The 50th Heart of America, Labor Day, 9/7/09 turned out to be a good one for Kirksville runners. It was a coolish, foggy morning in Columbia, as a record number of runners lined up outside of Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri. Reports of up to 320 registrants were circulated (typical number: 150), so it was a banner day for this grueling race, run on arguably one of the toughest courses in the U.S. outside of mountain races.
The course would take us down Providence to Rte. K, south on Old Plank Road, then south on Smith Hatchery Road to the Missouri River bank and a section of the KATY Trail down by Cooper's Landing, including 4 miles of gravel road. Then a left turn directly up brutal Easley Hill, about three quarters of a mile straight up, then miles of rolling country road bounded by farmland along Rte. N to Pierpont, a turn onto 163, then back up to Providence, turn north for the 5 mile homestretch up one more looooonnnnng hill near Stadium, right on Stadium, left on College, a seemingly endless stretch along by the frat houses, then the final left turn on Broadway down to the finish at 7th street and blessed relief.
Kirksville was represented at the race by veteran regional marathon star
John Richardson (photo above), and yours truly,
Bob Keough (photo below), who was returning after a 15 year hiatus to tackle this course again after a debacle in 1994 that left him dehydrated, reeling, and vowing never to come here again, and possibly to ditch the marathon game altogether. John had put together 3 nice efforts in the late 1990's and 2000 (a 3:11 PR here), so he was back for more fun in the golden anniversary race. Riding along the entire course on his bike was Kirksville Multisport guru and roadrace vet
Allen Goans, who gave us both support and reports on the status of the entire marathon field.
I can't speak for John, but it was a decent day for me, starting very conservatively, feeling a little squirrelly by the KATY trail portion, dying on Easley Hill and even walking a few steps there, then slowly recovering in the mile 14-16 flats, picking up momentum from 17 to the hill at Rock Bridge Park at mile 20. (Thanks to loyal Kirksville runner
Kevin Waddle who was there at the intersection at mile 18 to provide much-needed support, along with Allen) The last 6 miles were pretty steady, with 5 hills behind and one to go, running mostly on well-traveled Providence and the city streets of Columbia. I received one last boost at mile 23.5, as former Truman All-American 400 meter runner and friend,
Kasye Beza, ran from her water station all the way to the top of the hill next to me, keeping my mind somewhat off the long incline we were climbing. The final 2 mile flat stretch was a welcome departure from the rolling country roads.
Kirksville was on the podium twice:
John Richardson (left) overcame leg cramps to finish strong in 3:24 to take 2nd place in the men's 55-59 division, and
Bob Keough (right) took 3rd in that division with a decent 3:38. Many thanks again to Kevin, Allen, and loyal spouses
Brooke Goans and
Janis Keough for being there at the finish, and documenting the event with photos.
Heart of America number 50 goes into the books, so consider coming here for a tremendous challenge -- this race had approx. 40 DNF's -- test yourself!!
