Come my friends and let me tell you about a little running
adventure aptly named Brew to Brew. B2B is a long running race (over 20 years)
put on by the Kansas City Track Club. They are a great group of runners out of
some town (can't seem to remember exactly which one). The event is most
commonly run as a relay, where a team splits up the duties of making a trek on
foot from Boulevard Brewery in KC to Free State Brewery in Lawrence. Well that
is the idea, really the run goes from The Roasterie (an awesome coffee shop
right next to Boulevard) to a brew pub in Lawrence near Free State. But, all of
that is beside the point. The event is awesome and even better, if you are dumb
enough you can tackle the entire 45 miles solo. And you are in luck for this
blog, because I am dumb as hell. So you know I ran it, and the mad man of NWA
(Northwest Arkansas) Shannon was with me. So let me tell you about this great
running event, that despite selling out almost every year for the 20+ years of
its existence I had never heard of.
Nice Logo, it is now a little different but I still like it
A place to visit for sure
Don't worry we went here too.
First there is the issue of Kansas City being like 4 hours
away, and I would need to get there. You know me, I like to take a group with
me wherever I go. But the weekend of the race was getting very close to the
wedding so Brynna decided that she better not make the journey. In steps the
Executive Club, even though they were not running I was able to convince Wes
and Pip to make the trip over. This was good for two reasons. First, they are
awesome and second this being a point-to-point race I really didn't have a plan
to get back to my car. I am sure that since Shannon and Jody would be there they
would have helped me out, but my crew meant that I didn't have anything to
worry about. To take his generosity over the top, Wes not only agreed to come
to this race that he was not running but also offered up his car and driving
for the trip. Total Win! So after our Saturday morning run and of course a
solid brunch, the three stooges loaded up in Wes' Subaru and we headed to KC.
The plan was to meet Shannon and Jody at packet pickup near the start line. Now
the trip down was pretty uneventful but I did have something weighting on my
mind. See the original plan was to just crash with Shannon and Jody who being
much better planners than I already had secured a hotel room. But now we had
too many people for one room and as I soon learned the opening game of the
Kansas City Royals was this same weekend. So there were not really any rooms to
be had. So a was pretty nervous about what we would do come bed time. But I was
not going to get too spun up, things usually work out in the end. So off to KC
we went and before too long and without much drama we pulled up in front of The
Roasterie.
Where most plans are hatched
Now going in, I didn't really know what The Roasterie was. I
just assumed it was some kind of coffee shop, but as we came up on the spot I
was blown away. The store has a full size WWII era plane in the roof, looking
like it was about to take off. The place was massive. And I guess calling it a
coffee shop is a misnomer as they process and package their own beans there as
well. So walking in a was pretty jazzed up, the inside of the building was not
left out on the over the top treatment for this place either. They kept the
aeronautical theme going and pulled it off really well. In the back of the shop
they had a whole room set up for packet pick-up for the race. Now most weird
races like this that I have been to, don't really do that much in way of race
bags. You usually just get your number (maybe a timing chip) and are told where
to be for the race start. Not this race, not only did they have printed
instructions for the crew complete with maps, but all kinds of cool bonus swag
for running, including some of that coffee I was talking about (which I knew
Brynna would enjoy) and a pint glass. In addition, they had all kinds of
jackets, shirts, hats, and whatnots with the race logo on it. So before I left
I grabbed a nice Nike running jacket with the race logo embroidered in the
front. I really like the jacket and the logo so it has become a pretty regular
part of my wardrobe. Plus, I had to be happy with it as Pip bought the running
vest I was wanting.
I mean how cool is that?
When Shannon got to the spot I think he and Jody were a
little surprised to see Wes and Pip with me. In all the running around and last
minute planning I guess I never really bothered to tell them that I was
bringing a bunch of people. And right away I could see the concern on their
faces. They knew the hotel situation and were also worried about how we would find
spots for everyone to sleep. We talked for a little while and Shannon got his
packet, then we decided we could not solve these concerning issues without
beer, so we made our way over to the Boulevard Tap Room. Before you get to the
Tap Room there is a gift shop out front. We were instantly distracted by this
and started shopping around, until someone came out of the Tap Room and said it
was last call. So we rushed the bar and got a round before we missed out. We
tried a couple of cool beers that were only available in the tap room (I think)
and after wrapping up there went back to the gift shop. There we found some
cool shirts and I got some treats for my pups, some barley dog snacks that I
kind of got as a goof but the dogs went crazy for. Even dogs love beer. So it
was getting late (really only 5pm) and we still needed to find some food so
before we headed to the outskirts of town where the hotel was I talked everyone
into checking out a cool little spot that I found a few years back when I came
to KC for the Hospital Hill half marathon. It is called Westside Local, and
they have a cool atmosphere and really good food and beer selections. I was
particularly interested in a veggie burger that they are known and my
enthusiasm got everyone else on board. So we headed that way. We were able to
get in as we kind of beat the dinner rush and everyone ordered food and drinks.
