It was just one mile — 43 times.

Nearly 2,000 runners participating in Sunday’s 10th annual Brew to Brew solo and relay run were taking it a mile at a time as they made their way from the Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City, Mo., to Lawrence.

“I think I did OK, considering I’ve been in school for a year,” said Army Maj. Matt Zajac, as he crossed the finish on the Kansas River levee near the Massachusetts Street bridge.

Zajac, 37, was part of a Fort Leavenworth Army running team from the post’s School of Advanced Military Studies.

“We just came here to have fun,” Zajac said.

For many of the runners, most of the fun was after their run, when they gathered at Free State Brewing Co., 636 Mass., and Liberty Hall next door, where they ate and drank beer or sodas while waiting to see who won this year’s various prizes. Others stopped to eat and drink at other downtown bars and restaurants.

“We just came for the food,” said April Nooteboom, 35, Olathe, who ran with a team from the Runner’s Edge, a Kansas City-area running group.

Teammate Rene Maldonado agreed.

“This is the only place where you can run for two hours and then gain weight,” said Maldonado, 30, who recently moved to Olathe from Guatemala City.

Tom Olerich, of Olathe, finishes the Brew to Brew run. Solo and relay runners covered the distance between Kansas City and Lawrence on Sunday.

The Brew to Brew run is organized each year by the Kansas City Track Club. Its main purpose is to raise money for the Heart of America chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Although it wasn’t known Sunday exactly how much money was raised, organizers said they were hoping to take in about $10,000.

Among those especially appreciative of the runners was Jim Laake, of Lawrence, one of the volunteers keeping track of the runners at the finish line.

“My little granddaughter has cystic fibrosis,” Laake said. “That’s why I’m here.”