Race report on Brew-to-Brew, April 1, 2012
Lawrence, Kansas, home of the KU Jayhawks, is almost a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Just a short drive down I-70 will get you there. Of course, there is a bit harder way to make the trek: on foot, across the levies and through the trailer parks of Kansas City, Kansas, the gravel roads of rural Douglas County and finally the perfect crushed limestone trail leading into Lawrence. This 43+ mile jaunt taking place on the first Sunday in April each year is known as the Brew to Brew.
I’ve written about the B-to-B the last couple of years, so I’ll keep the background pretty brief. It’s the brainchild of Lou Joline, an accomplished ultrarunner and race director, and has grown to 4,000+ participants. Primarily a relay event (there are 10 legs) with a party atmosphere, it also attracted 90+ solo runners in 2012. The starting point is the Boulevard Brewery on Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, with the finish line a few blocks from the Free State Brewery in Lawrence.
This event is sort of my opening day for the spring running season, and also a “can’t miss” race. Hell, I’d rather run this than Boston! Having a bit of OCD in me, I signed up as soon as registration was available last fall. Participation in the 2012 version was even more important–I’m retiring and relocating to southwestern Utah later this year. So this could be my last year at this. (On the other hand, I may return annually just for this event). Being a CPA, and given the early April date, I’m never in particularly good shape for it. Even worse was a five month (and counting) battle with plantar fasciosis, or PF.
Injury Woes. PF can be a nasty injury, and mine has been troublesome since the original occurrence in late November, 2011. I did manage a 100+ mile effort at Across the Years (see prior blog entry) but I just couldn’t get any improvement in the PF. Indeed, it seemed to be getting worse. A partial listing of the remedies tried so far in 2012: ART (Active Release Technique), barefoot running (Vibrams), regular running shoes, low-drop running shoes, hard orthotics, soft orthotics, no orthotics, stretching (including the “Pro-Stretch” device), foot exercises, an arch brace, RICE, changing foot strike…..well, you get the idea. For weeks on end, nothing seemed to work. By late February, I was thinking my running career was over. By early March and excluding ATY, my training log reflected a total of 66 actual running miles year to date (although I had spent considerable time cross training). The 2012 B-to-B was looking increasingly unlikely.
Then, in mid-March, some improvement. I had a new pair of orthotics made by my podiatrist. I focused on adjusting my foot strike to land more mid-foot vs being a heavy heel striker, and wore low-drop shoes t0 encourage this. With a lack of running miles “in the bank”, I spent 5 1/2 hours on the elliptical on March 17 as a final “long run” before the event. I decided to give it a shot, with the intent of dropping out if it appeared I was doing too much damage to the painful foot.
Race day. My last winter in KC was a breeze–virtually no snow, with warm temperatures dominating. Predictably, April 1 was scheduled to be warmer than normal…Hell, downright hot with forecast temperatures of 90 degrees. If it was any consolation, last year’s conditions were comparable–temps in the high 80’s with a 30 MPH headwind. At least this year the winds were much more modest, in the 10-15 MPH range, although again from the Southwest.
Pre-6 AM beer anyone?
A relay team stylin’ before the start.
The race. Actually, “race” should be in quotations. I’ve bemoaned the toll on running times taken by advancing age. Last year’s conditions led to a 43 minute (!) personal worst in this event. This year was unlikely to be any better, with a lack of conditioning, injury woes and really warm conditions. But, what the hell? At some level you’re just happy to be participating and you take what you can get. So off I slogged at 6 AM, recognizing the possibility of making it to Lawrence in the back of a stranger’s vehicle.
One of the best parts of any ultra-distance race is the start: that feeling of being full of energy, everything feeling good, the race full of possibilities. Plus, I’m a morning runner and love the early hours. This race didn’t disappoint, warm weather notwithstanding. One of the benefits of being a mid (back?) of the pack runner is the casual, conversational aspect of the event. I ran with a guy who was from the Lawrence area, now living in Colorado, returning for the event. He was 10+ years older than me and working on his 50-state marathon quest, and doing a solo here. Plus, the early morning temps were quite pleasant, as were the first couple legs of the event on the Kaw River levies.
The sun rising on KCK was not a welcome sight, with the promise of rising temperatures.
The sun hitting the KCK trailer parks: one of running’s grand sights.
I almost always pace myself with a run / walk split. This year was particularly conservative with a 6 minute run / 4 minute walk regimen. I was feeling pretty good as the temps increased. A cloud cover moved in during the early hours, which sort of kept a lid on the heat. I ran for a while with a Delta airlines pilot from Atlanta. He was running his first distance longer than the marathon and was asking me for advice. (Talk about the blind leading the blind!). He asked if “the wall” was out there somewhere. I told him that it likely was indeed, somewhere beyond Stranger Creek.
An unusual obstacle in a running event, I managed to time a walking break to end with the end of the train.
Kinda nasty running conditions through Bonner Springs, KS. Watch your lane!
The semi-urban portion of the event ends when the runner exits Bonner Springs. From that point it is largely some lightly traveled highway and gravel roads. I was feeling pretty good, although slow as hell. Hit the pig farm aid station (approximately marathon distance) in 4:50. Slow, but feeling OK. By now it was undeniably hot. Soon, we exited paved roads and hit the gravel roads leading to the crossing of Stranger Creek. One of the…uhhh…unusual aspects of an unusual race is the boat crossing. A bridge that has been out for years….a crossing by boat makes sense, yes?
Unidentified smiling dude in the boat with me.
Unidentified dudette in the boat with me.
Me, apparently still having fun. Photo by unidentified dudette.
At this point I was feeling pretty good and reasonably optimistic about the rest of the race. We were 30+ miles into it and I was still having fun.
This might as well have said, “Fun ends.”
The boat ride pretty much ended the fun part of the race. By now, the temperatures were really getting up there. Sweat was dripping in my eyes, and I vaguely wondered about the effectiveness of the sunscreen I’d applied hours earlier. The course moved to being hilly, gravelly, hot and windy. Relay runners passed me like I was standing still. The only things I was passing were the rocks. I knew this part of the course quite well, and knew it was a matter of trudging on. I tried to keep hydrated and add some ice to my bandana for the hot afternoon hours. I’m not sure about the Delta pilot, but “the wall” was there for me on the dusty gravel roads.
The long, hot dusty road to Lawrence.
Of course, any race eventually ends. I worked my way to to the KC Trail Nerds aid station at the 39 mile mark, the last before the finish line. Ben Holmes and the Nerds were predictably well stocked, so I added ice to my bandana and filled both bottles with ice water–one to drink and one to squirt on my head to try and keep cool. The last leg’s perfect running course was overshadowed by the hot temps and fatigue.
Disclaimer: this is last year’s picture of the last leg of the race. But the view didn’t change much.
My finish time was 8:27, yet another personal worst (this time by 13 minutes). But I finished, my foot survived and there was a cold brew waiting for me at the Free State Brewery. The temperature according to the car thermometer when Kathy picked me up: 91 degrees.
Startslow's Blog 