Head for the Cure 5K Kansas City
Overland Park, KS
- 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Join the annual Head for the Cure 5K Kansas City to raise funds, awareness, and hope for the Kansas City brain tumor community. Support Kansas City Brain Cancer survivors and caregivers, plus vital research and programs! Funds raised through this event will locally benefit the University of Kansas Cancer Center, … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Aug 23):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 86 | 85 | 99 | 85 | 93 |
| L (°F) | 69 | 62 | 79 | 64 | 76 |
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A Corporate Wooods race I like
Words rarely spoken: I liked this Corporate Woods race. This massive 5k fundraiser doesn’t play around and brought its A-game. Top fundraising teams get designated tents, sponsors are galore, and … MORE
Words rarely spoken: I liked this Corporate Woods race. This massive 5k fundraiser doesn’t play around and brought its A-game. Top fundraising teams get designated tents, sponsors are galore, and if I didn’t have plans afterwards, there was even a booth with sparkling adult drinks for sell. With all the hoopla, some people may even forget to get in line for the race on time.
The course is the typical Corporate Woods 5k course, so I’ll avoid the ‘exciting’ recap. It would be amiss to waste time on a repeated course. What has now become a personal tradition, I arrived early enough for pre-5k lap on the trail, which turned out to be a smart idea other runners also had. I do plenty of races throughout the year and this by far is the most populated charity 5k. For this reason, participants could easily be classified as runners and going-for-a-Sunday-morning-stroll walkers. Rest assured, BOTH types of participants are highly supported, respected, welcomed and encouraged. The support and true enthusiasm from the crowd and participants is energizing and motivating. Seeing families run or walk together always brings a smile to my face. It also motivates me to run faster because I can’t let a sometime runner beat me. Aw, the beauty of stubbornness and personal competition.
For the runners, be prepared to get in line at the front or to bob and weave for the majority of the race. As a typical back of the packer, I made the mistake of lining up at the back and it was personal mistake. I had to weave through throngs of walkers. The informal game of PAC-MAN still yielded me a decent summer 5k time, so I can’t complain. Next time, yes, there will be a next time, I know to line up as soon as the announcements start. When I left, there were still dozens, if not more than 100, walkers enjoying the Sunday stroll.
One of the most inspiring components of the race are the personalized team t-shirts and tanks. Whether they are running in memory of a loved one or in honor of one, it reminded me that it is not ‘just a race’ for many. I may have signed up to meet my race quotas, but this race is so much more for so many more participants. The soft cotton tshirt and simple, yet colorful, medal were a treat. With a gold foundation, the medal set itself apart for the typical silver ones. It is a small detail, but a much appreciated one. We’ll see what next year’s race holds, but I have no reason to believe it’ll anything but a good time.
PR-able in good weather
I came close to setting a PR and I wasn't even trying. There are thousands of people at this little race (2800 or so). The medal was on the smaller … MORE
I came close to setting a PR and I wasn’t even trying. There are thousands of people at this little race (2800 or so). The medal was on the smaller end of what is appropriate for 5ks in these parts. The tshirt was a soft cotton, and despite being in Corporate Woods, one of my least favorite race locations, this race got the energy up there and kept it there. It was nice having so many more people than the couple hundred that show up for this course, and while there was a lot more weaving up front as slow walkers who got in front needed to be overtaken by everyone, By a quarter mile in we were pretty much squared away. Highly recommend this road-only course, where both sides of the divided road are shut down fully.
LIke a park race on roads
Hot and muggy through corporate woods, but course kept it interesting. It's through a very wooded corporate development, but with the roads fully closed down it was like a park … MORE
Hot and muggy through corporate woods, but course kept it interesting. It’s through a very wooded corporate development, but with the roads fully closed down it was like a park race on super wide paths. Worth doing again. Huge tent setup of samples and whatnot at start. Beginning was a little bungled and we had to start late at different location through a far too narrow chute for that many people, making it hard to spread out for the first 50 feet or so after the timing started. Came close enough to my PR that I likely would have beat it otherwise.
Decent medal, super soft cotton T. Great value, too.
A race to check off Kansas
They had a great "expo" set up with tons of local vendors. All kinds of free swag. The course was through a business park so nothing fancy, but it was … MORE
They had a great “expo” set up with tons of local vendors. All kinds of free swag. The course was through a business park so nothing fancy, but it was shaded which was appreciated in August.