Kansas City Half Marathon Complete! One More Race To Go!

Rain?   Quad Cities repeat?

Greetings from Des Moines!   (Where the "S's" are silent!)  Cheryl has successfully completed the Kansas City Half Marathon.   She can still walk.  She can still stand.   And she is not broken.   Tomorrow we will see if she can still race.

Why was the weather wrong?

Finding the start line. 

Huge surprise this morning!   It was raining.    It rained for the entire race and continued all the way into the after-party.  This was not predicted!   (And if it was, no one told me... Cheryl!)   So you can imagine our shock and fear as Quad Cities Half-Marathon images were still fresh in our memories.   Luckily,  it was not hot!  In fact, it was turning out to be "Runner's Perfect Marathon Temperature."  This could prove good for Cheryl

And a dry place to wait.

The phone I usually take pics with ran out of juice and it failed to recharge last night.  I was forced to use my "other phone" for the picture taking.   Not the best results.   First:  The buttons are opposite of my favorite one.   So I had to get used to those.   Second, it takes a better quality picture, but takes LONGER to focus and snap it!  SO in many cases, the image is lost.   Still, I managed to capture a few of the racing moments at Mile 2 and the finish.  ( I totally missed the start, but it was too dark anyway.)

Cheryl eats her chewys inside the
gate.

No line at the Port-a-jons

As we tried to stay dry,  we hit the port-a-jons and waited by the start line.  There were places to stay out of the rain, and Cheryl had an emergency poncho that helped.  My jacket was some-what water resistant, but not entirely water proof.   After Cheryl entered the gate, I stole the poncho away from her.  ( What?  It was not like she was going to need it after the start anyway...)

Dark, blurry, bad start photo.

Mile 2.  There She is!

As mentioned, I missed the start.   (Typical under normal circumstances...) But ran to mile 2 to catch her as she ran by.   She was on pace for a pretty solid run. 

Running with the Guys.

Avoiding the slippery spots.

The race course had quite a few hills to navigate, so I was hoping she would make up time on the down side, after slowing down on the climb.  Cheryl said she did not notice the up hill as much as the down hill.







 She actually slowed down on the downhill side!   Rain, puddles, and wet road lines made the surfaces of the roads slippery.

Coming into the finish. 

She looks pretty happy

At the finish,  Cheryl came in smiling.   She had actually gained time at the split.   ( In runner lingo... a "negative" split is when you run faster on the second half of the race.)   So she was happy about that.

Creepy smirk.   Kinda scary...

While waiting for Cheryl, I talked to a number of National Guardsmen.   They had the M2 Bradly on display, which is always cool.   Also, Chick-Fil-A came up to us and gave us free sandwiches!   Fresh and tasty!   There was lots of food there.   Pulled pork and beer were the main events though.

With her Bling.

No Go's Big Tank!   M2 Bradly...

The overall race was well done.   No lines for the Bathrooms.   Good food.  Good Music.  Route clearly marked and an adequate Police presents.

Eager for Beer.

4th. But Recently bumped up to
third place in her age group.

 Lots of Volunteers from National Guard and others.  Good beer!  And lots of room to mingle with other runners, catch the various tents, and say dry.   Also, before I forget.... Free Parking!   Cheryl said the only bad thing was the city was kind of boring.   Or rather:   It looked like every other city she has races in.  ( Except Chicago!)

Welcome to Des Moines.

Bright and Sunny in Iowa.

Cheryl got 4th in her age group, but the story does not end there.   After the beer and pulled pork,  we were off to Des Moines ( Where the "S's" are silent.) for the Expo and the Des Moines (which is French for "Des Moines.")  Half Marathon.   Upon completing this,  she will have successfully completed the double half Challenge.

Big Expo. 

Packet Pickup

The packet pick-up was similar to the Kansas City one.  Lots of people trying to sell you stuff so you can become a better runner.   Also there were banners and vehicles with Cheryl's name on them.

Cheryl's name on the banner. 

Really!   Check it out!   Last year, the Car Wrap people cut off several hundred names with their attempt to wrap the fenders.

Cheryls' name on the Pace car.

 This time they printed and stuck the labels on the doors so everyone would be included on the pace car.

Cheryl with the race jacket. 

Cheryl looking for More Clothes.

Cheryl loves the Des Moines Marathon's line of Athletic wear.   She got the jacket and another running shirt.  She was very excited.

She finds one.... maybe. 

Other than that, we are now resting in our Hotel room  trying to recover from the over eating, over drinking and caffeinated high that will eventually crash us.   With a little luck, we will be able to get a few hours of sleep tonight. ( unlike last night.)  Race days are always stressful and exciting, so lack of sleep is a given.  But two days in a row might be tough!

Half is already achieved. 

The real goal of this
weekend.

Add in that She will now want to better her performance and not break...  For a "negative split" on the two races.  Many of the signs are looking good for tomorrow:  No rain, Cold temps, familiar territory.   And Cheryl had her achieved her previous PR here back in 2015!   That PR for the Half Marathon lasted until this year.   So 1:42.00 is the time to beat for a moment of happiness. Anything Less than 1:39.00 will bring a few hours of  happiness and joy.   And anything  under 1:38:00 will bring Supreme Elation!

Cheryl is ready for the second part! 

But before we get too crazy,  lets remember two half marathons back to back have never been done before!  ( by Cheryl!...   Lots of other people do it all the time.  We call them : Olympians  gods! (Where the "G" is lower-case.)

So there is still lots of room for improvement and failure.... So wish her luck!  She may need it.