By David Abbott
As the calendar turns to February in the wake of the biggest storm of the season, Run Wichita is gearing up for the mid-winter race that will usher in the spring running schedule.
The 34th Annual 4-Mile Super Bowl Sunday Race takes place in the hours before Super Bowl LX, featuring an out-and-back course open to participants of all fitness levels, walkers and runners alike.
It can also serve as an excuse to lounge around in pajama pants later in the day and eat healthy snacks while the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots for the championship of American football and the coveted Lombardy Trophy.
According to Run Wichita lore, the race began in the late 1980s as the Frozen Nose Four-Mile, sponsored by Mountain High, a now-defunct outdoor sporting goods store near Rock Road and Central Avenue.
The increasingly popular run was halted in the early ’90s, though, when a foot of snow fell on that January day, leading to the cancelation of the event.
The store owners subsequently discontinued the race, leaving an opening in the race calendar. Run Wichita founding members Clark Ensz and Mark Chamberlain decided the race would be a good fit on Super Bowl Sunday, resurrecting it and keeping the 4-mile distance and the Linwood Park location.
This will be my first time participating in one of the iconic events on the Run Wichita calendar in the wake of my return to Wichita last summer.
Since discovering running in 2012 at the age of 51, I’ve made it a point to join local running organizations to financially support them and get to know the people around me who share my strange obsession with the suffering and elation that is running.
For me, every race is an opportunity to further submerge myself in local running culture and participate in a thriving community of dedicated runners of all ages and backgrounds.
As an added bonus, the 4-Mile Super Bowl Race features 50th Anniversary Run Wichita socks, offering another opportunity to get more running-related clothing for those of us who don’t have enough SWAG already.
The 34th Annual 4-Mile Super Bowl Sunday Race takes place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, at Linwood Park, 1901 S. Kansas St. Packet pick-up and in-person registration begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Linwood gym. There will be several merchant booths set up to browse and an opportunity to meet and hang out with other runners before the start of the race.
For information or to sign up for the 34th Annual 4-Mile Super Bowl Sunday Race, go to www.runwichita.org or click on the link here.
Est. 1976 