Tempe Harty, left, of Eudora, gives Jackie Stiles, of Wichita, a beer Sunday as she crosses the finish line of the Brew to Brew Run in North Lawrence. Competitors ran 43.5 miles from Kansas City, Mo., to Lawrence, either solo or in relay teams. The annual run benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Tom Whalen crossed the finish line in Sunday’s Brew to Brew Run, dropped to the ground and vomited.

“It was hard,” said the St. Louis resident, who ran the 43.5-mile course in five hours, 27 minutes and 45 seconds, the first solo finisher. “The wind was sort of brutal on the levee.”

About 2,000 runners trekked from Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City, Mo., to Lawrence’s Free State Brewery, 636 Mass., on Sunday. The annual run raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The 10-leg race began at 6 a.m. Participants, some running solo and others in relay teams, faced temperatures in the 50s, cloudy skies and south winds at 5 to 15 miles per hour with gusts up to 25 miles per hour.

“Temperature-wise it’s perfect for runners,” said Dan Gay, board member of the Kansas City Track Club.

Organizers changed the run this year to reduce traffic along the route. While past runs have allowed up to 10 runners per team, this year that number was reduced to five.

Each team member now does two legs, each about four miles long. Participation has dropped from last year, but Gay said organizers anticipate it will go up.

“What we hope is that team members just train more so they can do two legs,” he said.

One team calling itself the Four Old Dogs and a Pup gathered at the finish, celebrating a better time than past years.

“It’s just a blast run,” said Henry Yount, of Fort Scott. “We all get together and go for a ride, come up here and stay in a hotel and race. It’s just a lot of fun.”

Kansas University’s Final Four game Saturday night was a bit of a distraction for some runners.

Zack Reynolds, of Fort Scott, said he didn’t get as much rest as he would have liked.

“It was hard to sleep last night,” he said. “I kept thinking about 40 to 12 and Roy.”