Thanksgiving

While I was a student at the University of Kansas I would contemplate hopping on my mountain bike and riding home from Lawrence to Topeka. I never attempted the ride because I was certain that if I did I'd probably die of exhaustion well before I hit the county line.

I was home recently for Thanksgiving and had a ticket to the KU v. KState football game. I had to get to Lawrence somehow so I figured I'd work a long training run in to get me there. I left around sunrise and started on the 18-mile journey from Topeka to Lawrence. Whoever said that Kansas is flat has never run the country roads in the northeast part of the state. It was quite a bit cooler there than it had been in Annapolis so I'll admit that I was pretty chilly those first couple of miles. It didn't take long for the effort on the hills to kick in, though, and I was plenty warm for the remainder of the run.

It was quite beautiful watching the sun come up over the plains, however, so at least I was able to keep my mind off of the cool temperatures and the distance of the run I had ahead of me. Some sights along the included seeing two foxes crossing the road just a few feet in front of me, countless prairie falcons searching for food and a very beautiful sunrise. Another unique sight along the way is the cemetery in the small town of Stull, KS, that is pictured below. If you look closely, in the middle of the photo is the remaining brick foundation of an old church that used to stand in the middle of the cemetery. Rumor has it that this church is the sight to one of the seven gateways to Hell.
Ultimately, the run was successful. This is the longest distance I've covered since my last marathon training program. By the end I was quite tired but my buddy Steve met me and pulled me through the last 6 miles of the run.

The question still remains, "I wonder if I could ride my bike from Lawrence to Topeka?" Well, I'll have to save that ride for another day but this run is going to linger as one of my most memorable.

PS- KU defeated the Wildcats that afternoon before a record crowd of 51,000 fans.