. Some of them
(16:51):
haven't even said that they're completely comingback yet because they have an update on
anything. This is everything, well, most of the things from this point
on, not everything. There's somefirm ones. Most of the things from
this point on are tentative, butwe're gonna do them. So the next
one after that, we're going backbecause I've missed it for the last I
missed it last year to be Cyrus, Kansas for running with the cows.
(17:11):
That is that race is a beastAnd here's why it's not an easy course.
I've heard that change the course madeit even more difficult. And at
this point in May, you couldhave a forty degree morning or you could
have an eighty degree morning here inthis part of the town. So you
don't know what you're gonna get.Very hard to prepare. And trust me,
even if you get that eighty degreemorning, you can guarantee that at
(17:33):
some point in the week previous youwere still in the forties and so you're
not ready yet. You're not readyfor that hot weather running and that's where
the biggest problem lies with running withthe cows. Just that time of year
in Kansas City, You'd never knowwhat the weather's gonna do from cold to
hot. And if it gets hotand you're out there in Bucyrus where there's
not a lot of tree coverage andyou're just out in the middle of gods
nowhere, it's rough and people havereally struggled with it. Ask me how
(17:56):
I know I am people. Iam one of the people who have struggled
with the quick heat for running withthe cows. But I'm planning on head
and back there this year after that, and again I think I'm going to
this the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon that'sdown in Joplin, Missouri, Okay,
so close to the Arkansas border,close to Oklahoma. Joplin, Missouri,
(18:17):
they have done a half marathon everyyear since the massive tornado came through that
chewed up half the town, killedseveral people, and so they've done a
memorial run every year. I've nevergone to it. Many times it was
on my radar and things just didn'twork out the way they did. They
have announced that this year is itslast year. This is the last time
they're going to do it, theysaid, declining participation, volunteer fatigue,
(18:40):
and just you know, they're kindof ready to do other things. So
this is it. This is thelast Joplin half marathon. I kind of
figure May eighteenth, I better bedown there and I better be doing it
because it's the last time. Andso now I plan on being down there,
and like I said, May eighteenthfor the Joplin Memorial half Marathon.
Then we're coming back up here andwe're going from Joplin to Manhattan, Kansas.
Manhattan, Kansas, and we talkedabout this one before the Bill Snyder
(19:03):
Highway half Marathon. This is MemorialDay weekend. Love this race still my
half marathon pr. So if anyonewants to go to Manhattan, Kansas,
I can't recommend this race enough.It is a super fun race. Good
course, you get a little upand down on the hills, but on
that highway, the real gradual,nice hills. You know, once you
get up the hill, you gota nice downhill to kind of catch your
breath, and then you cruise allinto the camp into town, then onto
(19:26):
the campus finish in the middle ofK State's football field. Last year because
of construction, it had to bethe practice field. This year they're back
on the big boy field, likethe actual field. So if you're a
football fan, if you're a kState fan, if you're a half marathon
fan, then you should get outthere for Bill Snyder. After that,
all right, hitting the road again. June first, I'm going to be
up in Fargo, North Dakota witha Fargo Marathon. I don't know what
(19:52):
to tell you about this race.It's it looks fun. It's gonna get
North Dakota off the list of fullmarathons. No idea. If it's an
easy course, no idea. Ifit's a big race, it looks pretty
well done. But we're gonna gofigure it out. So we're going up
to Fargo, North Dakota. Ifyou're gonna be at Fargo, let me
know, because uh yeah, thisone's a little bit of a question mark.
But I'm super excited for it comingback, and of course I'm coming
(20:14):
back, but actually I'm giving myselfa week off. It's my first week
off this entire time. So thesecond weekend in June I won't have a
race. I was told by missusback of the back podcast. I had
to keep that day clear for somethingelse that's going on that's not running related.
I have to do something not runningrelated. How ridiculous is that?
