My daughter and I flew to KC for this 2-day challenge. There is a 5 and 10k on Saturday followed by a half and full on Sunday. You’d probably want … MORE
My daughter and I flew to KC for this 2-day challenge. There is a 5 and 10k on Saturday followed by a half and full on Sunday. You’d probably want to rent a car if you’re coming from out of town as the airport is about 30 miles away and race course isn’t walking distance from any hotels. We found a great Airbnb within 3 miles of start.
The course was lovely but the field was extremely small for marathoners which had me worried as I’m a back of packer. (87 signed up with 63 showing up). Fortunately you run with half marathoners the first half and the second half is a modified second loop with a few changes. The course is interesting with enough small hills to keep your legs engaged. I saw some rumblings about the canter (?) of the roads, but I never saw ir felt it. The surface was about 50% asphalt, 40% dirt, 10% concrete (total estimation on my part). This was first year of the marathon and 2-day challenge and I anticipate it growing because it was pretty good.
The races were not that expensive and you had the option at signup to add an additional $8 for a l/s cotton shirt or a bit more for a hoodie. Even though I own a thousand shirts, we bought one and I’m glad I did. I’ve received a ridiculous amount of compliments on it. (But it’s a giant Yeti, so it was expected lol!). Each race has its own medal which grows in size as the distances increase. The marathon size borders on obnoxious, but again, there’s a Yeti – hee hee! The nice surprise was if you completed a race each day you received a knit winter hat with pompom. They were nice. Also, the age group awards were plentiful. Being I was the only old lady who ran, I got first in my age group! Usually there are quite a few fast ladies representing my age group and beating me, so not sure what happened there.
The finish line had all the amenities you’d want as far as chocolate milk (plenty), sports drink, various bars, bananas, etc, and Uncrustables. Yum! As with most races, they were starting to break down toward the end but they still were calling names when I crossed. I can’t tell you if that continued through the end though. The parts of the course that was just outside of the park was closed to traffic and was manned by many local police personnel. It felt very safe.
The race benefitted a local high school and those teens manned the aid stations and brought their energy with them. Much appreciated!
My daughter ran her first half and she enjoyed it very much. Her experience was probably better because she’s not slow and she had many more people to run with (around 400) plus the marathoners.
If I was going to nitpick, I’d say my only complaint is lack of info for the marathoners. Being that this distance was just added this year, I’m figuring that will change. I never saw a cutoff but it was 3 hrs for half so I figured 6 for full. I saw in results that there were some that finished after 6 so doesn’t seem like anybody is getting kicked off course. The final miles are inside the park, so there wouldn’t be a need to as far as street closures go. We had a flight home that day and found a rec center on the other side of the lake where I bought a day pass so I could shower, to the relief of my fellow travelers.
I would recommend this race. We had the most beautiful weekend weather-wise for running, and I’m sure that makes a difference. Either way, I hope this race finds success. It really is good.
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Recommend for 50-staters
My daughter and I flew to KC for this 2-day challenge. There is a 5 and 10k on Saturday followed by a half and full on Sunday. You’d probably want … MORE
My daughter and I flew to KC for this 2-day challenge. There is a 5 and 10k on Saturday followed by a half and full on Sunday. You’d probably want to rent a car if you’re coming from out of town as the airport is about 30 miles away and race course isn’t walking distance from any hotels. We found a great Airbnb within 3 miles of start.
The course was lovely but the field was extremely small for marathoners which had me worried as I’m a back of packer. (87 signed up with 63 showing up). Fortunately you run with half marathoners the first half and the second half is a modified second loop with a few changes. The course is interesting with enough small hills to keep your legs engaged. I saw some rumblings about the canter (?) of the roads, but I never saw ir felt it. The surface was about 50% asphalt, 40% dirt, 10% concrete (total estimation on my part). This was first year of the marathon and 2-day challenge and I anticipate it growing because it was pretty good.
