Erin Elizabeth Runs: 2018 Hospital Hill Run

Happy Monday guys! 48 hours and one severely delayed flight later, I made it through the weekend! It was a really great weekend, too, mostly because I got to see Y and meet his friends, and also because we ran the 2018 Hospital Hill Run 7.7 Miler, and the name does not lie. There are hills, lots and lots of hills.

Course Map

Friday night gave way to a cool, cloudy race morning on Saturday. The previous 5k scheduled Friday night was put on hold until Saturday due to extreme heat (it was about 90 degrees at 8 PM). The rain from Friday subsided a bit Saturday morning, but as we walked down to the starting line lightning began streaking across the dark sky. The announcer told everyone to take cover and set the start time back 15 minutes. Luckily there were plenty of hotels and places to hang out, so we eventually made our way with other runners to a hotel lobby, where we waited it out.

At 7:30 AM the race started. The corrals were a mess due to everyone having to quickly scatter then reconvene, and it was tough getting going and getting around people. After a while we found a good pace (or really I did, Y's pace is much faster lol) and settled in.

The first mile or so was pretty flat, and we ran the downtown streets. After a few miles, the hills began. One hill went on for about a mile, and that was pretty tough considering my usual training on flat Texas ground. I really enjoyed the downhill parts though. 😎😀 There was one hill around the 4-5 mile mark that was pretty steep and I had to stop for about 10 seconds and walk. Y stopped with me, which I really appreciated, and after a few seconds I was ready to run again, and we kept running after that, which I am really proud of.

The last hill at mile 7 was a lot shorter and higher than the rest of the course, but since that one wasn't a long one, it wasn't too bad. Y tricked me and said there were pancakes at the finish line and I believed him and got really happy and kept running. It was a dirty trick but it worked. I'm still thinking of pancakes....

Right when he told me there were pancakes at the finish line.

That feeling after crossing the finishing line was amazing. We got water, our awesome medals, and ice cold Hospital Hill Run towels to put around our necks. That ice cold towel was amazing and more races should have those!

All done and with our ice water soaked towels (a.k.a. heaven)

Hill PR for Y! His farthest run yet

We did get food at the finish line though, so all was not lost. They also had wine and beer and Starbucks was on site with free iced and hot coffees. After that, we took some pictures, cheered people on at the finish line and listened to the interviews of the winners. The half marathon winner had a little over a 5 minute mile, and only the pace car and two bikes could keep up with him, so that was really cool.

Getting ready to interview and call up the winners and podiums

I forgot to shut off my Garmin but ended up finishing in about 1:20

The Hospital Hill Run was good race and was put on well. If you are in the Kansas City area or are looking for a fun race to travel to, I would recommend this one. We finished up our day with some Dim Sum and a visit to BKS Artesian Ales (I got the chocolate beer and it was SO tasty). Kansas City also has the BEST BBQ I've ever had at a semi new place called Q39. Their burnt ends were salivatingly delicious, the ribs fell right off the bone and the brisket was so tender you could cut it with a fork.

Q39 BBQ

I highly recommend the chocolate beer! It was a great post race treat.

I hope you all had a wonderful time this weekend, and are enjoying the last of Spring. I'm about to move more of my runs inside on the treadmill, so this was a good race to end the season with. Thinking about marathon training this fall, so if anyone has any tips I am open to hearing them. 😃