After a while of waiting for our food, and crushing an appetizer, the server
came with some very bad news. They were out of the veggie patties so no burger
for me. I was a little perplexed by this, as it was very early in the evening
to already be 86ing food. But they were nice about it and I just ordered
something else. When it came time to check out they ended up not even charging
me for the food and I thought that was a classy move in their part. So needless
to say all was forgiven. Everyone seemed to enjoy the place and it is in a cool
part of town. A lot of neat little houses that have been redone. I would highly
recommend checking out this area of Kansas City. Well with the beer and food
handled it was time to face the music and figure out what we were going to do
about the sleeping situation.
Westside Local
So the room that Jody and Shannon got was in the nearby town
of Overland Park, KS. I figured we would just roll up there (as it was a little
outside of Kansas City) and be able to grab an extra room at their hotel. But,
oh boy, I was wrong. They did not have anything available and when we got into
their room it was pretty clear that the 5 of us were not going to be able to
reasonably share one room. So I hit the internet and found one lone suite even
further out of town. So without giving it a chance to disappear I booked the
room and we all headed over there to see what that situation looked like. It
was a nice big suite and the guy at the desk was super helpful but also only a
single bed. I guess like every kids sporting event in the universe was also
going on for that weekend, the hotel was just buzzing with kids in matching
shirts and talking a million miles an hour. But in a last minute save they
brought us a blow up mattress that was really nice and Wes said it looked good
enough for him, so we called it a success and headed to Sam’s Club for last
minute supplies. I was into the walking around Sam’s Club and grabbing snacks
and whatnot. Plus, they had my favorite Cottonelle flushable wipes. You can
only get the big box of them at Sam’s Club so I grab them. I don’t mean to
overstate it, but I am pretty sure that finding these wipes a few years ago
changed my life, LOL. Despite my excitement it was getting late and Shannon was
ready to crash so we decided to pack it in with a plan that I would be to their
hotel in the morning and Shannon and I would ride in his car to the start line.
Then Jody would catch a ride with Wes and Pip later after they got sleep and
breakfast and all that good stuff. So finally a very long day came to an end.
The massive air bed they brought Wes
Sam's Club for the Win!
Well I guess we should talk about the race at some point.
Now this race is a point to point as I said and Shannon had run it several
years back, describing it as almost all road with a very short gravel section.
At the start line it looked like there would be some pretty serious
competition. I was not really planning on doing anything big at the race, but
having just won the very cool and low key race in Stillwater OK the Land Run
50k I was unsure how it might go. But standing at the starting line with a
former Badwater winner and a really solid looking sponsored runner from
Colorado I felt the pressure was off. There is no way I was doing anything big
for this race. So Shannon and I did our normal not taking anything seriously
and jacking around at the start and before we knew it the gun went off and we
raced into the dark of the morning with two or three runners taking a big lead
right out of the gate. I love running at night and early in the race we crossed
a big bridge over the Kansas river, it was awesome and really peaceful. Well of
me anyways, I don’t think Shannon enjoyed it that much. On the other side we
had to descend some steep stairs and then run under the bridge. As I headed for
that area I was kind of wishing that I had some kind of light, but then I saw
an unbelievable site. A line of volunteers with flashlights signaling our way.
I would soon find that volunteers were something this race had in spades and
let me tell you, it made all the difference. This could have been a fairly
mundane race, as it was mostly just following highways, but the volunteers
really went all out and took this race over the top for me.
Race Course
Finish of the Land Run 50k. I know the sign says 100 but that was for the bikes
This dude at the Finish of the Land Run was awesome, flipped out for every runner and rider.
