Here we go with the second double of the year. Wendy and I flew into St. Louis on Friday and went to the expo to pick up my packet before driving over to Kansas. We were able to get everything done fairly quickly and was on the road for our 4 hour drive over to Olathe. It was an easy drive on I70 and was mostly farm land. Once we arrived in Olathe we checked into our hotel and headed straight over to this expo. It was much smaller than St. Louis but then again there was about 13,000 less runners.
Saturday morning arrived and we headed out to the start area which was at the Garmin Headquarters. This made it nice because there was enough parking for everyone there. The weather was cool but forcasted to warm up with some wind. The race started right at 7am and I was on my way. The first 6 miles of the course was boring and took us around the Great Plains Mall. Once we left that area it really turned out to be a great course. At mile 12 we split off from the half marathoners and started a 13 mile out and back. This was the best section of the course. It was on a asphault bike path with plenty of trees and shade. The course had some rolling hills but overall it was fairly flat. I finished about 11 minutes ahead of my weekend goal which gave me a little cushion for St. Louis. After a short stay at the finish area we headed out to get cleaned up so we can start the 4 hour drive back to St. Louis.
Sunday morning arrived and overall I felt pretty good. The weather was a few degrees warmer than yesterday and the forecast showed it would be warming up quickly once the sun came up. The race started shortly after 7am and day 2 was on its way. The course took us towards the Gateway Arch, past Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play, through the Budweiser brewery before heading back towards town. After running through downtown for a few miles the half marathoners split off and we continued to Forest Park. Once through the park we headed north for a couple miles before heading back to the city. The course really show cased St. Louis but it was very hilly. The hills never seemed to stop and they were long. Overall it was a great run and I am glad I had that cushion from the day before. Overall I finished 2 minutes ahead of my goal for the weekend and I left feeling good with very few issues.
I now have 16 states completed and I am off for a couple of weeks. Time to rest up a little before I start a busy May. I have 4 scheduled, Washington, Minnesota, Delaware, then Wisconsin. I will keep everyone updated on how these go.
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