Opening day

For those of us in the Midwest, the arrival of spring is always welcome, symbolically closing the door on the cold days of winter.  The calendar notwithstanding, everyone has their own sure signs of spring.  For me, they are opening day of the baseball season, and the  Brew to Brew running event.   Unfortunately, the end of tax season, April 15 comes after both of the above, and it’s hard to fully enjoy any event fully prior to mid-April.  But I’ve been a CPA for 30+ years, so I take what I can get.  Opening day and B to B were only three days apart this year, with baseball on March 31 and running on April 3.

Brew to Brew is a 43 mile race from the Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City to the Free State Brewery in Lawrence, KS.  It is primarily a relay event, with 10 legs which can be shared by a team of runners, but can also be run solo.  The race director is Lou Joline, an accomplished ultrarunner himself.  B to B was my first ultramarathon in 2005, and I’d only missed one running since then.   It’s just a fun event, with a beer theme taken to heart by many relay team members.

Pre-race libations. Anyone for a Boulevard Wheat at 5:30 AM?

Of course, Mother Nature sometimes throws challenges at early season events.  This year’s baseball home opener on Thursday, March 31 was played in less-than-ideal baseball weather:  50 degrees, an occasional light rain and wind.  (The Royals lost, surprise, surprise).   But the weather warmed dramatically in three days, and Sunday’s race day forecast was calling for temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80’s, very warm for running.  Plus, as a bonus, a 30+ MPH wind from the Southwest, directly in the face of the runners on the trek from Kansas City to Lawrence.  If we could have just exchanged weather for these events…..

Last year’s race report on this event was titled “Through the Past, Darkly” with the sub-heading “What a drag it is getting old.”  The full report can be found earlier in this blog, but basically it’s a story of moving from a sub-7 hour pace a few years ago to damn near dying in a journey lasting 7:30.   Amazing how much a guy can slow in a few post-50 years.  So this year, I was determined to run within my diminishing abilities and not melt down.  Further, I knew the weather / wind was going to be tough, but I would just work through it.

As in past years, the solo runners started at 6 AM at the Boulevard Brewery.  I was on my usual run / walk split, broken down into 10-minute increments.  I started with a run 7, walk 3 minute split, planning to hold this as long as possible.  Normally, 6 AM in early April brings really brisk weather.  Ominously, I was very comfortable in my short sleeved shirt.

The first few miles of the event traverse the Kaw River levee, and are perfectly flat and a very fine running surface.  Who doesn’t like the early miles of a long run?   Comfortable pace, everything feels good, you just know it’s going to be a good day.  The course exits the Levee for the third leg, which is kind of tour of the mobile home parks in Kansas City, Kansas.

You think I was kidding about the mobile home parks?

And yet another.

The course continues through KCK, with a train crossing thrown in.

I didn't get delayed at the train crossing, but things quickly went downhill otherwise.

Legs three through five are not my favorites and represent the more urban sections through Edwardsville and Bonner Springs.  There’s also a fair amount of traffic on this section.  Somewhere in the stretch at the two hour mark, I realized I was already warm.  Jeez….8AM in early April and I’m noticing the heat and humidity?  Not good for a race that would last until the early afternoon.  After the fifth leg, we’d covered just a bit more than half the course at 22.1 miles.  I hit this in 3:56…..definitely on pace for a personal worst in this event, but given the warm weather and the relentless headwinds, I was just focused on doing the best I could.

I didn't ask this guy about his team....seemed best to avoid the subject.

Leg six began the more rural sections of the course…..with a long, steep uphill.  A minor benefit was that it started out headed north, with a temporary break from the wind.  I covered the long hill with a guy who was planning a “journey run,” a 240 mile run along the Katy Trail, a “rails to trails” conversion in Missouri.  He had reservations at inns along the way, and was planning on taking six days to cover the trek.  Sounds like fun!

The sixth leg ends with an aid station at a pig farm.  Really.  At this stop, the wind was blowing so hard the supplies at the aid station were weighted down to keep from blowing off the table.  This was just short of marathon distance at 25.4 miles.  My pace had slowed, I was hot and tired and had a gale blowing in my face…..with 18 miles to go.

End of leg six--at the pig farm.

Leg seven features another unique B to B feature–the boat ride.  The course heads off on a gravel road which abruptly ends with a bridge that has been out for years.  Volunteers operate a boat to transport runners across the appropriately-named “Stranger Creek.”

Taking a ride across Stranger Creek.

Legs eight and nine are run on hilly gravel roads.  By this time, the heat was building and the winds were relentless.   Grinding up a long hill, the wind seemed to take a break…..until I reached the crest and received a hot blast of dust in my face.  That’s about the time I saw these guys:

Having a brewski with these guys was much more appealing than grinding out the last 12 or so miles.

The end of the ninth leg is always appealing.  It means there are only 4.7 miles to go, which is back on a flat, crushed gravel levee surface, and the aid station is manned by the Kansas City Trail Nerds.  The Nerds are always fully equipped.  I had some Coke, refilled with ice and water and headed towards the Free State Brewery.

The perfect running surface had a downside:  it was right into the teeth of the wind, with nothing to break its force.  My pace had slowed even more.  One relay runner motioned me to draft behind him…..a nice gesture, but there was no way I could keep up with him.  I slogged on towards the finish.

A perfect running surface, but nothing to break the wind.

I finally hit the finish line in 8:13, a personal worst by 43 minutes (almost exactly one minute per mile).  I took a bottle of water and lay down on the north (shady, wind-protected) side of the Lawrence City Hall.  Within about 10 minutes I felt much better, ready for some refreshments.

A festive crowd of (mostly relay) runners enjoying food and beer in Lawrence.

The conditions for the 2011 B to B were very difficult–temperatures approached 90 degrees and there was a relentless headwind.  As a result, it was difficult to judge the quality of my effort other than the personal worst in terms of finish time.  Then, weeks after the race, this arrived in the mail:

I'm not even sure what a "grandmaster" is....must be a really old dude!