This was my 27th state. I had been wanting to get Kansas crossed off for a while as it's a bordering state to me, and I'm poor. lol. But, which one? I was told about this one for years now. And, in all honesty, I've been putting it off for years so that I can complete it with a friend of mine who is an avid Wizard of Oz fan. But,after years of waiting, I finally just decided to sign up.
This was a huge themed race. Wizard of Oz was everywhere. There were cardboard cut outs of nearly every character at the expo and many others along the race. It was one of those races where so many people decided to dress up for the even in costume. One new friend of mine even made several changes and wore 5 or 6 outfits throughout.
The race was also sponsored by Garmin, so it's a great place for runners to journey to. The race started and ended at the Garmin headquarters. So, if you are as attached to your Garmin as you are your children, you really should view this as some kind of destination run! In fact, the best part of this race may have been that the event's start and finish line were right next to the covered parking lot of the Garmin building. So, there was plenty of close, free parking. How often can you say that about a race?!
This was a mid-level race as far as quantity of participants. There were only 1,800 people running the half. I'm sure there were many more doing the full, but it was pretty small compared to a RnR or something like that. However, it was much larger than some I have completed that had less than 100 runners. That is all to say the expo was kind of lacking. There were probably a couple dozen vendors. And many of those were just insurance companies. But, I got some decent swag. But, nothing too high quality like new racing equipment. The Gamin folks definitely didn't give free watches to all; hahaha.
The start of the race was good. As mentioned earlier, the parking lot was close by. It was cold, so I could actually hang out in my car for a bit. There were also plenty of port-o-potties with very short lines. It also had plenty of places to pose and get a good pre-race picture.
The race itself was fine. I have a habit of focusing on my run and forgetting to look around. So, I can't give a good description of the scenery. But, I can say it was a lot hillier than I had prepared for. I had looked at the course map prior (as I always do). And between the fact it appeared flat, Kansas' reputation and the elevation being 4K+ lower than where I live, I stopped running around my hilly neighborhood and focused more on treadmill running where I could run faster, flat runs in preparation. This was a big mistake. It's not that I haven't run races that had more inclines, it's just that I was unprepared for the few there were. I think there were about 5 good hills with 3 of those being difficult if you haven't trained for hills. In the end, I still got a good time of just under 1:45. I had a lot of help from the lower elevation.
Then, the after party began! They had a lot to offer. They had a live DJ. They had a truck that was giving several varieties of beers. There was also a local Mexican restaurant that was handing out margaritas. And who doesn’t want a margarita after a long race?! They had another tent that was giving out chicken sandwiches as well. So, as a fan of food and drinks, it was great. In addition to that, they also had a decent amount of vendors. Of course, the biggest was Garmin who had a place to get pictures converted to an MP4. It was a fun time all in all. I’m glad I did it.
The only thing I, personally, didn’t like about it was the race shirt/medal. This was “the year of Dorothy.” And as such, the shirt had a girl-shaped “Oz.” And the medal was that of a ruby slipper. It seems like most of the ladies loved it. However, it was feminine enough, that I will probably not wear the shirt again. But, that’s not a horrible loss as I have WAY TOO MANY race shirts in my closet already.
And to not, end with just the race, I also like to talk about the city. It was a good race to visit. It was my official Kansas run. But, it was in the Kansas City area. As such, I was able to make my way across the border and hang out in Missouri for the first time. I found fun to be had on both sides of the border. Probably the best place I spent was in the “Power and Light District” in downtown Kansas City, MO. My buddy and I also ventured to see the national WWI museum which had a lot of great information and history. I’m sure there are a lot of other good races in Kansas. But, I would highly suggest this one if you are looking for a great Kansas race experience!