The editor of this rag asked me to write about this marathon so here goes.

    As a Kansas high schooler there was Jim Ryan. College brought us Susan Gallagher. Now as an adult comes new Kansas record-holder Charlotte Hartwig. Details to follow.

    It was my turn to pick a marathon. Earlier in the year I had selected Cleveland so it was no surprise to my wife when I selected Kansas. Actually I was born in Wichita but left when I was nine months old and hadn't returned. It turns out that Charlotte's father was from Kansas so we decided this was a trip to find our roots.

    Thursday: Got up at 3:00 a.m. to be sure we made the 6:15 flight to Kansas City. An uneventful flight to St. Louis and then Kansas City got us in at 2:30 their time. We got a rental car, checked in at our motel and then headed EAST to have dinner with Charlotte's Missouri relatives 145 miles away in Columbia (home of the Missouri Tigers). After a pleasant evening with her aunt and great cousin and wife we returned exhausted to Kansas City.

    Friday: day of discovery. We headed west expecting to see wheat fields. Although we crossed about half the state we saw NO wheat. They say it was farther west near Colorado. After about three hours we left civilization and headed for Alta Vista, a small town Charlotte's relatives had founded. Apparently there are 450 people living there today although it seemed smaller to us. We met two relatives, visited two homesteads, a church, went to a cemetery, and ended up at the Barnyard Cafe for a late lunch. In speaking with the people at the cafe (including the postmaster) we discovered that with small businesses, when they go to lunch, they simply lock up and go. These were my kind of people as lunch was very reasonable with pecan pie only $1.25. I asked to buy a cup with the name of the town on it. They said they would if they could find one without a chip on it. They did and I did. It turns out Strider member Ted Gross lived here briefly several years ago. Small world. Drove on to Wichita where it was 85 degrees.

    Saturday: Storm has come in from the north and the temperature has dropped 35 degrees. Went to pick up our race packet at a local running store. The store employee said if the temperature dropped much more it would be a death march at the marathon. That news didn't cheer me up! One of our members asked us to take a picture of the expo. There wasn't one. Since we had time we walked to Old Town (does every town have one?) where Charlotte got to shop. She was a happy camper. We also went and took pictures of the hospital where I was born and the house where we lived while in Wichita. For dinner we ate at a place that gave special prices to marathoners.

    Sunday: Race day. The finish is only quarter-mile from our hotel. This is also where you take he bus to the start of the point to point marathon. After what seemed like a short trip we ended up at a community center in the town of Derby. Instead of being herded together like cattle before a stampede we were able to go into the center and sit on carpet and rest. They have a full running track and some overanxious folks were warming up. I realized something was different when the line to the mens' bathroom was long while there was no line at the womens'. At Portland and Victoria there were as many women as men. Here it looked like 75% men. It soon became time for the race and we had to go outside.

    Exiting the base we headed for town. The last two miles are through downtown with a stadium finish at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. I was ok until I slowed down about 30 seconds a mile for the last five miles. Funny thing was that almost no one passed me while I was passing quite a few runners. Every time it looked like an old guy was just ahead of me I tried to find a little more energy so I could pass him.

    I finished in what I thought was a good time given the conditions and went to get a free massage. At that location also were members of the Wichita Chinese School of Medicine. They would find a runner who was in obvious pain and bring him over. Moments later the runner would have a dozen needles in his ear. I guess it made them forget the pain from the race. I decided I didn't have time for a massage. As I was walking to the finish line I saw Charlotte heading around the track. She obviously was having a good race. Perhaps not the time she wanted but nevertheless a good time.

    After crossing the bridge to our hotel we showered, watched a little football and headed across the street to the awards ceremony. They were held in an art building. Beer, pop, Great Harvest breads and scenes and other goodies were provided. I asked Charlotte how she felt she had done. She said there was a woman from Montana she had run with for miles who had edged her at the finish. I said she could be in another age group. Charlotte said perhaps but the woman had a lot of gray hair so was probably in her age group. The woman turned out to be in the 45-49 group so Charlotte won her age group. What surprised us was that Charlotte broke the existing Kansas State 50-54 age group record and was awarded $50. The 65-69 men's record was also broken. About mile 18 a man who had been just behind me for miles caught up with me. He looked pretty old but then so do most guys in my age group. I asked him how old he was. He said he was 67 and that he had to get going as another guy in his age group was right behind him. I think they both beat me. After 17 marathons I did place for the first time getting 2nd in my age group. The guys in 3rd and 4th were the men that I had passed in the last two miles of the race.

    Evaluation: For its size I can't imagine a better-managed race. From the start at Derby to the awards ceremony everything seemed to operate smoothly. Plenty of aid stations, regular splits, and friendly volunteers were the order of the day.

    OK, Jaqueline, I got this far without any comments about the Midwest. Let me just say this one thing. In our goodie packet we got a John Deere pencil. I didn't realize they were some sort of sponsor until the race was about to begin. In many races the lead runner is led by a motorcycle policeman. Here the runner was led by a flatbed John Deere with a driver and a cameraman.