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October 22, 2025 14 mins
Thanksgiving Day is Thursday November 27th, and that morning, Grace Med Health Clinic's 15th Annual "Say Grace" 5K Thanksgiving Race will take place in Midtown Wichita. The annual family-friendly event has become a Thanksgiving tradition for many in our community. We invite you to come out with family and friends to run, walk, or stroll through Midtown, one of Wichita’s most historic neighborhoods. Then enjoy all your holiday indulgences GUILT FREE!  Grace Med Director of Development Nancy Duling and Say Grace veteran particpant Monique Garcia stop by to tell us all about it.  Register now at www.saygracerace.com. 
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Wichita Weekend Podcast from iHeartRadio stations ninety
seven point nine B, ninety eight, one oh two to one,
The Bowl Channel nine six three and All one oh
seven three. I'm your host, Don Guidas. Thanks for joining us.
One of the coolest ways I can ever think of
to start your Thanksgiving Day is with the Say Grace Race,

(00:23):
and that's happening on Thanksgiving Day and in the studio
with us today we have Nancy Dooling. She is the
director of development for Grace med Health Clinic. And also
Monique Garcia is here now. Monique is a veteran of
many Say Grace races, and we'll get your feelings on
Say Grace. Ladies, Welcome, thank you. You know this morning,

(00:45):
it's nice and crisp outside, and it makes me think
about Thanksgiving Day and all the people that are going
to be lining up for this great event. How many years.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
This is our fifteenth year. We are so excited to
celebrate fifteen years.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Fifteen years. And for those who have never heard of
the Say Grace Race, Monique, why don't you tell us
what it is?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
That's a great question. The Say Grace Race is just
a wonderful opportunity for families and friends and folks to
come out on Thanksgiving Day and walk or run a
five k that Grace Med puts on. And it's the
largest fundraiser to my knowledge, that Grace Med provides, and
it's just a great opportunity for family, fellowship and fun.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Now, this is a good way to kind of pay
in advance for your indulgences later on on Thanksgiving Day.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Right, right, that's right. We do have a saying run
the race, feed your face, so when you get that
second piece of pumpkin pie, you will not feel guilty.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Now you have paid for in advance. And then you
know what, after the meal, if you want to lay
down and take a little nap, nobody's going to look
sideways at you.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
That's exactly right.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Because you did your part. You did the five k
for the say Grace Race, and you came out and
now we have a fee to enter this correct.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
That is correct. Yes, registration is thirty five dollars. After
November first, it will be forty dollars okay, and the
day of the event it will be forty five dollars.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Children under the age of fifteen, that registration is twenty dollars, okay,
and everyone will get a T shirt this year. We
also have a special medal to commemorate our fifteen year anniversary.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
I have one in my hand right as you do.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
You have the only one.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Oh, this is it? Yes, So we're going to make
some other ones like this. This is really awesome. Yes,
a very special fifteenth anniversary edition of the medal. It's
got the date November twenty seventh, twenty twenty five on it.
That's right, that's when Wichita is going to be there.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Please come down. And last year we had over fifteen
hundred participant runners, and there's probably that many people along
the course that we'll be cheering you on. In fact,
the other day I received an email from a neighbor
and he communicated, Nancy, we're here. We're going to make
sure that the neighborhood all looks beautiful for your runners,

(03:18):
and is there anything else we could do? And I said, Brian,
if you could please just be out there cheering people
on and have some music, I said, it will just
really give them the feeling of community and having a
great time.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
That's a great idea, you know, we'd love to have
all the runners and walkers and strollers that we get.
That we can get. But if all you can do
is come out and watch, at least come out and
help support these runners in their efforts. And you know,
some of them are more serious than others.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
And we've got some very serious ones because I have
learned that our course is very flat. Yeah, and so
there are. And it's also a race that will qualify
for other races. It's certified, and it's a timed race.
So when you have your bib, you know you have

