Back of the Pack Podcast

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, Kyle is off in Sydney, Australia chasing another World Marathon Major, so we are turning the microphone over to guest host Sierra Morris from The Run, Shattered Podcast. Sierra, also known as ShatteredRunner, brings her focus on mental skills, resilience, and the psychological side of running to a topic every runner needs: confidence. This episode dives into how confidence is built, why it matters in training, and how runners can strengthen their mindset before they ever reach the start line. Sierra explores the mental tools marathoners and ultramarathoners use to stay steady when races get hard, including visualization, breath work, mantras, preparation, and learning how to trust the work already done. Whether you are chasing a PR, attempting a new distance, coming back from a rough race, or just trying to believe you belong out there, this conversation is built for you. Confidence is not about pretending everything will go perfectly, it is about knowing you can handle the messy middle when things get uncomfortable. With Kyle halfway around the world and the Back of the Pack community watching the Sydney adventure unfold, this guest episode is the perfect reminder that running is never just about legs and lungs. Sometimes the biggest race-day breakthrough starts with what is happening between your ears.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recording the final episode from the United States before the podcast heads across the world for Sydney Marathon Week. Before the passport panic takes over, Kyle recaps the Head for the Cure 5K in Overland Park, a massive Kansas City-area event supporting brain cancer awareness, research, and families impacted by the disease. From there, we turn the spotlight to the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, breaking down the race, the history, the course, the logistics, and why this new World Marathon Major matters. We talk about Sydney’s Olympic roots, its growth into the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major, and how the race has quickly become a major destination for runners chasing stars around the globe. The episode walks listeners through the Harbour Bridge start, the Sydney Opera House finish, the seven-hour cutoff, the time difference for everyone following along back home, and the reality that there are still 26.2 miles of consequences between those postcard moments. Kyle also digs into the race expo at Sydney Olympic Park, race-day transportation, tracking, volunteers, safety, weather concerns, and the now-famous 2026 medal mistake that accidentally gave the finisher medal a quick layover in Munich. Of course, this preview comes with plenty of back-of-the-pack honesty about jet lag, travel stress, extra walking, pacing, hills, rain, and the main goal of simply surviving the race and earning that Sydney star. With Sydney as Kyle’s sixth World Marathon Major and London waiting in 2027, this episode is part race preview, part travel sendoff, and part invitation for the whole Back of the Pack community to follow along as the next big adventure begins.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recapping a packed mid-August weekend with two charity races, one major run club push, and Sydney now less than two weeks away. We start with a quick heads-up that the 2027 Tokyo Marathon lottery is open, along with a reminder that Tokyo is incredible, but not exactly built for back-of-the-pack comfort. From there, we head to Lawrence, Kansas for the Rexy Run 5K & 10K, where the podcast community showed up strong for Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope and the new 10K course brought hills, wetlands, heat, volunteers, and one very fun spinning dinosaur medal. We also talk about what it means when a charity race grows so much that it may eventually need a bigger home. Then it is back to Parkville for the first-ever Hearts for Ronald McDonald House Charity Half Marathon, where the humidity was rude, the course was familiar, and the final stretch brought just enough confusion to make things spicy. Even on a rough race day, this one marked Kyle’s 95th half marathon, which means the countdown to number 100 is officially getting real. We also make one more big push for this Thursday’s Chasing Rabbits Run Club, where the KC Sports Commission will be filming, Garmin Kansas City Marathon will be there, and we need the whole running family to bring the energy. It is a race-review episode full of big causes, hot miles, community pride, course chaos, and that very familiar feeling that the next adventure is already breathing down our necks.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are celebrating a major milestone: 300 episodes of race reviews, community stories, road trips, charity conversations, bad decisions, emotional moments, and back-of-the-pack chaos. Technically, this is Episode 299, but with Episode 300 dropping Friday, we are taking this Monday episode to pause, look around, and talk about what this podcast has become since it started as a simple “I make the mistakes so you don’t have to” running show. We look back at the race reviews that became the bread and butter of the show, the community organizations and race directors who gave us a chance, and the local running family that turned this podcast into something much bigger than one guy talking into an old microphone. From Rexy Run and Fighting Fentanyl to Run Liberty, Garmin Kansas City Marathon, Chasing Rabbits Run Club, Second Wind, and the growing cast of podcast mascots, this episode is a reminder that the stories around the miles often matter just as much as the miles themselves. We also dig into the numbers, including 201 race entries, more than 1,500 race miles, nearly 319 hours on course, 87 5Ks, 38 10Ks, 54 half marathons, 8 full marathons, and one wonderfully ridiculous Death by 5K. Along the way, we talk about the World Marathon Majors completed during the life of the podcast, the repeat races that have become recurring characters, the fastest times on the spreadsheet, the longest gaps between races, and why consistency matters in both podcasting and running. More than anything, this episode is a thank-you to the listeners, Patreon supporters, race directors, guests, volunteers, running friends, run club members, and everyone who has shared, watched, downloaded, commented, or told someone else about the show. Episode 300 is not the finish line, it is an aid station, and after we take inventory, refill the bottle, and eat something questionable, we are getting right back on the road toward Sydney, Rexy Run, race number 400, fall marathon season, and whatever comes next.