Brew to Brew

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.

 

Some of the awesome volunteers from the race. 

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