As for the race I was completely lied to about the amount of
gravel. Large sections of the beginning of the race were on the levy of the
river, which was packed gravel. This would not have been much of an issue, but
the shoe choice was not ideal for this terrain. Shannon and I ran together for
a little while, but our paces on this day were not meshing up well. Also, there
was the slight issue that I really overhydrated for the race so in the first 6
miles I must have stopped at least a dozen times to pee. So when all was said
and done, by the time I hit the first crew aid station at mile 10 I was running
by myself and really had no idea where I was in the field. But, I did get to
meet some cool other runners on the course. For a while I ran next to a young
lady named Jaclyn Long and we talked about gross running stuff. It turns out
she would go on to win the race on the female side of things. I knew she looked
strong when I saw her. At that aid station I got to see Pip and Wes, they
looked to be having a much better time than me, LOL. But it is always up
lifting to see familiar faces on the course. I blew through the aid station and
let them know that Shannon should be right behind me. Just past the aid station
I saw the former Badwater winner talking on his phone and slowly walking back
to the aid station, not a good sign. I asked him if everything was ok, but he
said that he was having some medical issues and dropping out of the race. What
a bummer, with the way he took off he surely would have had a great day on the
course. Hopefully everything worked out. As the race was a point to point style
event I found quickly that I was not going to see many people on the course so
it was going to get pretty lonely. Luckily there were plenty of interesting
sites along the way to entertain me.
Besides all the volunteers and getting to see Jody, Wes, and
Pip every now and again, which made for excitement. Other wonders revealed
themselves on the journey. As anyone who spends any amount of time running down
the side of the road can attest to, you are going to see your fair share of
dead animals. That is nothing new, but as I was crossing a bridge I saw a very
large bird on the side of the road. It was laying in such a way that I could
not possibly still be alive, but it looked very strange. As I go closer I
realized that it was a pheasant. But this was a big nice looking pheasant that
did not look like it might if say, it had been hit by a car. Seemed to be in
good shape, only when I got right up on it did I see that it was a fully
mounted taxidermy pheasant. It must have fallen off someone’s truck or
something but clearly a strange site for the side of the road. Later I was
coming up a long slow climb that we would turn at the top of. I could see a
group of volunteers at the intersection waiting to guide runners. So I was
plugging along towards the intersection when suddenly I felt my foot get pushed
forward from behind. I immediately thought, oh man I am getting hit by a car,
but that was not the case. It turns out a very large dog had run up behind me
and was trying to bite at my shoe. It scared the crap out of me. But with some
hollering the dog ran off back home and I started to try and get my heart rate
back down. At the top of the hill I told the volunteers that they might want to
watch out as there was a dog that just took a snap at me. One of them looked at
me and said, “yeah we saw that” so I was like “oh, well I guess I will be going
then” it was a pretty strange interaction but did not really deter from the
race.
This was not the bird clearly, but you get the idea.
At this point I was heading down a long road and running low
on water and food. I had been doing a really good job on this race of staying
on top of my nutrition but I realized that I had not seen the crew in a while.
Times like that always make me nervous, because even though there was almost
nowhere to get off course when you are out there by yourself for a long time
and you haven’t seen your people you start to question if you are on the right
track. Just then as if they had heard me Wes’ car came flying down the road. I
would later find out that they went back to KC to get Shannon’s car and move it
to the finish line. What a pro move by the crew, these guys are the best. So at
the next aid station I was able to get more food from them and settle into the
last half of the race. Coming into one of the aid stations one of the workers
took my bottle to fill it and said that the leaders were only about 5 minutes
ahead of me. Which I didn’t think much of as five minutes is an eternity when
you are running. I was looking at the table they had set up while he was
filling my bottle and a lady behind the table was making peanut butter and
jelly tortillas. She asked me if I wanted anything, and I asked if I could have
the big tortilla that she just spread peanut butter all over. I think this
caught her a little off guard as she was in making mode. So she had to think
about it for a minute and then was like, of course. But, she still didn’t
really know what I was asking so it told her to just roll up what she had. She
was like, “the whole thing?” Which I nodded in the affirmative to. Man did it
really hit the spot and worked well as a handheld for moving on down the road.
