2018 Missouri River 340...

Well, Ken did it again.  Last year after he finished, he never said he would not do it again, so I should not be surprised that he registered for this race again in January.  He had fun doing it last year and wanted to take what he learned and apply it to this year.

What that meant for me was that I was going to get to take three days to drive across Missouri again, yay.  Actually, I did not mind it at all, it was kind of fun.

I was solo the first full day and then Ken's parents met me in Jefferson City on day two and were with me until the end.  We had a lot of fun and I even got to impress Bill and Linda with my driving on windy roads.  After all, I am a small town girl at heart.

Ken at the start of the race in Kansas City

I always think this view of downtown is pretty

After Ken started, I ran 15 miles since I have a small race of my own looming around the corner.  Ken called me to let me know he was going to be at his first stop earlier than expected, so I hustled to drop Kya off at the vet and go to meet Ken,  

I met Ken in Waverly and it was nice to see him and that he was in good spirits.  I gave him his night gear and made my way to Marshall, MO for the night to stay in a hotel.  

Ken happy in Waverly

The next morning I met Ken in my favorite small town of Glasgow, MO.  He got there around 8:30, and sadly the winery I visited last year was not open so I had to skip it.  I ran around the downtown area, stopped for some cookies at a bakery and drove to Franklin Island.  

Leaving Glasgow

Ken was still quite a bit ahead of where he was hoping to be, so he made plans to get to Jefferson City and continue on from there to find a place to camp.  

We saw Ken at Coopers Landing and Jefferson City, before we called it a night.  

The next morning we met Ken in New Haven before he powered on.  I like to think that the Casey's breakfast pizza I provided in New Haven made an impact on him finishing faster than last year.

Ken and Justin leaving New Haven

The ground crew stopped off at wineries for wine tasting before making our way to St. Charles for the finish.  Ken's goal was to finish before 7:00 pm, which was about 5 hours earlier than he planned and about 20 hours faster than last year.

Coming into the finish line at 6:00 pm!

So very proud of him!

Justin and Ken, MR 340 under 60 hour finishers!

We stayed the night in St. Charles and drove home on Friday.  Ken was pretty tired since his sleep was pretty messed up from the race.  I believe he got less than 6 hours of sleep total during the race.  

While cleaning up, someone decided to check out her dad's kayak.  Maybe she is wanting to go on a kayaking trip?

Kya the Kayaker.  She is so sweet to appease me and let me get her picture in there.

Well, that was the MR 340 2018.  The jury is still out on if Ken will do it again next year.  He has debated about doing it with a partner for something different.  Let's be 100% clear, that partner is not me.  This girl plans on keeping her feet on the ground, well, unless it involves swimming 2.4 miles in the river.  

Congratulations Ken!  You make your family of five so proud!