Costumes, Miles and Microphones

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we start with a story that has nothing to do with running but everything to do with why sometimes an old piece of podcast equipment can find a much better purpose. One of the microphones that helped build this show is headed to an elementary-school student who loves calling the daily recess soccer game like a broadcaster, giving that well-used microphone a pretty fantastic second life. From there, we head to a dark and rainy Halloween morning for the biggest Monster Dash 5K yet, with 1,300 registered runners, a sea of costumes, and the usual podcast gear traded in for a full Jackie Moon look from Semi-Pro. Despite still carrying some fatigue from the previous weekend’s ultramarathon, we decide this is one race we actually want to race, pushing through the crowded start, the hills, and even a pair of surprisingly speedy runners sharing one unicorn costume. The goal was to break 30 minutes, and while we came up just short, the effort still landed as one of our fastest 5Ks and proved there was more speed in the legs than expected after a very heavy stretch of endurance racing. We also clean up one mistake from last week’s Kansas Rails-to-Trails review by giving proper credit to Rocking Chair Running Company for the race and those much-appreciated ultra aid stations. Then we touch on a major date change for the Liberty Half Marathon before looking ahead to another trip to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Good Life Halfsy, where the podcast will once again be at the expo before race morning. From a microphone finding a new voice to a rainy Halloween 5K and another busy weekend on the horizon, this episode is a little bit of everything that makes life around the Back of the Pack so much fun.