Nicole Schowengerdt placed in the top 8 percent of the Rock the Parkway half marathon in Kansas City, Mo. on April 12.
Schowengerdt, 31, was 380th out of 4,933 finishing runners. She finished in one hour and 44 minutes, averaging a 7 minute and 59-second mile. She placed 18th in her age group, which is in the top 3 percent.
“My goal was just to try a half marathon to see what I could do,” she said.
The Rock the Parkway half-marathon and 5K runs have been taking place for the past five years. A half marathon is 13.1 miles; a 5k is 3.1 miles. This was the first time that Schowengerdt had run a half marathon.
“This is the farthest that I’ve done,” Schowengerdt, who won Iola’s Mad Bomber 5k women’s division last year, said. “I just was interested in seeing how fast I could do it. I usually like to be competitive.”
Schowengerdt attended Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park. While in high school, she was a member of the school’s track and cross-country teams. She competed in 300m hurdles, 400m and 4×4 relay. Her team went to the state meet all four of her years.
Daniel Schowengerdt, 32, her husband ran track with her in high school. He ran the 800m and mile. They began dating in college. Now, Daniel and their kids, Noah, 6, and Bella, 4, attend every race Nicole is in. They plan out routes on the course to be able to cheer for her as much as possible.
When the family lived in Liberal, Nicole participated in its annual pancake race.
The women in Liberal compete against those in Olney, England. The tradition is in its 65th year.
The race requires runners to dress up in aprons and bandanas, flip a pancake in a skillet before the race starts, then run the 415 yards with it to the finish line, where the runner must flip the pancake once more.
“I had just heard about it and I really tried to train for it,” Schowengerdt said. “I knew it was a really big there.”
She participated in the 2011 race, where she won in a little more than a minute, 1:03.41. She said she didn’t actually practice running with the skillet until the day of the race. The women of Liberal won that year as well.
Schowengerdt said that she trained for about three months in preparation for the half marathon. She followed a calendar, day-to-day, off the website www.halhigdon.com.
“I did just running, regular running, and then I did long runs and I lifted,” Schowengerdt said. “I also did some track work at the track right here in town.”
Schowengerdt thinks she will run a half marathon again.
