Back-to-back racing weekend includes not only a 10k in Oklahoma, but also a half marathon in Wichita, Kansas. Believe it or not, I am running the half sponsored by Taco Bell, and my instructions say to follow the Taco Bell signs along the route. I find it humorous that Pizza Hut (marathon course and Pizza Hut opened their first store in Wichita) and Taco Bell (Half marathon course) are sponsoring a running event!
So here we go. Kansas was so interesting that I included extra fun facts about the 36th state that this family is tackling!
1. A ball of twine in Cawker City measures over 38' in circumference and weighs more than 16,750 pounds and is still growing. How is this even possible?!
2. A grain elevator in Hutchinson is 1/2 mile long and holds 46 million bushels in its 1,000 bins.
3. South of Ashland the Rock Island Bridge is the longest railroad bridge of its kind. It measures 1,200 feet long and is 100 feet above the Cimarron River.
4. Kansas won the award for most beautiful license plate for the wheat plate design issued in 1981. Wheat is such a big deal here that in 1990 Kansas wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 33 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves.
5. Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States. You know I'm going to have to check this out for myself!
6. At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas. How is this even possible?!
7. The first woman mayor in the United States was Susan Madora Salter. She was elected to office in Argonia in 1887. And to think, this was way before women had the right to vote!
8. The first black woman to win an Academy Award was Kansan Hattie McDaniel. She won the award for her role in "Gone with the Wind."
9. Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.
10. Amelia Earhart, first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean was from Atchison. There's actually a neat Century ride held in Atchison in her honor.
11. Dwight D. Eisenhower from Abilene was the 34th President of the United States.
12. Wyatt Earp, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and William B. "Bat" Masterson were three of the legendary lawmen who kept the peace in rowdy frontier towns like Abilene, Dodge City, Ellsworth, Hays, and Wichita.
I'm looking forward to visiting this great state!
Ooo good luck with the 10k and with the Half. I sure hope taco bell isn't providing the food along the course...those would be some busy portapotties. Rock and roll--looking forward to the race reports.
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