Day 79 - Kansas City

A group of kids all touch the baton that has traveled around the world to Kansas City.

At 10:30 am, next to a farm and tractors, a couple came out to say hello to the runners. They had heard about BPR in Runner's World and lived a mile down the road. By 1:30 pm, half a dozen people gathered at a roadside exchange point and 4 joined along for the run - a triathlete, marathoner, marathon Olympic qualifier hopeful, and Rick Roeber, the barefoot runner!
[Read Rick's Bog]

In the mid-day heat, and recovering from an injury, Laurel took a slow pace but the guest runners didn't seem to mind. For the BPR team, having running companions is certainly a treat and made the humidity of Kansas City more bearable.

Paul's strategy for crossing intersections continues to be successful — despite red lights and do not walk signs, he pushes his way across the street stopping cars (like a traffic police) and waving the baton for all to see. So far, no collisions to report and he even gets people's attention.

Heiko passes a classic old farm outside Kansas City.

Dot speaks with a young girl on the exchange point stage in Kansas City.

Dot shares the stage with local kids at the Kansas City exange point.

Rudy, suffering from an injury yet unwilling to sit on the sidelines, has been biking along with runners; today he did 56 miles on the bike, returning a touch sunburned, but not as red as Paul's Scottish skin. David and Laurel joined Dot on stage at the 4:30pm exchange point in Kansas City which took place in front of a water fountain park. Bathing suit clad children ran around and at least a dozen came on stage to learn about the BPR, as well as to test their vocal skills on the microphone. At one point, BPR presenters were hushed, and even the children became still when the "water fountain ballet" came on (which it does several times during the day). All watched the dancing water to the backdrop of classical music. Upon arrival, Simon and his guest runners cruised through the water fountains to cool off, and the children donning BPR t-shirts clapped with delight as they chanted "Water! Water! Water!"

Simon and guest runners arrive via the fountain.

Jason plays with kids in the water fountain.

Teams Orange and Yellow together at an exchange near Kansas City