Sweetheart Run 5K & 10K
Overland Park, MO
- 10K, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
This Valentine’s Day tradition is a great chance to get out and run with your loved one! Individuals and couples will compete for overall, age group and two person team awards in the 5K and overall and age group awards in the 10K. In addition to these awards, everyone will … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Feb 14):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 53 | 37 | 65 | 54 | 50 |
| L (°F) | 48 | 12 | 33 | 45 | 25 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Cold, wet and sweet
It's Valentine's Day! What better way to enjoy a day of love and friendship that doing something you love with friends you love! Mother nature decided to spread her love … MORE
It’s Valentine’s Day! What better way to enjoy a day of love and friendship that doing something you love with friends you love! Mother nature decided to spread her love as well with a downpour of showers, puddles of messy love, eh, mud and cool temperature. Yet, the Sweetheart 10k is still a solid course, welcoming for the 5k and challenging for the 10k. The chocolate-covered strawberry themed medal and long sleeved soft cotton shirt were a bit of a play off of last year, but still really nice. I usually opt out of the shirt, but opted-in and glad that I did.
The course is pretty straightforward: head out of the parking lot, turn left, three rights and run a square 5k with a beginning uphill, varying hills in the middle section and finish with a decent downhill. I hate giving up a 10k for a 5k, but I can see this course being relatively easy to run and get a faster finish time. Now, the 10k route, is another story. It would be a little harder to PR due to the trail. 10k runners split from the 5k roughly at the 2.5 mile mark and veer into the hilly trail. Again, it’s a good challenge, and it got the best of me this time around.
I did 3 pre-miles with jkelling and, sadly, when the actual race started, I got a crippling pain in my left knee. (I’ve heard that stretching is good for running. Who knew? ) While technically, my mile 4, it was at the start. Big thanks to some friends on the course, I nursed it a bit with some Tiger Balm, but it wasn’t enough. By mile 4, I was down to a steady walk. I didn’t want to risk a bigger injury with a major race (Psycho Wyco) coming up. It was hands down my slowest 10k in a long time and super grateful for jkelling’s company. I normally hate holding him back, but it was a rough day and I needed the motivation and company on the course.
By the time we finished, we were soaked from the constant downpour. Thankfully, I had spare clothes in the car and was able to change into dry, warm clothes. Hopefully, next year I will be able to really take advantage of the easy route and run it more. I’d say go for a fast 5k, but someone will surely veto that idea in favor of a fast 10k. While the day was cold, wet and injury-filled, KCRC still brought the energy to the table with love-themed pop songs and vibes. It was fun day and one of the best Valentine’s day celebrations.
Hard to say this...
...but it was my worst performance in years. I enjoy this race. I enjoy this course. The first of two laps is a square on a closed off lane in … MORE
…but it was my worst performance in years. I enjoy this race. I enjoy this course. The first of two laps is a square on a closed off lane in a 4 lane road (2 each direction) and the second takes you on a detour out and back, sort of a sideways lollipop route. It’s a lot of fun. Unfortunately, after we did our warm-up three miles, my running buddy had a pretty bad pain in her left knee. Not long after I had an odd pain above my calf, behind my knee, and we decided to just phone it in the rest of the way to avoid risking injury when we have a much more important race in a week. (Coming for you PsychoWyco!) It was still painful, on the inside, to not push on a course that has been so inspiring in the past. There is one long hill on the first part, and a couple rollers, but nothing really all that steep. It’ll keep your heart rate up though and reward you with some nice, protracted downhills that aren’t steep enough to burn out your quads. The second lap with the out and back in the park completely mixes things up on you. There are, in fact, some steep hills here, and if you burned too hot the first lap you can really find your splits suffering here. Add to that the recent rains and there were some puddles on the course that got a couple inches deep. Going around was always an option, but then you’re running through fresh mud, so pick your poison. This is the only time this course is done, so for a unique mix of road and park, you’ve gotta come check it out. KCRC has had recent personnel changes, so it was weird not seeing Brad out there, but they didn’t fumble and brought the heat. The DJ was popping and the swag was on point, with a wonderful chocolate covered strawberry themed spinner medal and a long-sleeved T that is incredibly soft (and warm, as it came in handy afterwards for brunch when I was still chilled from the constant drizzle.
It was my worst performance in three years, but it was a wonderful time. It was a great opportunity to appreciate the many flavors of midwest weather before the oppressive summer comes back to us, and sometimes you just need to be with your running buddy on an empty course and limp your way back to the finish line. Still beats a DNF. Thanks ccruiz03 for keeping valentine’s day unique. It was an honor to “run” with you.
Rescheduled, gave a second chance
A buddy and I did it as a shakeout (for me) from yesterday, so we weren't pushing at 100%. They didn't do the park part which was a disappointment, so … MORE
A buddy and I did it as a shakeout (for me) from yesterday, so we weren’t pushing at 100%. They didn’t do the park part which was a disappointment, so just two laps of the road, but I suspect it was due to slush/ice in the park, so probably a wise decision. The combo of road and park (for the second lap) really made this course stand out before, so it’s unfortunate we lost that, but in light of the recent heavy snow melting I suspect the park was mainly slush. Still a pity though. The shirt was a nice long-sleeved heavy T and the medal was nice and hefty and well designed. Support on the two lap square course was good with 2 or 3 aid stations (that you then pass twice) and plenty of intersection control. Great race by a great race company (KC Running Co.), and I’m glad it got rescheduled so I could do it again this year.
When you can't decide...
...between road and park, here's a great mix! So the 5k was all road work, one lap around a square block. The first side of the square was pretty much … MORE
…between road and park, here’s a great mix! So the 5k was all road work, one lap around a square block. The first side of the square was pretty much one slow grind up, but halfway through the second side you get a little break. After finishing that first lap, you start the second then detour off to an out and back through a park on a double wide trail with mainly rolling hills but two steep but short (distance) ones. It was a nice surprise because I normally hate lap races, but this was a good mix and with the clear differentiation between the 5k and 10k courses, I felt like I got twice my money’s worth. This would be a do again race. I hated only that I was dealing with a toe injury so it did slow me down a little and that uphill grind was a little more punishing than it normally would be, but somehow I still cranked out a fast-ish finish. I didn’t necessarily think it at the time, but this actually could be a fast track despite the hills. I did over 65 races last year and didn’t have any on this course, so it was also a nice treat to do a different path. Kudos to KCRC for another great race.
The long sleeve tshirt seems sturdy and the medal was nicely designed with a lot of heft to it. 5 and 10k are the same medal with different ribbon color, but as I said, it’s heavy and pretty, so that’s not a bad thing.