Kansas - McKenzie Marathon (Part 1.)

After a long silence I reappear with new tales in running. Where do I begin? The last month has been an amazing yet hectic episode. It seems as though the time which I would dedicate to writing on this blog has been overcome with the stacks and stacks of exams and papers. That's the life of a college student... On October 28 I awoke, dressed and acted as though I was attending class. A quarter of the way through, after attendance was taken I headed back to my dorm. I quickly packed, awoke my roommate and asked for a ride to the airport. The roommate obliged and slowly lumbered toward his vehicle. I threw my bags in and said thanks and left.
I arrived in Kansas City late at 8 P.M. Without incident I grabbed my rental car from Budget and headed out to Salina, Kansas. After about a four hour drive I arrived in Salina and made reservations at a local motel (the name escapes me.) Before heading to bed I made an attempt to locate the park which is hosting the race. After about 45 minutes searching the web I found somewhat conclusive proof where the park might be. The next morning I arrived early to Bill Burke sports complex in the heart of Salina, Kansas. There was around 30-40 attending on race morning.

I wasn't sure who was a part of the marathon and who was part of the relay. It didn't really matter because I wasn't really at this race to win it. Without any registration or bib number the competitors lined up. 8 A.M rolled around and the countdown began.
Soon all of the competitors were off, and headed off into the distance. I managed to stay back and contain my enthusiasm. While I usually begin chatting with people almost immediately there was little to no communication. I stayed in the middle of the pack but it was strangely silent.

The course was somewhat flat as we progressed down the parking lot and ascended a few feet onto a levee type narrow trail. It soon occurred to me that I might be dealing with a mix of trail and road, which is uncommon for marathons.

After a short stint on the levee trail, the course descended onto a grassy area which winded behind a number of sports fields, and eventually reaching a junction with a paved flat trail which ran parallel to a soccer field. The paved trail lead eventually lead out away from the sports complex; nearly a mile after the start the course lead back to another levee. Again the course departed from the levee and descended, turned right and went out and came back. Upon reaching the intersection again the course turned right and headed to the outside of another stretch of park belonging to the same park which the race began from. After rounding the outside of the park the course ran straight and back to the levee trail. Upon reaching the trail the course headed right and straight for an out and back eventually leading back to the paved trail at mile 5. The course then rounded the bend and headed left around a baseball field eventually reaching the pavilion where the race began. Since the race course consisted of 6 1/2 mile loops the race was run four times.



The first lap of the course was met with quite a bit of exhilaration. The lap progressed quite quickly and I found myself finishing the first lap with many of those in the relay portion of the marathon. I was met with cheering as I crossed the finish line, but no one captured my time. I asked a couple of individuals whom I need to inform to start another lap. While mildly confused I began another loop. The second lap was met with solitary running. I began implementing walking quickly into my second lap. I felt good, but felt as though the aid was only for relay members as I passed empty aid stations and lonely intersections where volunteers had been minutes before. I continued on and witnessed three runners arriving in the opposite direction. Witnessing others out on the course gave me hope that this race wasn't going to be as lonely as I had imagined. I finished my second lap and began my third lap. Now I realized that I was alone. Did the others finish? What was going to happen now? Would the race stay open? Was I going to finish? I slowly moseyed into the finish of my third lap. The only presence I witnessed as I crossed the line to finish the third lap was the race director Christina Humphrey. I posed the question "Can I still finish?" She responded yes. I began the third lap, Christina manned the aid stations and followed me. Slowly I made my way from mile 1 to mile 2, mile 3, mile 4, mile 5. As I crossed over the last aid station a gentleman who had been manning the aid station all day mentioned "Congratulations." I quickly snapped back responding with "what for?" "You won the marathon," he said. I laughed and kindly thanked him and descended for the last mile of the race. I finished, 5 hours and 12 minutes later thus winning the most unorthodox marathon I have ever been a part of. Upon traveling back to Kansas City I stopped over in Topeka for a few hours.