But no, I was told tokeep the eighth, the ninth of June
clear, So we're keeping it clear. So I'm gonna take a week off
(20:36):
after that full marathon. Then we'regoing down to Clinton, Missouri, and
we're gonna be running the Clinton HistoricHalf Marathon. That's like I said,
Clinton Missouri never done that race before. I hear it as very hilly,
pretty but very hilly. So it'sgonna be one hill of a course,
hah. And then we're gonna beback up here again. Tentative date,
but I think this is when it'sgonna be on June twenty second. The
(20:56):
Keeping Clean for Coop five K thatwe do in shawne Can It is one
mile from my home. I loveit and it's a great cause. We've
had them on the show twice.We really support Keeping Clean for Coop and
the Fighting Fentanyl five K is actuallywhat it's called the Fighting Fentanyl five K
for Keeping Clean for Coop all aboutthe opiids and the fentanyl crisis in America.
(21:17):
So we'll be there. We'll dothat race again. We've done it
every year since they've started it,and this year will be no different.
Unless they just magically change that date, which I hope they don't keep it
on June twenty second, then we'regoing to fast forward to July fourth.
There's several races on July fourth,find your Independence Day themed race and have
at it. I honestly don't knowwhich one I'm going to yet, because
(21:37):
there's several options. Do I wantto do one that I've done before many
times? Do I want to doone that I've done before a few times.
Do I want to try and findsomething different. I don't know.
We'll get it figure it out afterthat. Again, we're really starting to
get into the weeds here of thingsthat could happen. The Amelia Earhart Run
in Atchison, Kansas, that's gonnahappen July twentieth, be there at that
(21:57):
Rock Island Trail Half Marathon doesn't havea date yet. They're part of a
series this year, so I'm assumingthey're gonna have a date. I know
we talked about it last week.What a brutal, brutal race that is,
the problem is especially here in Kansas. When we get into the summer
half marathon stop because of the heat. It makes all the sense. But
(22:18):
af you're training for an early fallmarathon like I am, you still got
to be getting miles and it's alot back me up on this, folks.
It's a lot easier to get milesat a race than if you're just
out running by yourself. I wouldrather run thirteen miles and a half marathon
where I get a medal at theend than run thirteen miles by myself around
my neighborhood. That just never worksout well for me. So I'm hoping
to find some half marathons. Buthopefully Rock is Rock Island is it.
(22:42):
I hope they do the early startagain because that was a stroke of brilliance
last time. And then we're justgonna have to be careful and even still,
I'm gonna have to hydrate even better, and I thought I hydrated well
last time. Can always do betterthough, after that Spencer Sea Duncan five
K Gardner, Kansas been there before, carry a Nation five K done this
one before a lot of people showedoff their medal last year, and I
thought I'd like that metal Then Weare going to August seventeenth Rexy Run down
(23:08):
in Lawrence, Kansas, home ofthe k Jayhawks. That is where Baby
Jay's Legacy of Hope does. Rexyrun five k. Last year was an
a K. We'll see if theygo back to an a K or ten
k or whatever K they feel likedoing. We'll be there, doesn't matter
the distance because we absolutely support BabyJ's legacy for hope. We'll be there
at Rexy Runes. That's how itworks, no other way about it.
(23:29):
After that, we're getting the LaborDay weekend, the Race for the Cure
five k, and the Leewood LaborDay Dash in that area. There's also
I'm sorry, the Leewood Rotary LaborDay Run. Then there's a Labor Day
Dash, a lot of races rightaround Labor Day. We're gonna hit what
we can. Again, I knowthat's forever a way, so we don't
care quite as much. After that, we're gonna start the Heartland thirty k
series with the Plaza ten k.Plaza ten k one of the biggest ten
(23:51):
k's in the area. If you'venot done the Plaza ten k in Kansas
City, Missouri, sign up doit. Thank me later, beautiful course,
be there no problem. That islisted as September fifteenth, which is
a little later than they usually doit. So after that I'm leaving town
all right, So the next weekendI won't have a race because I'm gonna
(24:11):
be out of town. I willbe flying over to Scotland where some friends
of ours are getting married. Andthen from Scotland, I'm heading over to
Berlin, Germany for the Berlin Marathon. So late September Berlin Marathon. Baby,
we're getting the big one, numberfour on the Abbott Big six.