The races were not that expensive and you had the option at signup to add an additional $8 for a l/s cotton shirt or a bit more for a hoodie. Even though I own a thousand shirts, we bought one and I’m glad I did. I’ve received a ridiculous amount of compliments on it. (But it’s a giant Yeti, so it was expected lol!). Each race has its own medal which grows in size as the distances increase. The marathon size borders on obnoxious, but again, there’s a Yeti – hee hee! The nice surprise was if you completed a race each day you received a knit winter hat with pompom. They were nice. Also, the age group awards were plentiful. Being I was the only old lady who ran, I got first in my age group! Usually there are quite a few fast ladies representing my age group and beating me, so not sure what happened there.
The finish line had all the amenities you’d want as far as chocolate milk (plenty), sports drink, various bars, bananas, etc, and Uncrustables. Yum! As with most races, they were starting to break down toward the end but they still were calling names when I crossed. I can’t tell you if that continued through the end though. The parts of the course that was just outside of the park was closed to traffic and was manned by many local police personnel. It felt very safe.
The race benefitted a local high school and those teens manned the aid stations and brought their energy with them. Much appreciated!
My daughter ran her first half and she enjoyed it very much. Her experience was probably better because she’s not slow and she had many more people to run with (around 400) plus the marathoners.
If I was going to nitpick, I’d say my only complaint is lack of info for the marathoners. Being that this distance was just added this year, I’m figuring that will change. I never saw a cutoff but it was 3 hrs for half so I figured 6 for full. I saw in results that there were some that finished after 6 so doesn’t seem like anybody is getting kicked off course. The final miles are inside the park, so there wouldn’t be a need to as far as street closures go. We had a flight home that day and found a rec center on the other side of the lake where I bought a day pass so I could shower, to the relief of my fellow travelers.
I would recommend this race. We had the most beautiful weekend weather-wise for running, and I’m sure that makes a difference. Either way, I hope this race finds success. It really is good.
Bring your knee brace...
First and foremost, I rucked this, so there are nuances that won’t apply to runners as much. I was torn on how many shoes to select on a number of … MORE
First and foremost, I rucked this, so there are nuances that won’t apply to runners as much. I was torn on how many shoes to select on a number of categories, so let me explain my logic and where I’m coming from.
Overall I could have gone 3-5 and justified each depending on the other categories. There are large sections of this race, I think about 4 miles, that’s on a side-sloping highway, so your left foot always has a further vertical fall than your right foot. That’s never GOOD, but it may not be as bad for runners. With 40lbs on your back it gets miserable real fast, and even weaving to try to take the route of minimal slope, I went from just under 15 minute splits for the first 6 miles to 17:30 (I did stop to observe the swelling) and ended up slowing down for the latter half, finishing with a 15:50 pace compared to 15:16 at Garmin KC 2 weeks ago. Is that the race’s fault? Nope. It’s made for runners and I’m borrowing space on their course, but that is a minus and it cost a shoe.
Course scenery? Well the view around mile 3 and 5 if I remember correctly was looking out over the lake. That was pretty. The wooded area for the last 5 miles was pretty as we went through the park. The 4 miles on that side-slant there’s nothing to look at but highway and regret. Minus a shoe.
Race production. This one isn’t just me, but also the two people who ran it that I came with. We got some weird numbers on splits that showed up at the end. It was the same end as yesterday’s 10k so we’ll look at that data since I was battling an injury today. Had 2 splits at 15:10-15, all the rest in the 14s. That’s about right. Hit mile 6 (on 10k), so 0.2 mile left to go. Took me 4:48? a 24-minute-mile pace? Think I’d notice a 10min fall behind. All of a sudden. The runners who were already finished said they had the same long split issue, so either the last fragment of a mile is long, or the other full miles are short, because we both had 20-60% increase in pace on our final split according to the signage. Not a huge deal. Obnoxious, sure, but what can you do. There was a two day challenge, race both days, get a cap. They couldn’t find my name on the list. Asked if I registered late. A month ago, so…not by most definitions. Everyone was real nice. They always are (and all the water points, the volunteers were turning it up to 11 on the motivation, so good on ’em there), but it was one more thing to keep me from chocolate milk and a chair, and since usually KC Race puts out some smooth as butter experiences, I can’t in good conscience go higher.
