Kansas fun runs
19 seasonal, themed and one-of-a-kind fun runs in Kansas.
Holiday and seasonal: 8 · Novelty course: 3 · Food and drink: 3 · Costume and theme: 2 · Iconic tradition: 1 · Quirky format: 1 · Mud and obstacle: 1
- Costume and theme The Body Shop Halloween Trick or Trot 5K Western Kansas's Halloween costume 5K through Hays Municipal Park, with a costume contest and family mile.
- Novelty course 5K Monster Dash: Underworld Awakening A Halloween costume run through lantern-lit salt-mine tunnels 650 feet below the Kansas prairie.
- Holiday and seasonal Holiday Luminary 5K An evening 5K that previews the Overland Park Arboretum's holiday light trail before it opens to the public, with cookie aid stations and carolers.
- Holiday and seasonal Wichita Turkey Trot Kansas's half-century-old turkey trot runs an unusual 10-mile distance through downtown Wichita the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
- Holiday and seasonal Thanksgiving Day 5K Run & Family Stroll Kansas City's long-running Thanksgiving morning 5K invites dogs and families and hands out Krispy Kreme doughnuts and beer at the finish.
- Novelty course Topeka Turkey Trot A Thanksgiving trot run on the airport taxiways of Forbes Field beside the Combat Air Museum.
- Novelty course Salty Santa 5K A Christmas costume 5K run through the tunnels of an active salt mine 650 feet underground.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Kansas City Overland Park’s stop on the Arthritis Foundation’s national holiday run, where teams turn out in festive costumes and jingle bells to raise money for arthritis research.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Wichita, KS Wichita’s stop on the Arthritis Foundation’s national holiday run, where teams turn out in festive costumes and jingle bells to raise money for arthritis research.
- Holiday and seasonal The Great Santa Run 5K A Kansas City holiday 5K where every runner gets a red Santa hat, now in its 17th year.
- Iconic tradition International Pancake Day Race Women in aprons sprint 415 yards flipping a pancake in a skillet, racing their counterparts in Olney, England for the transatlantic title every Shrove Tuesday since 1950.
- Costume and theme Garmin Olathe Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K in the Land of Oz A Wizard of Oz–themed marathon weekend where runners dressed as Dorothy, Tin Men and Cowardly Lions finish on a yellow brick road.
- Food and drink Boomtown Road Race & Donut Mile The Donut Mile challenge: eat four donuts while covering one mile in the Wizard of Oz town of Wamego.
- Food and drink Founders Weekend: Whiskey Run 5K A 5K that starts and finishes at Boot Hill Distillery in Wild West Dodge City during Founders Weekend.
- Holiday and seasonal Kansas City Polar Plunge & Polar Strut 5K A winter 5K strut followed by a costumed plunge into Shawnee Mission Park Lake.
- Quirky format Side Pockets .5K BeerRun for KHS A deliberately tiny 0.5K 'race' (546 yards) that ends with two beers and a finisher medal.
- Holiday and seasonal St. Patrick's 5K A green-costume St. Patrick's 5K with a costume contest and pint-glass swag in suburban Kansas City.
- Mud and obstacle Wichita Gladiator Dash Wichita's homegrown 5K mud run with more than 20 land, water and mud obstacles in Sedgwick County Park.
- Food and drink Z&M Twisted Vines Wine Run 5K A 5K on the grass rows and roads of a Kansas vineyard that starts and finishes at the winery.