(24:33):
So if you're chasing all the worldmarathon majors, I'll be at number four.
Once I get done with Berlin inSeptember, just leaves London in Tokyo,
two of the hardest thinking ones toget into. But we're gonna keep
trying. We're not giving up onthat. So that big one is the
Berlin Marathon. We're gonna come backthen we're in October. We can really
kind of guess in here. LewisBurg Sider Run ten k always beautiful,
(24:56):
they do it louis Burg, Kansas. That's a good run. So I'll
be back for that nice little shakeoutrun after the full marathon. Then we've
got Okay, I think I'm gonnatry it now. A lot of people
did it in twenty twenty three.All right, I'll be honest. I'll
be honest. Don't get mad atme. A lot of people did this
in twenty twenty three because it wasthe easy way to do it. Well,
(25:17):
now i'm gonna give you static andI'm gonna make you guys do it
the hard way. We're going todo the I seventy challenge, and we're
gonna do it the way that you'resupposed to do it. So on where
did it go on my list?There it is On Saturday, October nineteenth.
We're gonna be at the Garmin KansasCity Half Marathon here in town our
race the nineteenth of October, andthen then we're gonna immediately be shipping up
(25:45):
north to Des Moines, Iowa,and the next morning we're running the IMT
to Moine Half Marathon to do theI seventy challenge. So the I seventy
challenge is two half marathons back toback days. You can do two full
marathons. You could do the GarmanKansas City Full and the IMT de Moine
full and really knock out that challenge. To that, I say, nope,
(26:06):
I am not doing that. Iwill do the halves. So I'm
gonna do the IMBI challenge again thatway the way it's supposed to be,
but half marathon wise, I'm notthat crazy. After that, we're getting
into late October, going back upto finish the Capital City Challenge by doing
the Good Life HAVESI. I wanteveryone to come to Good Life. That's
(26:26):
a fun race and I would loveto have a group of us up there
in Lincoln, Nebraska to really havea good time during a fundraise. So
again everyone is invited to Good LifeHavesie. After that again, now we're
getting into November really guessing here.Hopefully the Yeti weekend will return. I
missed it this year because I wasa good life. This dog here in
the end of my hat is goingto drive me insane. There we go,
(26:48):
So the Yeti half marathon is whatI'm gonna be aiming for. If
you don't know here locally in thisarea, in least Summit, Missouri,
you can do the Yeddi Challenge eitherfive k ten k on Saturday and then
half or full on Sunday, yougo back and forth to whichever once.
So I'm gonna do the Yeddy probablymaybe the ten k in the half sounds
like a winner to me. Thenwe're getting into Veterans Day weekend. I'll
(27:11):
probably be at the KU Veterans Dayfive K Lawrence, Kansas. Never done
that one before. Right before Thanksgiving, right now, I've got it listed
that I'll do what's called Turkey Trails, which is a five K ten K,
no big deal, done by bodies. I'm thinking I might try and
find a full marathon that weekend justto kind of keep things going after Berlin,
so I don't sit around get lazyand not do anything. So I
(27:33):
don't know. Around Thanksgiving, I'mlooking at maybe adding my fifth full marathon
of the year. We'll see.We'll see if my legs still functioned at
that point. How about that?That might be the bigger question. Do
my legs still work by November?After that, we do have the weekend
before Thanksgiving. Sorry, is theLoggerhead half marathon. We've talked about Loggerhead
before. They've said this is theirlast year. I think it's the twenty
(27:56):
third. Maybe I'm wrong, butlogger had half Marathon in Ottawa, Kansas.