(04:09):
a chip on that that will mark your time of
when you start and when you stopped, when you cross
that finish line.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
As serious as you care to take it right exactly now, Monique,
you run, Yes, you run this event. So do tell
me a little bit about your experience. How did you
get started doing.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
That's a great question. Well, I got started running thanks
to my mom, Carmen. She's run thirteen marathons in her
lifetime and she's now had a knee replacement surgery so
she's walking now. But really just give her a lot
of credit and gratitude for helping my sisters. And I
just learned how to just move and so I've been

(04:49):
fortunate to run marathons over the years, but the most
important aspect of the Say Grace Race is just again
to get out on Thanksgiving Day. We have so much
to be thankful for, you know, friends, family, health, and
then just the opportunity to get out and raise funds
for Grace med Absolutely or it's wonderful mission.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Now, for those who are listening to a podcast today
that may not know your mom, Carmen, can you tell
us a little bit more about her?

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yes. So, Actually, my grandma Connie Lopez, my grandpa Ralph
started Connie's Mexico Cafe in nineteen sixty three. So after
my grandpa finished with World War Two, he had an
army buddy who mentioned, hey, you should move up to
Wichita because my grandparents were from South Texas, and so
my grandparents and my mom came up to Wichita and

(05:35):
just were so pleased to move to such a wonderful community.
My grandma started Connie's Mexico Cafe, and now sixty three
years later, my two youngest sisters are running the show
and I'll go help out from time to time, and
my mom still goes and helps out during the week.
But for my family and I it's been become a
tradition that will do the Say Grace Race on Thanksgiving

(05:56):
Day and just you know, get out and have fun.
You'll see costumes, people and costumes and walkers and strollers.
So it's just a wonderful, joyful day just to get out.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
The point is to come out and have fun and
be with your fellow humans, absolutely and celebrate all the
great things we have in Wichita, the wonderful work that
Grace Med does. And this is partially a fundraiser for
Grace Med itself.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yes it is, It definitely is. The dollars raised from
this event will help maybe your neighbor. It's for the
patient voucher program and there last year we served over
forty five thousand patients throughout the Wichita and Topeka area
in Mcphersonaria and in that those forty five thousand, there

(06:49):
was probably half that could not pay for their services.
And so this is a way that you can help
your neighbor. How you could help Grace Med is by
participating in this race to have the funds be available
for the patient voucher program right on.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
So it's a very very worthy cause, yes, and some
wonderful people are doing great work in our community.

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Thank you. And the other thing I just want to
share is that Grace med is here for everyone. We
want the community to be healthy and if you have insurance,
we even accept insurance. More than anything. At the end
of the day, we want people to be healthy because
if we're all healthy, then we're a productive community.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
Excellent. Now back to the rates real quick. There's a
new feature that I'm kind of excited about because I'm
familiar with the other November running event that happens in Wichita,
and we've got something we've got this year that's brand new.
It's called Double Gobble. Tell me more about Double.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
We are doing a partnership with the Wichita Sports Commission
and they will be hosting their Turkey Trot on Saturday,
November twenty second, and if you will run in their
race on November twenty second and run on our race
on November twenty seventh, that's what we call a double Gobble,

(08:17):
and you will be eligible for a special Double Gobble
metal that will be provided by Legacy Bank, and that
will be for the first two hundred and fifty people
that sign up to do the Double Gobble both races.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Now, if you do the double gobble. Do you get
an extra slice of pie?

