About Us

(Where it all started: Kent McBrayer, a native of Kiowa who lived in Illinois at the time and his passion for distance running.)

Around 1983, Kent was attending the annual Kiowa Labor Day celebration and, while walking the grounds, was stopped by an old acquaintance. She knew that he was a runner and wanted to introduce him to her husband, who was also a runner. They lived in Iola, KS and his name was Steve Robb. They talked running and he informed Kent that he directed a 10K in Iola yearly and thought that the annual Labor Day celebration in Kiowa offered a great event to include a race. He actually said “you need a race here in Kiowa on Labor Day”. The seed was planted.

In the early 80’s, Kent was participating in road races nearly every weekend and had the opportunity to observe what worked and what didn’t. His main concerns were that Kiowa and the surrounding area were probably not much of a “running community” and, because of the population, recruiting volunteers might present a problem.

Now fast-forward to July of 1985. Kent was attending the annual Attica Rodeo festivities and ran into a friend from Kiowa, Catherine Rose. Catherine was an energetic and enthusiastic person but she was not a runner. Somehow the conversation turned to running and even the idea of a race in Kiowa. She was all for it and they both agreed, “we can do this”. She wholeheartedly volunteered to participate in the planning, organizing and execution of our fledging event.

We had to get moving as we only had about 8 or 9 weeks until Labor Day.

We began by putting together a team of volunteers to work the race-day morning activities as well as map out a route through town. We got the event okayed with the city and chose to start and finish the race at the high school grounds. From experiencing poorly controlled courses at other road races, we wanted to make sure that we addressed that potential problem thoroughly. Someone at the city office suggested using the volunteer fire department people for our course control so we made the contact. Roger Robison, fire chief, took the responsibility of that function and put together our initial team of intersection control people: a person at every turn and intersection. Roger’s excited, post-race exclamation was, “WE DID IT”!

We didn’t think we had time to procure a business as a sponsor for that first race so we approached the Chamber of Commerce and the South Barber Recreation Commission for donations. We had no idea of how much money we might need so we just threw out a reasonable figure and they both willingly donated. We were very fortunate that the First State Bank must have taken notice of what we thought was a successful first time event. They approached us a few months before our second race and offered to sponsor us. Needless to say, we were thrilled and gladly accepted their offer. Over the years their generous sponsorship has allowed us to maintain a very inexpensive entry fee.

We decided from the start that we would buy everything we possibly could from local sources. With that in mind, we quickly put together a simple design for the race t-shirt and placed our first order with our own hometown shop, Shirts & More, on Main Street. They have printed every race shirt we have ever given out and, for the last 30 years, Laurie Hiltner and Janet Robison from Shirts & More, have been involved in the layout and design for each year’s product.

We were very pleased that our first race had 77 finishers and it has steadily grown over the years. Our first race with more that 100 finishers was 1990 and we topped the 200 mark for the first time in 2004. Our next goal of 300 or more finishers was attained in 2010 and our record of 406 was accomplished in 2013. The last seven years has given us an average number of 335 finishers per year.

The 5K route is a certified course (USATF #KS94031BG) on a flat loop of paved streets that is well marked and controlled at every intersection and turn. The Community Building at 119 S. 5th offers our venue for all race activities and is located at the finish line. The starting line is a half block north (on Main Street).

In addition to the 5K, a 1-Mile Fun Run is offered as the first event of the day and a Kid’s Kuarter run (6 and under) as the last event. These two shorter distance runs start and finish at the 5K finish line area.

Our awards include 10 divisions for both male and female participants with a total of 74 trophies available for presentation. In addition to the running awards, a merchandise drawing is provided for all 5K entrants after the conclusion of the Kid’s Kuarter run. Local merchants and individuals give generously to this part of our race day and, we believe, it greatly enhances the appeal of our event.

Safety, accuracy, fitness and enjoyment of the entire race event for everyone involved, especially the runners and spectators, is very important to us and is what guides our planning each year. Thank you to all volunteers and sponsors who help in so many ways to make that possible. And, thank you runners and walkers, for making the Kiowa Labor Day 5K, 1 Mile and Kid’s Kuarter a time of setting and reaching goals, encouraging each other and just having a fun time. This is the spirit that keeps us going. Long may we run!