The Kickoff 5k
02/05/2023
Leawood, KS
Do you know what is better than football and a 5k? That’s easy. A Football Themed 5k! That is what we had this morning at the Kickoff 5k in Leawood, KS. A football themed 5k to celebrate yet another amazing year for our Kansas City Chiefs!
Before going any further, a huge batch of shout outs are in order! We had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR of our KC Hustle Club Ambassadors doing volunteer work at this race. Our guys Mark and William were crushing it at the start line, and our lovely ladies Sarah and Amy were keeping runners safe out on the course. You four are friggin awesome, and I could NOT be any happier having these amazing people repping the show and our running club. I’m not good with all of today’s kids lingo, but I am going to say that y’all “Slayed” today!
The race is one I have done before. I am familiar with this course, or at least so I told myself going into it. Either the course has changed a bit, or my memory has gotten worse, but long story short, there were mistakes made on this one!
The first mile was heaven. It was a steady flat and downhill mile of running. I shot across the starting line like I had been fired out of a cannon! I hit mile marker one at a pace of 9:38. My friends, I haven’t had a sub 10 minute mile to my name in a LONG time!
Passing mile marker one was great. The left turn at the light right behind mile marker one was where reality hit. I turned that corner and then I saw it. An uphill that might as well have been Mt. Everest. I swear there were clouds touching the top of that thing. And that hill is where my fast pace went to die!
Mile two had some brutal hills. Three of them to be exact. My pace fell from 9:38 to 11:00 in that second mile. I was able to squeak out a 10:39 last mile to finish up with a 31:41. According to my wearable device. 31:45 was my chip time. I have not compared it to my spreadsheet of 5k times, but this would be a PR I would decline. The course was short. 3.04 miles according to my Straava and the watch of at least two others I spoke to after the race. Hey, nobody is perfect. Course got measured a little short. Big whoop. I’m not mad at em.
We move on now to next weekend and the Sweetheart Shuffle 10k. This is in Overland Park, KS and is another race I am familiar with. This is historically the coldest race of the year. We will have to see if Mother Nature decides to take pity on us this year.
Make sure you tune into this week's episode of the Podcast. There is some important information on the New York Marathon that you don’t want to miss! Have a great week of training and we will see you Saturday 02/11/2023 at the starting line!