Rim Rock Farm Classic expected to be big draw

A bit of advice for those planning to attend the Rim Rock Farm High School Classic northwest of Lawrence today:

If you have access to a helicopter, take advantage.

“It’s still a country road, and there’s still six or seven thousand people trying to get there,” Free State High cross country coach Steve Heffernan said of today’s inevitable logjam of vehicles. “It takes awhile.”

Both Lawrence High and Free State will be among the 77 boys teams and 68 girls teams participating in one of the Midwest’s most popular annual meets. The races start at 9 a.m., with the varsity girls scheduled to run at 11:15 a.m. and the varsity boys at 11:45 a.m.

Heffernan hopes his runners move faster than the traffic. A meet of this magnitude this early in the season might not be the best situation, but it no doubt can have its positives.

“Early on we try to find progress,” Heffernan said. “This kind of meet comes a little early for us, but it’s a great opportunity to compete on both the state course and our home course.”

Free State sophomore Alysha Valencia finished 10th in last year’s 4K race with a time of 15:44.05. Valencia started strong, but faltered late after running into the brutal stretch of hills. She was still just the second-ever Firebird to earn medalists honors at Rim Rock.

Many of the runners from both LHS and Free State have tackled the course before, giving them a bit of an edge against the hundreds of runners they’ll be racing against.

LHS coach Chip Anderson was hoping to take his teams out to Rim Rock Thursday, but lightning and rain forced the Lions to stay home.

Regardless, Anderson’s knowledge of the course allowed him to teach his runners all the secrets of success.

“I drew a map of the course on a chalkboard,” Anderson said. “And we were able to dissect every little bit of it.”

No word on if Anderson knows a secret route to avoid the traffic and get to Rim Rock farm in good time. But if he does, he’s not sharing it.

“There’s no way around it,” Anderson said with a laugh. “It’s going to be bumper to bumper all the way in.”