Rexy Run 5k

Time continues to fly by as tomorrow marks the end of summer vacation and the start of a new school year for my girls. This past weekend we were invited to Kansas City for an Engelmann family gathering so we decided to turn it into a long weekend to enjoy some extra family time before the school year officially started. 

My uncle, Mike, also lives in the KC area and runs A LOT of races each year so I reached out to him to find out what races were going on in the area this weekend. I ended up signing up with him to run the Rexy Run 5k in Lawrence on Saturday. After getting an early morning 4.5 mile run in on Friday and a long day that included a lot of walking around the zoo and art museum, I managed to get a good nights rest before the race. Uncle Mike picked me up at 6:10am on Saturday to head for Lawrence. With temperatures already in the upper 70s and high humidity I was very thankful for the early 7:30 start time. 

I'm not much for warm ups, but walking to packet pickup and back to the car gave my legs a chance to stretch out. After waiting in line for the bathroom it was time to line up for the race to start. There was a 5k and 8k option and the field was relatively small with less than 300 total racers. 

Lining up at the start line

Before I knew it, the horn sounded and the race was underway. I pushed hard from the start as we followed the road through the park, along the road, and out into the wetlands. There was a slight uphill climb to end mile 1 and begin mile 2 before heading back down hill and onto about a 1 mile stretch of gravel trail. Running on gravel brought back some not-so-great memories of the last time I raced in Lawrence at the Legend Ad-Adstra 70.3 triathlon in 2017. My mile 1 and mile 2 splits were 11:26 and 11:22 respectively. I was relieved to finally get back on the paved trail with about 3/4 of a mile to go. As we got back into the park I really put the hammer down and finished very strong with an 11:15 split for mile 3. Mike had crossed the finish line a few minutes before I did and came back to cheer me on and run the last 1/10 with me. 

I was relieved to be done and absolutely dripping with sweat. After I finally caught my breath, I took a look at my watch and was instantly overcome with joy. Not much to even nit pick on t54.6his race. My best 5k of the year and it isn't even close. My official time was 34:54.6 and I finished 65/174. I've questioned my true effort after nearly every race this year, but not this one. I gave it everything I had and the results spoke for themselves. 

Official Results

Super proud of myself

Quick picture with Uncle Mike after the race

I love having the opportunity to race with family and friends and this was the 2nd time I was lucky enough to join my uncle for a race (and hopefully not the last). It's also a lot of fun incorporating races like this into a vacation weekend as it is an opportunity to run in a new a new location. 

I have a quick turnaround as my next race is this coming Sunday. I will be racing in the Hero Hustle sprint triathlon in Manchester. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to race in a triathlon this year but hoping the forecast holds and the temperatures drop for the weekend.