Running for a Cause in the 7th Annual Kansas Half Marathon and 5K
Ryan Grossman | KUJH News
Heartland and the Lawrence Memorial Hospital held the 7th annual Kansas Half Marathon and 5K on Sunday morning, Nov. 2, in downtown Lawrence. Even though the clock turned back an hour the night before, it didn’t stop hundreds of runners from all over the state from making the trip to Lawrence for this event.
The run is a fundraiser for the Heartland Community Health Center with the goal of increasing affordable health care access in the surrounding area.
“LMH Health is really excited to help sponsor the Kansas Half Marathon again this year, specifically our Run Strong team. We’re excited to support all the runners of Lawrence as they look to have a healthy, happy running experience,” LMH employee Nami Stone said.
Stone was also looking forward to runners stopping by and getting to know more about LMH and the services they have to offer.
Both races were highly competitive and brought elite runners out to Lawrence. The 5K started at 7 a.m. sharp, with the half marathon beginning shortly after. The starting and finish line were on Massachusetts Street, right next to South Park.
Runners would do a loop around the river and hit parts of south Lawrence, before making their way back up to Massachusetts Street. Plenty of fans were there to cheer runners on, along with food trucks and free beer, courtesy of Lawrence Beer Company.
For some KU students running, the locality and community support were two of the most redeeming parts of the race.
“I’m glad that I was able to train on campus, and that the event took place in Lawrence, because it’s a place where a lot of my runs and training happen. It’s just a great experience having the community here, students that know me and can cheer me on,” Luke Greseth said, a half marathon runner and KU junior.
All runners received medals after finishing their race, and awards were given to the top three male and female finishers. The fastest half marathon time was one hour and eight minutes by Eric Vazquez-Olivas, an assistant Cross Country coach at Free State High School. Vazquez-Olivas also used this event to train for an upcoming marathon in Phoenix.
“I chose to do the Kansas half because the past couple years I haven’t been able to. All my friends have gotten to do it and I’ve heard great things about it,” Vazquez-Olivas said.
