News - Jan - Feb 2026
Feb 26
From AP News - Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team who for decades inspired elite athletes and countless everyday runners by promoting a run-walk-run strategy, whether in a marathon or just a neighborhood jog, died Wed., Feb. 25 at age 80.
Jim Vance, an elite endurance sports consultant in San Diego, said Galloway was a “pioneer” in getting people to run. “He removed the barrier to entry, which was mostly mental. Running isn’t supposed to be a suffer-fest. It should be something peaceful, something enjoyable, so people can enjoy running and not dread it.”
Galloway was in Lawrence ten years ago and met with local running leaders.
Front row: Sabrena Jo (local certified health trainer), Paul Wagner (Sunflower Striders), J. Jenkins (co-owner of Ad Astra Running).
2nd row: Gene Wee (runLawrence), Albert Gipp (Haskell/Mini Mocs coach), John Blaser (KC Smoke), Eladio Valdez (The Runners Edge Training Program), Jeff Galloway, Ben Holmes (KC Trail Nerds) and Laura Koster (Lawrence HS cross country coach). Not pictured: Garry Gribble, Gary Henry and Grant Catloth.
Feb 7
A nice day to romp in the woods. Over 100 people ran at the Clinton Lake Rockhaven Orienteering event.
Jan 10
From the Kansas Road Race Records web page:
A veteran and a newcomer are our selections for 2025 Kansas runner of the year, in a year that featured a multitude of excellent performances.
Eric Vazquez ran the fastest times of the year at four distances from the 5K to the marathon, with bests of 14:49 for 5K at the Lawrence Thanksgiving Day run and 2:22:39 at Salina’s Crossroads Marathon.
Dee Boeck set age-group 75-79 records at one mile and 5M/8K and ran the fastest age-group times of the year at 5K and the half-marathon. More.
Because of the growing popularity of races longer than the marathon, we have substantially tightened the standards required to qualify for the state honor roll at ultrarunning distances.
Jan 8
The 2026 World Cross Country Championships are slated for Sat, Jan 10. Tallahassee will play host to the World Championships this year, which encouraged a talented crop of homegrown stars to test their talents on the cross country course this past fall. On the U.S. women's team is Lawrence's own Emily Venters.
You can stream the Championships on Saturday live on Peacock starting at 8:35 a.m. CT. A live broadcast will also be available on CNBC starting at 9 a.m.
Photo from 2017 by Pat Melgares; Venters is in the middle.
Jan 1
At the Overlook Park at Clinton Lake, Orienteer Kansas hosted its annual New Year's Day event.
Meeting at Ad Astra to do a morning run was one way to start off 2026. Some even ran the prescribed course Jay had laid out.
