My favorite short distance race in Kansas City, hands down. KC is known to throw some hilly courses your way, but Trolley Run is an exception and is a great course to run fast times with lots of downhills!

Pre-race:
Since this is a point-to-point race (which I love), you have the option to park your car at the start or at the finish with shuttle buses transferring you each way.

The cause:
CCVI is the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired in Kansas City. Most road races benefit charities, but this one is unique because those who benefit from this charity are very present at the race. From groups of children cheering throughout the race to program graduates-turned-Paralympic athletes competing, it was really cool to see how much of an impact this race made on fundraising efforts and how much appreciation they showed to all the runners who were just out there to have a good time.

Race:
Like I said, FAST COURSE! You might even hit a 5k PR during the race, it is that fast. There's maybe a couple gradual hill climbs in the neighborhood, but other than that, pretty quick. You can really gun it on the last mile. The weather is typically pretty good, today was a bit warm, but there are plenty of aid stations to fuel up.

Post-race party: Amazing! SOOO much food. You could probably just stay and eat enough for your breakfast and lunch. There's Papa Murphy's Pizza, some random guy frying bacon, muffins, cookies, yoghurt, chocolate milk, Panera, towels, lemonade, cider, organic fig bars...my advice is to bring your bag and load up for later.

Prizes: A lot of elites show up to this race because of the generous amount of cash prizes. They also raffle off a brand new car, no big deal.

Swag: Shirt, no medal. Honestly, I would take that much food over a medal any day. I think medals are a bit frivolous and I usually toss mine out or donate them, so it was nice to see that excess item cut out and be replaced with what I truly care about, food.