Further down the road, about 10 miles from the finish I was
on a series of rolling gravel roads when I noticed a guy way up ahead of me
with a SUV not too far in front of him. I thought this was a little weird, he
would go for a while and about the time he would get up to the SUV it would
take off again. I didn’t think much of it, but thought it was a little lame if
that was his crew and they were giving him assistance. But as I caught up to
him the SUV just drove on. I would later find it was a course marshal. Just as
I was about to catch up to the shirtless guy he turned and spit on me. I guess
he was rocking out on his headphones and did not hear me coming. I think I
scared the crap out of him and he was super apologetic. Turns out that it was
the guy from Colorado and the heat and wind were making it a tough day for him.
We only talked for a moment, mostly about how he wished he had worn road shoes
and I was wishing I had worn trail shoes. Then I was off again, I knew that I
had little chance of catching whoever was in front of me, but at least it gave
me something to work for.
How my crew preps for my arrival into an aid station.
I came up to the next to last aid station and Wes, Jody, and
Pip were all jumping around and excited to see me, or at least excited that
this day would be done soon. I just motored right through the aid station with
Pip even running my bottle back up to me. I was in a grove and wanted to keep
it going. At the last aid station, you run up to the top of this levy. Here I
did the same thing, with only 5 more miles to go I was ready to get this thing
in the bag. I stopped for just a second so Jody could bring me my bottle and
then I was off into the wind. At this point the levy skirts this big open field
and the wind was howling. I had to pull my hat down just to keep from losing
it. With all the pain in my legs I felt like I was barely moving, and my Garmin
would later reveal that these were some of my slowest miles. I also kind of
lost some motivation, as I could see way in front of me and had no sign of the
leaders. But I did my best to stay in it and in the last few miles I was given
a little bit of a break from the wind and was able to start moving better
again. About 1 mile from the finish I heard someone coming up from behind me,
and moving really fast. Man that was a bummer to get past right at the finish
after all that work, but as he came up he started yelling, “don’t worry man I
am a relay runner”. That was cool of him, and turns out he was part of the
winning team. So I kept my head down and pushed to the finish.
And then there it was, after 5 hours and 55 minutes I was
crossing the finish line. The 45 miles was done and all I could muster when Pip
ran up to me was, “how far were the leaders in front of me?” He looked at me
weird and said, “dude you won the race”. That didn’t make sense to me, the aid
station guy clearly said that the leaders were in front of me, but turns out
that I broke the tape. I was pretty stoked about it, and I guess my team’s strategy
of not letting me know that I was in the lead worked. I was pushing so hard to
catch the non-existent leaders that I ended up winning by 30 minutes. After me
the young guy from Colorado came in and we talked about his race. Turns out
this was by far the longest race that he had ever run, and he did awesome. Then
after that look who came down the trail but good ole Shannon for third. What a
great day, and after Shannon came in we made or way to the after party to find
some quality brews before the long drive back home.
Coming into the finish
Top three
Look at that sneaky guy
This was the place that held the after party. Really nice.
I almost didn’t tell you guys this story because I hate to
seem like I am bragging. But let me tell you this run and the success that I
had on it had very little to do with me. As always the first shout out goes to
Shannon, because as always I would not have even known about this race if it
had not been for him. Then Wes, Pip, and Jody took amazing care of me and knew
just what I needed to have a great finish. Then my wife Brynna for always
letting me run off on the weekend, despite me always being gone during the week
for work, to do these crazy events. The race and the volunteers were amazing
and kept me on track, and kept the cars off me. And of course Runner’s World
Tulsa for giving me the gear and support for run this race. I also want to
shout out to the Land Run 50k the week before. That race was awesome as well
and really picked up my confidence before this run. Guys, weekends like this
are great, but it helps that the weekend would have been great no matter what
place I came in at. I encourage everyone to look up this race, and make a team
for next year. Seems like the relay team would be the way to go for less
running and more drinking, LOL. I am just saying if you come out to this event
you are going to have a great time. And if you spend a weekend somewhere with
friends who love to run like you do it will make for memories that you want to
hold onto. Most of these running groups, this is what it is really about, jamming
people in a hotel room, packing small dive restaurants, and just cutting loose
doing what we love. You have heard this line a thousand times from me, but get
on board with a running group. The people are what make our sport what it is,
because lord knows it is not the running. LOL.
This was the cool local running spot that sponsored the race. Ad Astra Running in Lawrence
I know that was a long one, but thanks for sticking it out.
Now get your butt away from this computer and Go Run Tulsa. See you next time
for more stupid running adventures.
Closing Thoughts