Join us this Father’s Day for the highly anticipated return of our annual race—now celebrating the 25th anniversary of Village Shalom on the Helzberg Campus for Jewish Living! It’s the perfect way for the whole family to kick off the holiday, with options for everyone: a 5KRace/Walk, 10K Race/Walk, or …
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Join us this Father’s Day for the highly anticipated return of our annual race—now celebrating the 25th anniversary of Village Shalom on the Helzberg Campus for Jewish Living! It’s the perfect way for the whole family to kick off the holiday, with options for everyone: a 5KRace/Walk, 10K Race/Walk, or Kid’s Fun Run. All proceeds benefit the Village Shalom Financial Assistance Program, which supports residents who have exhausted their financial resources and Memory Support. Since its inception, Village Shalom has remained committed to never asking a resident to leave due to an inability to pay for their care, providing annual support totaling $2.1 million to one in four of its healthcare residents. Your participation helps ensure we can continue this tradition of care. All registrations include a Race T-Shirt and Finisher’s Medal. In honor of our milestone anniversary, we invite you to also consider making a donation at checkout to help support our mission and celebrate the legacy of Village Shalom. Come race with us, and let’s celebrate 25 years of community and care!
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Run those hills….on a rainy day
The Shalom Village Father’s Day 5k/10k race is a pretty straightforward race. The route is a 1 or 2 loop rectangle. The soft cotton shirt matches the heavyweight medal. Three … MORE
The Shalom Village Father’s Day 5k/10k race is a pretty straightforward race. The route is a 1 or 2 loop rectangle. The soft cotton shirt matches the heavyweight medal. Three aid stations on a 5k route are two more than more races. There were a few vendors, including a much appreciated coffee truck, obstacle moonwalk for kids, and a raffle. The race is a fundraiser for the Alzheimers’/memory unit of Shalom Village, so at mile 3 they had “in honor of” signs, which I greatly appreciated. As much as I was prepared to say that nothing really stood out, if you add up all the details, this is really a race above the rest.
I’m a big race day packet pick-up runner, and it went off without a hitch. Parking is a short walk away, and without another problem. Due to some thunderstorms, the race started 15 minutes late. Forecasets called for thunderstorms the day prior and race organizers were great in sending emails and posting to social that the race was still on. They also let us know ahead of time that a final decision would be made at 7am, 30 minutes prior to start time. I’ve been to bigger races where decision were made 12 hours prior (here’s looking at you Oklahoma City), so I appreciated race directors taking us along the process.
I missed having the national anthem play, but I won’t hold it against them. Once we started, within the first few yards we immediately turned right. The rolling hills definitely start right away and didn’t let up. Jkelling had already told me that this was a hilly course, so I tried to brace myself. I also knew that once the rain let up, the mugginess would set in, so I tried to take advantage whenever I could. Little did I know that would be able to keep a 13:22 pace for the entire 10k.
After reviewing my splits, it’s obvious that the hilliest portion is mile 2 / 5. Both of these were my only 14+ pace miles. I really do have to give props to jkelling, again. He is the best running partner anyone could ask for. I struggle with hills, especially in the summer. He’s patience, and insistence, however, have helped my hill work tremendously. There is definitely still room for improvement, but I am super proud of the progress I have made in the last year.
This wasn’t a huge race. I didn’t see the usual crew of runners, but I know the weather caused issued for at least three of my running friends. I look forward to doing this race again. I can’t guarantee a repeat performance since there is no shade on the course, but I’ll definitely try to keep up.
Good challenge regardless of weather
I've now done this course in brutal heat and high humidity summer rain. It's hard either way, but personally I prefer the rain. This course is two laps of a … MORE
I’ve now done this course in brutal heat and high humidity summer rain. It’s hard either way, but personally I prefer the rain. This course is two laps of a rectangle. I’m still not a huge fan of laps, but at least you know what to expect next time around. This course isn’t easy. There are a lot of hills and the weather never makes that easy. The thing is, it’s a nice hard course without going to far and being punitive. This course doesn’t mock you, it doesn’t break you, but it challenges you, and while I was sucking wind today as my electrolytes tanked and I had nothing on me (rookie mistake…I know) ccruiz03 was blasting through to set her fastest 10k of the year. It was inspiring to watch, but unfortunately I could not throw a rope around her and have her tow me, and my armor felt especially heavy today. The tshirt is a pretty basic cotton…not necessarily in a bad way, just not really remarkable. The medal is a good sized 10k, and it’s personalized to the race, but something about it just strikes me like it was designed by people who don’t run. I don’t know, I’m just lukewarm on it. Food trucks and a raffle are available, and the espresso was actually quite good. One of the three aid stations had some super funky water at it, and there was no gatorade on the course, so learn from my mistake and make sure you have your own. I’m not a fan of summer, summer running, summer races, but this is one that I’ll be at every year. Hopefully next year with proper hydration.
Sleeper win
What is this race? 35 years and I'd never heard of it, though the staff told me they had a multiyear hiatus. I have been sleeping on this little 5k/10k … MORE
What is this race? 35 years and I’d never heard of it, though the staff told me they had a multiyear hiatus. I have been sleeping on this little 5k/10k but I will not make that mistake again. This race punched well above its weight class. A dozen vendors, three excellent food trucks, the course was hard today as the unseasonable high humidity and heat index continued, and couples with yesterday’s punishing half marathon, my body armor felt extra heavy today, so my performance was legitimately lacking. Only came in a little below pace, but it took a LOT more out of me than normal. Shade on the course? Nope. Lots of hills though. Long ones. This double lap 10k will give you some nice long elevation gains and some very short elevation declines as you conduct your 2 laps. Massive props to the Overland Park Police Department who had some very motivated officers out there blocking intersections who were all about cheering on the participants. There’s minimal crowd support here, so it’s nice to have somebody energized. That said, the lovely elderly couple with the sign saying “Free Fist Bumps”…you’re amazing…thank you.
The Tshirt is a very soft cotton that honestly I’m probably actually going to wear again, and the medal was very nicely designed. I half expected one of the generic “Great (insert length here) Race!” medals, but this was stylistically appropriate to the race and clearly not generic.
After the race there was still tons going on, even for the back of the packers (“my peeps” as they say) and the energy was still very much in a protracted party mode. For an under-the-radar race they certainly made a big impression, and I’ll probably be back next year.