Run KC Saturday 7 May 9:00 A.M.

RunKC Tour

9:00 a.m. Saturday 07 May 2016 

2oth East 5th Street, KCMO (for GPS, but it is a little mis-leading. look for parking lot on WEST side of City Market and park there then walk toward NW end of Market. There is a coffee shop on that corner. We will meet there.) 

From the City Market West Parking lot walk down the street north to the 

1 Riverfront Heritage Trailhead-Town of Kansas Bridge

We begin here

2 Richard L Berkley Riverfront Park

Run back through

3 City Market

4 Arabia Steamboat Museum

then down Main and west on 7th to

5 Lewis and Clark Overlook  7th to Penn Ave to 8th 

6 The River Club

7 Kaw Point: Merging of Kansas/MO river

9 West Bottoms

10 Charles Wheeler Airport/National Air Museum and TWA Museum

then over to 9th St and through Garment District

12 Sashas Bakery for coffee/water

13 New York Life Building

14 Kansas City Public Library 10th and Baltimore

15 909 Walnut

Pushing up 10th to Oak south on Oak to 13th (or one of those streets)

16 Ilus W Davis Park

17 Federal Courthouse

18 City Hall of Kansas City

19 Jackson County Admin Building

20 Federal Building

Jogging 13th West to Allis Barney Plaza

21 Sprint Center

22 KC Power and Light District

23 H&R Block Building

24 Costentino’s Grocery

25 Midland Theater

26 Barney Allis Plaza

27 Municipal Auditorium and Music Hall

28 Bartle Convention Hall and Bartle’s Baubles

Short jaunt across Broadway and back (if front doors are open, we will peek in)

29 Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

30 Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral 

Running south on Wyandotte to 

31 Kauffman Center

32 Crossroads district, galleries, shops

South on Wyandotte to Southwest Blvd. possible stop at 

33 20/Twenty for coffee/water 

through Rail yard and up through bridge connecting to Union Station or south on Main St

34 Western Auto Building and Sign

35 Hyatt--tragedy

36 Union Station

37 National Archives

in Union Station, if needed, restroom break and parisi coffee, then across to Royal Hill and up to 

38 Liberty Memorial

39 Crown Center

40 Hospital Hill

41 Hallmark HQ

42 Federal Reserve Bank and Money Museum

43 Union Cemetery

Run south through park,up hill behind Fed Res. and over to Main south to Linwood Blvd west to Broadway south

44 Redemptorist Catholic Church ( if doors are open we will peek in)

45 KC Life Insurance Bldg

South on Broadway or west one block to neighborhood street south to 

46 Chubbys

47 Westport

through 

48 Nutterville

down hill to 

49 Kansas City Vietnam Memorial

East on 43rd St. across main to Warwick then south through neighborhood to 

50 Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

East through campus of 

51 Kansas City Art institute

over to 

52 Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 

through the lobby, restroom stop if needed then south across the lawn to

53 Donald J Hall Sculpture Park 

South through pro to 

54 Kauffman Memorial Garden

down to Brush Creek walkway west along Brush Creek to Main Street

55 Country Club Christian Church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

West along 47th Street through

56 Country Club Plaza 

Lunch TDB

Short car ride back to City Market. 

Run KC

Hi Swift Runners! I met some of you at different races and at Starbucks after your morning LBT runs. (You’re done, and I’m just starting—getting the meds downed with caffeine so I can hit the trail while you are on your way to work!) Anyway, here is something a little different if you want a SLOW easy run. 

Saturday morning, 7 May, I am meeting a couple of much younger (like you) friends from Lawrence at 9:00 a.m. in the River Market. (A little late for me, but Alexey picked the time.) Alexey is from Russia and Sriram is from India. I offered to give them a running tour of Kansas City and they took me up on it! So, I had to map out a route (spent 2 Saturdays doing it) and hit the internet on research. 

Our run will be approximately 12 miles with about 20 tour stops sharing 55 points of interest (historical, architectural, cultural, etc.) with at least three coffee-water-bathroom breaks (3+ hrs). It will go from the Missouri River to the Plaza. My car will be parked at the Plaza and I will drive you back from there. 

There is a coffee shop in the Northwest corner of the Market (which is on the east side of the parking lot). I will look for you on that corner. Bring a bottle of water for you. Bring some cash for other drinks if you like. 

I promised my friends that I would treat them to lunch on the Plaza, You are welcome to join us. (sorry, not my treat). 

After my finishing time last Sunday at the Independence Half, I am going to have to admit that I am getting slow in my old age and this run is designed to run a little, stop and talk about what is around us, then run a little more. So it will be a slow, relaxed morning run. I am looking forward to it and if you join us, look forward to getting to know you! 

Not Getting on the Bus Just Yet

If I plan ahead and don't get hit by a bus, I will leave well on a trail some morning. Thanks Brad for the photo!

Independence Half

The inaugural Independence Half Marathon was a blast! Lots of friends. Beautiful morning. Great way to start a new tradition on this side of the metro area. I hope it grows each year. This became a special one for me when I rounded the corner at 10 miles to see my two grand-daughters cheering me on! As you can see, I am truly at the back of the pack. My times in the last three runs have consistently been 15-20 minutes slower than the two Half-M's I did last fall. I can't figure out what is going on...

Running the Hogeye

The Start line-laid back runners!

Enjoyed going back to my roots this weekend as I traveled to Fayetteville for the Hogeye Half Marathon. Have not been on the University of Arkansas campus in ages. The downtown/Dixon Street area is thriving and the lovely old homes on the top of the hills are looking great. I even found, while running around trying to find the race route, my mentor and friend (she was 70, I was 20 at the time) Elizabeth Richardson’s home. She single-handedly started a movement in Northwest Arkansas to treat the developmentally disabled with dignity and respect during a time when many were labeled “trainable.” 

During the weekend I spent time with my mother, age 94, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. This damned disease is an irreversible, p

Mom!

rogressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. My mother is a strong, smart, savvy, self-sufficient woman and it breaks my heart to see her in her present state. Thinking, remembering, reasoning have almost disappeared. Our conversations are repetitions of the simplest nature. So, I ran this race in support of the Alzheimer’s Association and the research, eldercare, and family support they provide. 

Lovin' Atlanta

And We're Off!

Spent the weekend in Atlanta eating and jogging my way through the city! All for the children trapped in poverty in one of America’s great southern cities. In the last decade, the suburban poor in Atlanta increased by 159%. Small towns surrounding the urban core, many over 150 years old, are experiencing an influx of homeless and poverty level families, most of whom have one or more adults working one or more jobs. It’s estimated that as many as 88% of the poor in Atlanta live in the suburbs. Running the Public Half Marathon to support the Atlanta Community Food Bank was one way I could help a great cause while doing something I love. 

An estimated 755,400 people, in metro Atlanta and north Georgia turn to food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their families each year. This includes more than 164,000 children and more than 64,000 people my age and older! Each week, the Feeding America network serves 5.4 million individuals. ACFB has been a member of the Feeding America network since 1979. For the Atlanta Community Food Bank service area, 80,600 people are served each week by programs supported through ACFB, and that those clients turn to ACFB partner programs and pantries for help more than 6.1 million times over the course of the year.  My modest support allowed homeless families to spend the night in a motel, eat a healthy meal and get needed school supplies and clothing for up to 12 children. 

We walked into a movie set. Jamie Fox starring. We never saw him. 

The race was a blast with 10,000 plus runners meeting in the early morning in Olympic Park and  traveling a route that included the Martin Luther King Home, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center and the Coca-Cola Exhibit.