I used to run the Race Across Kansas Half often when I lived in Southeast Kansas in the 2000s. The last year they held the race was in 2013, and I ran that one on our drive home from Thanksgiving. I saw that the race was making a comeback in 2024 a couple of weeks before the event, and my immediate thought was that I had to run it. Then I reality checked myself because I hadn't been doing workouts or any targeted training. I pretty much ruled it out, but then the day before the race I mapped the distance from my house and from there it was a slippery slope and the inevitable happened!
The race starts on the Kansas-Missouri state line near Galena, Kansas and finishes on the Kansas-Oklahoma state line near Baxter Springs, Kansas. Old Route 66 through this corner of Kansas is conveniently enough 13.1 miles. It's a fun concept and I have a lot of great memories from the 4 times I previously ran the race (2003, 2007, 2008, 2013), although they all blur together!
I figured I'd run it around 7:30 pace for a quicker long run, and also figured that would be good enough to win overall female. I'm pretty sure I've won it before with times in the 1:40s, but like I said my memories of this race all run together! I guess that starts happening after 73 half marathons...
Race morning temperatures were ideal at around 40* at the start, but on my warm up I quickly learned that the wind was brutal. It was SSW, meaning that we had somewhat of a headwind for the first half of the race going west, then an intense headwind for the second half of the race going south. I was glad I had no time goals! The wind was 14 mph at the start and 20+ mph by the finish.
 |
| Albani took this as I waved at her & Jon driving by |
I ended up running most of the race with Henri, who is 70 and one of the top runners in the US for his age. He breaks Missouri state records for his age in every distance he runs! He is really inspiring and I sure hope I am still running at his age. The effort we were at felt perfect for me; steady hard but not "I'm going to be near death at the end of this" hard. The race was small so it was also clear that if I didn't run with him I'd be running alone. One man took out ahead of us faster than I wanted to start.
 |
| This was Henri's idea when I pointed out Jon ahead |
I hoped to increase the effort as I went and maybe end up with a progression run. When we turned south and the wind was worse, I figured it was likely I'd slow down instead, but since my main goal was overall female I wasn't too concerned since everyone had to deal with the nasty headwind. I ended up running super even splits; I'm still quite good at dialing in an effort and staying there, though I definitely worked harder for it during the second half!
 |
| I'm far from my fastest but I'm still excellent at pacing |
Henri and I were together until about mile 11, then I ended up pulling away towards the end. I gained a lot on the overall male and ended up wishing I'd have worked a little harder to try to win overall, but it's just a lot harder to want to hurt when it's a man in front of me vs. a woman! I ran 1:35:35 (7:17 pace) for first female.
 |
| Last bit |
The race organizers said they want to grow this race next year and have a good sized one for the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2026. I imagine I'll go back if it works in my schedule and I'm healthy. Running in SE Kansas is very nostalgic for me, and the older I get the more I enjoy low-key races like this!
This was also probably my last race in my rabbit ELITE uniform (I'm not planning to run any in December but I also wasn't planning to run this one, so...). The team used to run from July-June, but in June 2024 they told us they were extending that team through December 2024. I wasn't planning to reapply for 2025 anyway since I'm not running elite performances at this point, but a couple of weeks ago they announced they aren't doing an elite road team in 2025. I was on the team for 3.5 years and am thankful I had the opportunity!
 |
| Race route |
