Presented by The Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (BIAKS-GKC), Going the Distance 5K & 10K takes place on Memorial Day weekend. Formerly the Amy Thompson Run for Brain Injury, it is one of the oldest runs in the Kansas City area and attracts close to 1,000 …
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Presented by The Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (BIAKS-GKC), Going the Distance 5K & 10K takes place on Memorial Day weekend. Formerly the Amy Thompson Run for Brain Injury, it is one of the oldest runs in the Kansas City area and attracts close to 1,000 runners and spectators of all ages each year. The course begins and ends in beautiful Loose Park in Kansas City and goes through some historic neighborhoods surrounding the park.
This run focuses on the successes and challenges of those affected by brain injury. It celebrates their courage and their families’ determination to move forward after a brain injury. Every 18.5 seconds a brain injury occurs in this country. It is the number one cause of death and disability in children and young adults. Over 21,000 individuals in Kansas and the Greater KC area were affected by a brain injury last year.
Proceeds from the run help BIAKS-GKC provide vital programming, including referral services, prevention programming, support and education for survivors, loved ones and brain injury professionals.
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Bring some water...
Always a good race, but the water at mile 3 had a weird playdough taste to it. But worse. It's a nice course that has hints of Rock the Parkway. … MORE
Always a good race, but the water at mile 3 had a weird playdough taste to it. But worse. It’s a nice course that has hints of Rock the Parkway. Less neighborhood support than before. No longer were mimosas and breakfast burritos available at the unofficial aid station. We missed you, my guy. The course martials are motivated and the finish line has a decent amount of cheering, despite the heat and humidity really taking it out of everybody a bit. The shirt was okay, though the one last year was so good I feel like anything that follows would be lacking, but the medal really shines with a golden mother-of-pearl aspect to it. It’s a good course for a good cause, and some vendors are available at the beginning and end to get coffee or snacks. Can’t speak to them this year, as I had to leave, but in prior years they’d been tasty.
This is a good race to run with your friends, even if you end with different ones you started with. It’s hot. There’s a lot of hills, nobody is really trying to blow it out of the water, but there are some nice little segments that make for a good challenge. With yourself or with another person, even one who tries to exploit your distractions (looking at you ccruiz03!). There’s a nice downhill cruise for a while as you approach the final turn, but save some in the tank for that final steep (but short) uphill.
Sprint the finish - literally
Memorial Day weekend is typically filled with cookouts and laying out by a pool. For Kansas City runners, it starts off with a solid 5k or 10k ran in the … MORE
Memorial Day weekend is typically filled with cookouts and laying out by a pool. For Kansas City runners, it starts off with a solid 5k or 10k ran in the middle of the city. The course wraps around one of the city’s most well-known parks, Loose Park, and weaves through some of the city’s nicest home. As any KC race, there are hills, which is always a victory.
I suggest runners arrive early because parking can become an issue. I arrived about one hour prior to the start and secured one of the final spot in one of the closest parking lots. The park restrooms are not open, and the portajohns are on the other side of the start line. If you are like me, and take advantage of same day packet pick-up, it can take some time to do everything before the race. The start/finish line is at the top of a hill in front of one of the shelters. Due to the nature of the start/finish line set-up, I didn’t even see the vendors on the opposite side of the line. I found out afterwards that the race is put by a group of volunteers and one full-time employee. The newly retired race director, volunteered his time to ensure the race continued. I will be curious to see how the race plays out next year.
The immediate downhill start is greeted by a slow hill at the first right hand turn. The initial downhill seems like a smart idea as first, but runners beware: it’s an uphill battle to the finish line. While it is the first hill, the duck and geese pond with a spray fountain in the middle, to the right side is a nice view. The next right turn is also a hill, but if you are lucky you’ll be greeted by a friendly smile from your running partner and know it’s going to be a good race. Once you hit the neighborhood, it’s a reverse portion of Rock the Parkway course. It’s not much of the course, but it’s a welcome familiarity. After a bit of neighborhood weaving, the 5k turn right to the finish while the 10k take off for their second lap.
If I remember correctly, the 5k had one aid station and the 10k had three. The 10k’s second aid station was at the start of the second lap. I don’t know if it was a last minute addition, but the small water station was not the finest water. Instead of a refreshing taste of water on a hot, muggy, Monday morning, the water was warm with a mineral after taste, and not the good minerality of a fine wine.
JKelling, as expected, pushed me for the finish line battle. It was the perfect running up of the hill finish. I couldn’t run up the entire hill, so planned a strategic walk interval yards before the corral entry. I found my opportunity. Jkelling looked down at his phone. I tried to speed past him, while our friends cheered us on, but alas, one friend betrayed me, as she yelled: “She’s coming!” As I inched closer to beat him, the corral sprint was on! I lost, but the smiling finish line photos shows how much fun this race really is. Summer races will never be my best performance races, but I did shed seven minutes off of my time from last year, and that is always a victory.
Repeat race with different weather
Great race with ccruz03 to keep me motivated on this rough hilly course. Much cooler than last year which made the hills far less punitive, though, so I was thankful … MORE
Great race with ccruz03 to keep me motivated on this rough hilly course. Much cooler than last year which made the hills far less punitive, though, so I was thankful for that. This is a great course to do to feel like you accomplished something. Had a delay to the start because people were still picking up packets, but otherwise went smoothly. Aid stations were spaced out pretty evenly and each mile was marked off with a little sign on the side of the road. Though I typically hate two-lap courses, I didn’t mind it this time around because I was too focused on the next hill to worry about getting bored with the repeat. The tshirt is cotton and a huge step up from the clinical design of last year, and the medal as well got a stylistic upgrade over the year before. Gatorade and water available on course, and one kind resident of the neighborhood made phenomenal bacon, spinach, salsa and egg breakfast sandwiches with particularly motivating refreshments. Thank you, sir, we needed that, and it sure hit the spot. Otherwise not much in the way of crowd support, but some of the cops blocking traffic were great at cheering us on. Thanks, Officer
Good intro to summer hills
I've been spoiled with flat or cool for the most part. This was neither. Good course. Two laps, which I normally hate, but since it feels like so much of … MORE
I’ve been spoiled with flat or cool for the most part. This was neither. Good course. Two laps, which I normally hate, but since it feels like so much of it is uphill the familiarity makes it easier the second time around. Fortunately, there is a truly copious amount of shade on this course.
Volunteers were motivated and eager to assist with water and cheers, and bonus points to any race that brings coffee. I don’t care how hot it is. That said, sometimes some decaf would be nice for us heart patients, too. The shirt was a decent tech shirt that I’m looking forward to using this weekend, but honestly I felt like the medal was a little lacking. It was tailored to this race, but it reminds me of the 5k medals from 5 years ago. While this didn’t affect me, apparently there was supposed to be a kids race that they kind of forgot about until an hour or so after the supposed start time, and I think that is one of those kinks that should be worked out for a race as old as this one. It wasn’t an expensive race though, and it’s a nice way to break into the swing of things in bad weather before the real brutal races stack up on you. I’ll be back next year if nothing else gets in the way. Real good scenery of the parks and local neighborhood.