Speaker 2 (08:38):
I don't know that you get I don't know that
you get pie, but I do know that. Another benefit
that the Sports Commission is is I believe they have
cupons to get your turkey for Thanksgiving Day, so you'll
have that. But then, of course I always think you
can have as much pie as you want, especially if
you run at all, even one race or two races.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
So this is a perfect way to pay for it
all in advance and have a good time exactly, really
have a good time exactly, and celebrate Wichita too. You know,
it's a wonderful time of year to get out and walk.
You don't have to be a super athletic regular runner
to get some great benefit.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Out of it. That's right, That's right, very true, very true.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Well, don't forget. I know you won't forget. It's Thanksgiving Day,
it's Thanksgiving morning starting about nine thirty. Yes, yes, probably
the best way to get involved or to sign up
and register would be to go to gracemed dot org.
Correct that, or.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
You can just go to say gracerace dot com and
that will also help you with registration.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
To say Grace race dot com that's even simpler.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yes, yes, yes, if you can do that. And of course,
you know when we were talking earlier about people participating,
we also have sponsors, and we could not do this
race without our sponsors, and so I'd like to give
a shout out to Strive Bank for being our presenting sponsor.
Thank you, Strive, Yeah, thank you so much. And then

(10:11):
you would also see the other sponsors that we have
listed on our website.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
Yeah, okay, and you guys handed me a really cool
poster here that's got a QR code now that you
can also use to Rochester at Saygracerace dot com. Yes,
November twenty seventh, Thursday, Yes, Thanksgiving Day, about nine thirty.
I've got to ask you, Monique, do you actually do
any Thanksgiving cooking or does this get you off of

(10:38):
the cooking detail?

Speaker 3 (10:40):
That is a great question. So thanks to the same
Grace race. I've always planned it where I do a
lot of the cooking the night before, okay, so all
the baking, so all, so I can get up in
the morning and do say Grace and then come home
and warm it up and get ready to take it
to my mom's house or wherever we're going.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
To gather.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
So yes, So I have to ask, at what time
approximately on Thanksgiving Day do things start winding down for
you and you find yourself with your feet up on
the couch. My gosh, it's a remote control in your hand.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
I would say maybe mid afternoon, after the second batch
of turkey and Fixen's are served.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Don't want you to reveal anything personal, was imagining how
your day would go, because I mean, my hat truly
is off to you for for doing this event and
for having been a part of it for so many years,
and great mission. You're you're a great example of a
of a of a normal person that can come out
and do this, and you're probably gonna put me in

(11:39):
the you know, way back in the back. But what
I mean is to get the maximum benefit out of
this event, anybody can just come out.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
Come out, partake in the fellowship. It's a great cause
for a great mission and great organization. And I always
say motion is lotion. That's so that's right, excellent, that's
so true.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Don't miss it.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
Thanksgiving Day, Midtown Midtown, Yeah, mid tenth and Topeka is
where the starting line will be and it will go
north and take in part of the thirteenth Street, go
to the east and will bring in as Sension via
Christi in there that way.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Just it's amazing how it just all wraps around in
that neighborhood, so you see the beautiful historical homes. And
then we will end up at the finish line at
the Emporia Park, so that's located about tenth in Emporia
and that's where we'll have our awards ceremony and you know,
just other activities going on. We will hand out the

(12:53):
what we have our plates instead of metals for people
that have won their division age division for a second
and third place. And the plates have become very very popular.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
So this year.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
We're even letting the plates be available to the children
that are racing. So in the past they were medals
and they're like, no, we want the plates. And we
have heard from families that they have taken the plates
and then they would utilize that for their Thanksgiving meal.
But unfortunately we cannot get those type of plates anymore,
so please do not do that. Do not eat on

(13:33):
the plates.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
So that's a collector's it is, that is a collectors item.
You know, you just made me realize there's one other
thing I forgot to bring up there are some prizes
and awards.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yes, there is. We do have cash prizes, and then
those cash prizes, along with the awards of your age
division is where you will receive those plates.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's an extra dollup of whipped cream on your pumpkin.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
Bey, That's exactly right.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
We know we're gonna see you. Fifteenth annual Say Grace
five K Thanksgiving Race. It's Wichita's largest. It is Thanksgiving Day,
which is Thursday, November twenty seventh. Sign up now, Grace Mace,
Saygracerace dot com. That's it all right, Nancy Dueling and
Monique Garcia, thank you so much for being with us

(14:20):
on Wichita Weekend Podcast today.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Thank you appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
This has been the Wichita Weekend Podcast produced by iHeartRadio
Wichita
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