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are catching up on a busy stretch of running, volunteering, night racing, and hot-weather half marathon chaos. We start at the Matt Mason Cowboy Up Triathlon at Smithville Lake, where Kyle traded in his race bib for a volunteer shirt and got a firsthand reminder of just how much work it takes to keep athletes moving safely through swim, bike, and run events. After surviving GPS confusion, a packed race morning, and a blazing-hot aid station shift, the episode shifts to the other side of the table and why every runner should volunteer at least once. Then it is back to Smithville Lake for the Lunartic 5K, a Friday night point-to-point race with school buses, shoe chips, glow-in-the-dark medals, headlamps, lake views, surprise hills, and enough bugs to qualify as on-course protein. From there, we head to Parkville for the Heat Wave Half Marathon at English Landing Park, where the course was familiar, the humidity was rude, and the final miles got spicy once the sun climbed over the trees. Kyle also talks about stopping mid-race to help get assistance for a runner who went down on course, because even when the clock is ticking, runners look out for runners. Despite the heat, the late-race fade, and the extra energy spent sprinting for help, the day still ended with a Heat Wave finish, a spinning medal, and a surprise first-place age group award. We also look ahead to K-State Night at Chasing Rabbits Run Club, the return of Garmin Kansas City Marathon Night on August 20, and the continued march toward Sydney. It is a full catch-up episode packed with race stories, volunteer lessons, glow-in-the-dark weirdness, summer suffering, and the kind of decisions that only make sense when you are already signed up.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are joined by longtime friends of the show for one of our favorite annual conversations: The 2026 Rexy Run Preview. The Rexy Run 5K & 10K is coming up on August 15, 2026, in Lawrence, Kansas, and this race continues to be one of the most meaningful events on our calendar. Race director Kristina, Erica from Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope, and Colby, the mother of this year’s Honorary Rexy, join us to talk about the race, the mission, and the family at the heart of this year’s event. Rexy Run benefits Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope, a Lawrence-based 501(c)(3) that helps families with children going through cancer treatment by offering support for real-life needs like gas, groceries, utilities, travel expenses, and more. This year’s event brings back the family-friendly race day atmosphere runners have come to love, along with a new 10K course, food trucks, cinnamon rolls, finisher medals, handmade awards, kids activities, and plenty of reasons to make the drive to Broken Arrow Park. But more than anything, this episode is about why this race matters, who it helps, and how showing up for a 5K or 10K can make a real difference for families walking through something no family should have to face alone. Whether you run, walk, volunteer, donate, cheer, or simply help spread the word, Rexy Run is a race worth putting on your calendar. Listen to the episode, hear the story, and then go get yourself registered for Rexy Run.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we were supposed to be reviewing the Clinton Historic Half Marathon, but severe storms, lightning, heavy rain, and flooding had other plans. After the half marathon was cancelled on race morning, we turned a missing race review into a much-needed conversation about runners, weather, and knowing when toughness crosses the line into bad decision-making. We talk about the difference between uncomfortable weather and dangerous weather, because a little rain is one thing, but thunder, lightning, flooding, tornado warnings, and falling tree limbs are a whole different beast. From there, we dig into why lightning should end the conversation immediately, what actually counts as safe shelter, and why a picnic shelter, dugout, tree, tent, or set of metal bleachers may not protect you the way you think. We also look at how runners can quickly read the skies, from darkening clouds and greenish storm light to sudden wind shifts, shelf clouds, rotating clouds, and that eerie calm before things get ugly. Since flooding helped cancel Clinton, we spend time on why water over roads, trails, underpasses, bridges, and creek crossings is not just an inconvenience, it can become a serious danger for runners and race directors alike. We also cover tornado watches versus warnings, what runners should do if caught outside, and why race directors have to consider not just runners, but volunteers, spectators, police, EMS, course access, and everyone else involved in race day. It may not be the race recap we planned, but it is a practical weather-safety episode for every runner who has ever looked at the radar and thought, “I can probably squeeze this in.”