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Kansas > Run for a Reason Half Marathon & 5K
Topeka, KS • Saturday, October 13, 2012 • Course Map
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Run along an out-and-back course that takes runners through the city streets of Topeka and starts and finishes within a stone's throw of the winding Kansas River that flows past the city, the Run for a Reason Half Marathon, 5K & Fun Run marks its sixth annual running in the fall of 2012, when it will once again attract hundreds of runners for an event that raises money to send local children to summer sports camps that they otherwise wouldn't get the chance to attend.
All three races in the event start and finish at Topeka's Hummer Sports Park, a six-sport atheltic facility located just off Interstate 70 that features soccer, baseball, softball and football fields in addition to an indoor swimming facility with a 50-meter pool. The park, which opened to the public in 2003, brought all-new facilities to a number of local school and recreational league teams that had lacked sufficient places to play for years prior.
The race begins at 7:30 AM for both the 13.1-mile half marathon and the 5K, followed by the fun run at 9:30 AM. For those running the half marathon, the race follows what is largely a counter-clockwise loop route that starts at Hummer Sports Park on Tuffy Kellogg Boulevard, and then takes runners south through the Topeka city streets, through local parks like Washburn Park on the way down to Big Shunga Park, where the route transitions from the streets of the city to the trails that wind along Topeka's Shunganunga Creek.
Runners head onto the trail between the mile 4 and 5 markers near the middle of Big Shunga Park, and then follow the pathways along the creek for approximately the next 3.5 miles. This section features some of the flattest terrain along the race course, as well as paved pathways that snake through parks and neighborhoods and feature some of the route's most scenic views.
As the course winds its way through the parkland areas back in the direction of I-70, runners pass within a short distance of the Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site, a memorial to the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down school segregation and helped pave the way for the civil rights movement for African-Americans that followed in the 1950s and 1960s. Runners cross under I-70 along the path and then meet back up with Topeka's city streets along Adams Street.
The last few miles of the half marathon route bring runners back up toward the river along Crane Street and 1st Avenue, and then back in toward the Hummer Sports Park for the finish, right back where they started.
Race Weather & Climate
Nestled along the winding Kansas River in the northeast part of the state, just over 65 miles west of Kansas City (Missouri), the city of Topeka typically experiences mild to moderately warm weather in the early fall, and usually drier conditions than in the late summer months.
In October, the city's average monthly temperatures range between 69°F and 44°F -- on the day of the race (Oct. 13), the average high is 71°F and the average low is 46°F -- while rainfall totals average just under 3 inches for the month.
Course Map
View the course map for the Run for a Reason Half Marathon
Fees
$40 for the half marathon
$25 for the 5K
Registration
To reserve your spot in the mid-fall 2012 running of Topeka's Run for a Reason Half Marathon or 5K race, register online at Active.com
Official Race Website
www.ywca.org
Leave a Comment
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