If you haven't done it, thisis your last chance. Whatever reason,
this course beats me every year,but I want another shot. I'm
not giving up on it. Butwe're going back to the Loggerhead in Ottawa
for the last time in November.Stay tuned, we'll get the race.
I'll run the ten k or fivek on Thanksgiving Day. We'll see how
(28:18):
that goes. And then the lastone I've got listed is the Case Santa
Dash, the one we do inWestport the last few years. Almos a
fun race, and then we're justgonna have to see what else pops up
between now and then, especially ifwe're talking about a December race. I
mean that's eleven months away. Nowonder they haven't planned it yet. So
anyway, but I just wanted togive you guys kind of the heads up.
(28:40):
This is what I'm looking at.This is a crazy year. At
forty five races. Okay, Idid forty last year. Now I'm looking
at forty five before or five ofthose are gonna end up being full marathons,
whereas last year it was only two. Last year it was Boston and
Memphis. This year we got LittleRock two slow for Boston, Fargo,
Berlin, and then possibly add anotherone if I haven't keeled over yet.
(29:04):
So that's that's kind of where we'reat. We're biting off a lot more.
But you know, if it doesn'tchallenge you, then what are we
doing it for. Seriously, ifwe're not challenging ourselves, if we're just
going through the paces, then whydo we even care about running at this
point? Always challenge yourself. Alwaysstrive to do better, even if better
is beating your last week's time bya second or going back to of course
(29:26):
you've done before and you do betterthis time again. We're just we're here
to always try and do a littlebetter. So I'm gonna push myself just
a little harder. Five races harder, but some of them are longer distance
because that's what I'm gonna do.Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do.
And then I'm going to push youall even harder. To make sure that
you subscribe to the YouTube channel theBack of the Pack Podcast. Subscribe to
(29:48):
the YouTube channel, always like andshare our videos, comment on all the
nonsense that we post because we uhjust tell you. So. This was
the weekend of missus Back of thePack's birthday. So we went up and
went to a little spa retreat fora couple of days. And while we
were up there, we were brainstorming, like we were working on this podcast,
coming up with ideas, coming upwith things, putting some orders in
(30:11):
for things that we think you guyswill like. But we're really, like
I told you last week, we'rereally buying in this. Yere really going
hard. But we only succeed withyour help. I cannot just do it
all myself. So if you likewhat we do, you got to help
us out. Subscribe, like,comment, share, tell other people,
annoy your friends. You can alwaysgo to the Back of the Back podcast
(30:33):
Facebook page and then kind of underneaththe pictures on the right side, you
might have to hit the little morebutton, but you can find invite friends.
Hit the invite friends and this ischeck mark. Everyone Just invite them,
invite them to like the page.Cares man, They're not going to
unfriend you because they invited you tolike a podcast. It's fine, it's
fine. I give you permission,all right. So we do those things.
(30:56):
This place goes crazy and we allhave a great time again trying to
get out there trying to get tomore places, do more things, just
to help this bad boy girl.So that's what we're doing. If you
have a race that you would likeus to run, by all means reach
out. If you have a businesswho might want to run a little commercial,
work out, a little sponsorship typething. I'm here for it.
(31:17):
Anything we can do to help growthis bad boy but it takes us all
to do it. So again,crazy crazy cold right now in Kansas City
and through most of the Midwest.Everyone be super careful, do not hurt
yourselves trying to be a hard assWilliam. So please, everyone be super
careful with all the darn cold weather. Y'all are freaking nuts. Stay inside
until we get a break. Thebreak is coming, it's like five days
(31:40):
away, and we get back tonormal temperatures and then run to your little
hearts content it's fine. So allright, everyone, have a great week
of training whatever that looks like.Hopefully indoors, we will see you next
week where we're going to talk talkto the people from the Top City Half
Marathon in toe Peeka, Kansas.So that's gonna be a full one.
Make sure you don't miss it.We'll see you next week fe
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.