Swag was good. Long sleeve heavy tshirt and a hoodie, heavy weight beanie for the challenge swag, all in a matching yeti and bring blue theme. It’s good stuff. I don’t actually remember so this is hearsay from someone else I was talking to afterwards, but the tshirts weren’t free (okay nothing is free, roger, but they typically come with the race, and sometimes you can opt out for a cheaper race). She didn’t get a tshirt because she didn’t realize you had to pay extra. Read the fine print, I gotcha, but when you’re signing up for 6, 8, 10 races all at once, sometimes you miss stuff. Minus one shoe for no free swag.
My performance was the opposite of Garmin. The exhilaration that pushed me to make up time after some rough hills just wasn’t there today. After the side-slope it really was just “let’s get this done so I can ice my knee.” I did make up from that 17-minute Hindenburg but not with the gusto I’d have liked. Two shoes only because 1 is DNF and I did limp across the finish line.
Nice scenery
Overall, pretty decent. Nothing spectacular. - wasn’t overly difficult, though there were hills. Thankfully the up ones also went down. Elevation graph uploaded in pics. Trail consisted of a mix … MORE
Overall, pretty decent. Nothing spectacular.
– wasn’t overly difficult, though there were hills. Thankfully the up ones also went down. Elevation graph uploaded in pics. Trail consisted of a mix of road, cement trail, and packed gravel trail. No roots or anything crazy.
-the parks were beautiful to run through.
-no complaints on production. They couldn’t find our registration, but we had email confirmation and they gave it to us. So good enough for me. There were both port a John’s and the “indoor” portable type bathrooms. Very clean. My only complaint was the station around mile 8 ran out of Gatorade. And only 2 stations had gu. Otherwise it was just water and Gatorade.
-swag consisted of the medal. Shirts were sold separately. But the cost of the run seemed appropriately lower to compensate for the optional shirt cost. Afterwards, there was uncrustables, chocolate milk, granola bars, cheese puffs , etc. def small race amenities.
–
Nice 7k and a 3k I could do without
So there's about 2 miles or so on a highway that slants down to the left meaning your left foot has further to fall on every strike. Maybe that's not … MORE
So there’s about 2 miles or so on a highway that slants down to the left meaning your left foot has further to fall on every strike. Maybe that’s not much for your typical runner, but I’ve got Army knees and I’m wearing body armor, so that was throbbing a little bit at the end of the day. There’s not a lot to look at out at that part of the course, but the water station volunteers were all motivated beyond belief. As a back-of-the-packer, I’m sometimes just glad that someone is there. These folks made me feel like I was carrying in the olympic torch every time. There aren’t any local spectators on this course because there’s no “local” anything, but these folks woulda given anyone a run for their money. Way to motivate!
Once you get past the highway part you’re in a park on a wide wooded trail so there’s lots of scenery changes going on there as you weave in and out of park-woods-park-woods. I went with two very experienced runners with thousands of races between them. We were all confused by the last split, the 0.2 mile finish. I’d done a little shy of 15 on every split but one, which measured 15:05, but the last .02 (everything after their Mile 6 sign) took 4:48 when I hadn’t broken pace? The “pros” I was with had the same experience (with smaller numbers). Not a huge deal. If you’re looking to PR on this course you probably didn’t make the best choice anyway, I don’t think that 0.2 is going to make a difference there, because this isn’t a particularly flat course. I was a little slower than my normal 10k time but not significantly.
Overall it was a fun race. I do think it’s a shame that the tshirt, while nice, is apparently not free with the race. I bought it, and I’m glad that I did, and I understand the subtleties of pricing to know you’re just paying more for the race or opting out for the discount rate, but as a fellow racer pointed out, seems like at this price point that would include the shirts. Personally I’d signed up for somewhere around half a dozen races at the same time and didn’t remember what I paid or when it was, but I trust her account of this. That said, if you find yourself in that situation, buy the shirt. It’s warm.
