Hospital Hill Half Marathon Race Report

What a morning! Woke up bright and early for the third weekend in a row. Okay...maybe it's not bright at 4:30 am-but it's early...way early. At least this time it was in our own bed. I met up with Kym at 5:30 am to head downtown for the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. After getting to Crown Center, we met up with Karen, her brother and his girlfriend as well as with Carrie and Joel. I ran into a lot of people that I know. It's fun to run a local race to see faces and catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. It was a warm, humid morning and only got warmer as the day and race continued.

ONE HILLY COURSE! I ran it 2 years ago, so I knew what I was getting myself into. The run was great. It runs you through a nice course around Kansas City. This year, they even took out one hill (at the end due to construction) but it will be back next year...can't wait! Hot and humid-oh...I already said that? There were people dropping like flies. People didn't prepare themselves and/or went out way too fast and in return, got bit in the butt. I finished in around 2:43ish...slow and steady. Our race shirts on the back say, "I conqured the hill". Hill? There was not just one hill. There were too many to count! They SHOULD say I conqured the whole damn city of hillsssss. And Kansas City is not flat. I promise you that.

The race went well, the water stops were okay. Some seemed a little disorganized but I never had to wait for water and they never ran out (which I have experienced way too often). I actually ran into a couple friends at water stops that were volunteering today. They were not racing today as they are competing in Ironman Kansas next weekend (a Half Ironman). It was very nice of them to come out and volunteer while they are in taper mode. I'll try to make it out next week to see you guys and return the favor! As for the spectators, they were nice, cheering us on. The volunteers and officers watching the intersections were priceless. Many were cheering us on and offering kind words.

What I do have an issue with is the general Kansas City driving public. They stink. Out of all the races I have done and all the cities I have been to, I have never experienced the rudeness I have seen from Kansas City drivers. There is a race going on here people-get over yourself and find a way around it. People honking and not paying attention to the volunteers trying to assist them-uggg. When I ran this course last time, there was a driver that was driving right through an intersection with runners coming through and an officer had clearly signaled for him to stop. You could hear the officer yelling and then...'crunch'. The officer was pissed and kick boxed the side of this guys car. This year, I didn't see that, but did see several officers yelling at drivers not paying attention and/or not doing what they were instructed to do. You suck people! You suck!

Now to the schwag...the schwag was Whoo! Whoo! My packet contained a dri-fit short sleeved t-shirt, a very cool nylon bag and a visor. At the finish, the medals were very neat...really neat...very fun and we received blue flip flops that have the HH logo and says Hospital Hill Finisher on them. I was super duper happy with everything we received. We used to get really cool shorts. It was nice to get something different then a shirt, but there's a new race director and even though we didn't get shorts, I love what we got and I think she did a great job.

And finisher's photos
Joel and Carrie...

Kim and Kym...

So...that's it for full and half marathons for a while...til October. Now it's time for some trial running fun! I'm very excited about the trail runs I have coming up. It'll mix things up a bit and I honestly think it gives me a tougher workout then road running. Stay tuned for the excitement...can we say bug bites, poison ivy and snakes?!