Holy Hill - Cool Sweatshirt
Wow, you start with a pretty good hill and then have a huge hill about mile 7, when you weren't running up hill it felt like a gradual and continuous … MORE
Wow, you start with a pretty good hill and then have a huge hill about mile 7, when you weren’t running up hill it felt like a gradual and continuous incline. There was a long distance of running straight, along a road, not much for turns or curves, so that was a bit boring. It was very challenging but also a very well run race. The packet pick-up was very quick and COVID friendly and the sweatshirt was really nice. However, the medal was huge, almost to the point of obnoxious.
Scenic, PR Fest
I ran the 10k in 2018 and the half in 2019. This is quickly becoming my favorite race in KC! Put on during early November, it's the perfect time before … MORE
I ran the 10k in 2018 and the half in 2019. This is quickly becoming my favorite race in KC! Put on during early November, it’s the perfect time before the weather gets too terribly awful, and the fall colors are still in peak form.
Flat course, and the scenery is tops! The lake views in the first half are gorgeous, the trail portion on the back half is littered with crunchy fall leaves in beautiful colors. The back half also features crushed gravel, which is both helpful for the knees, but is definitely a different experience if you’re not used to running on that kind of surface. (Practice on gravel a few times before running this, and you’ll be golden!)
I PR’d in the 10k last year, and PR’d in the half this weekend, so if you are needing or wanting a fast race, this is definitely for you!
Cold day running around the lake
This was a smaller race. It started out by pace group waves. My pacer was great, she talked with us and kept us on track the entire way. I eventually … MORE
This was a smaller race. It started out by pace group waves. My pacer was great, she talked with us and kept us on track the entire way. I eventually left the pacer at the end to finish faster. The course didnt have much support besides the aid stations. That was okay with me because the scenery was excellent. The course was mostly flat. Included in the course was a fasted across the dam challenge. The race finished with a pizza meal and drinks but I was to cold to stick around very long. The medals were very nice and I had a great time.
My first half marathon
I ran this race in 2014 and 2015. There are nice views of Longview Lake and the second year, the weather was really nice for November in KC. There is … MORE
I ran this race in 2014 and 2015. There are nice views of Longview Lake and the second year, the weather was really nice for November in KC. There is one part of the course where you have to push up a hill. They clock that portion of the race and call it King of the Hill. This race started me on my escapade of half marathons.
Chilly morning run!
This was my first time running the Long View Half Marathon. I liked that they offered it in November, it helped keep me motivated to keep training after my last … MORE
This was my first time running the Long View Half Marathon. I liked that they offered it in November, it helped keep me motivated to keep training after my last half in October. The weather can be tricky in November, and it was a chilly start, but I didn’t think temperature was a factor once I got started. I did not pay extra for the VIP parking and heated tent prior to the race, but those options were available when I registered. I got to the parking lot an hour before the race started, but still had to wait close to 30 minutes before I could get to the final 0.25 mile to park. The direction I came in had me turning left to get into the parking area, and all of the folks coming in and turning right didn’t allow too many of us left turners in at a time. The police and rangers were there and preparing to direct traffic, so perhaps it got better after I got in.
What will stick out in my mind most regarding this race, was the killer hill at mile 2! I knew when they had separate timing set up to determine the “King of the Hill” that it was going to be a serious one! I’m glad it was at the beginning of the race, because I feel like I run my fair share of hills, but this was still a test! The roads were blocked off for the runners, which was nice not to have to bob and weave your way through a crowd of runners.
There didn’t seem to be an abundance of spectators (though the ones who were there were great!), or music/bands like some other races I’ve participated in. I personally enjoy those aspects of races, so I take in the entire experience, not just log another 13.1 miles. The hydration stations were very well organized and spread-out. The people handing out the drinks and GU were super friendly!
The medal at the end was one of the largest I’ve received! I’m also a big fan of the quarter zip race shirt as well. In fact, I’m even wearing it to work today!