Back of the Pack Podcast

Kyle Walker
  • 4.9 (53)
  • Running
  • Updated Weekly

Lace up your sneakers, grab your favorite headband, and toe the starting line! The signal has fired and the “Back of the Pack Podcast” is up and running! Are you a fan of running 5k’s just because the finisher medal looks cool? You are not alone there! Join the show that is all about the race swag and running on a Saturday morning to get the most out of your race registration. We will talk about local races in the Kansas City area. We will give you a heads up if you’re wanting to go farther outside the area to run the big races. Host Kyle Walker has fourteen full marathons, over eighty half marathons, and hundreds of 5k’s and 10k's. Take it from us, you are among friends here if you’ve gotten to the finish line to find all the bananas gone!

  1. 2d ago

    2026 Rexy Run Preview

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are joined by longtime friends of the show for one of our favorite annual conversations: The 2026 Rexy Run Preview. The Rexy Run 5K & 10K is coming up on August 15, 2026, in Lawrence, Kansas, and this race continues to be one of the most meaningful events on our calendar. Race director Kristina, Erica from Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope, and Colby, the mother of this year’s Honorary Rexy, join us to talk about the race, the mission, and the family at the heart of this year’s event. Rexy Run benefits Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope, a Lawrence-based 501(c)(3) that helps families with children going through cancer treatment by offering support for real-life needs like gas, groceries, utilities, travel expenses, and more. This year’s event brings back the family-friendly race day atmosphere runners have come to love, along with a new 10K course, food trucks, cinnamon rolls, finisher medals, handmade awards, kids activities, and plenty of reasons to make the drive to Broken Arrow Park. But more than anything, this episode is about why this race matters, who it helps, and how showing up for a 5K or 10K can make a real difference for families walking through something no family should have to face alone. Whether you run, walk, volunteer, donate, cheer, or simply help spread the word, Rexy Run is a race worth putting on your calendar. Listen to the episode, hear the story, and then go get yourself registered for Rexy Run.

    2026 Rexy Run Preview

  2. 6d ago

    Why Are We Like This?: The Fear of Missing Out

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, our July series Why Are We Like This? continues with a topic every runner eventually meets: FOMO, the fear of missing out. Runners and endurance athletes love filling the calendar with races, run clubs, team events, traditions, medals, group photos, and shared suffering, but sooner or later, life gets in the way. Whether it is a scheduling conflict, family responsibility, injury, illness, weather, travel, burnout, or simply needing rest, sometimes we do not make it to the start line. This episode digs into the emotional weirdness of a DNS, or Did Not Start, and why missing a race can feel like everyone else went to summer camp without us. We talk about registration guilt, medal FOMO, social media FOMO, group photo FOMO, and the way runners can convince themselves that missing one race somehow means they are less committed. Spoiler: it does not. Sometimes the smartest race decision is not showing up, especially when another responsibility, another priority, or the bigger picture needs to come first. We also look at the race calendar problem, because runners have a special talent for seeing an open Saturday and immediately trying to turn it into a bib number. At the heart of the episode is a reminder that races are supposed to be fun, not mandatory life sentences with finish-line bananas. The running community will still be there next weekend, next month, and next year. Missing one start line does not erase the miles, memories, consistency, or commitment already built.

    Why Are We Like This?: The Fear of Missing Out

  3. Jul 21

    "I'm Probably Fine"

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, Kyle calls an audible from the planned episode to mark a milestone that changed the entire direction of his life: the ten-year anniversary of his first open-heart surgery. For longtime listeners, this is a story that has been referenced many times, but for newer members of the Back of the Pack community, this may be the first time hearing how a heart condition, a failed valve, and two surgeries became part of the foundation for everything that came after. Kyle looks back on the dreams that changed, the warning signs that could not be ignored, the doctors who made all the difference, and the moments from 2016 that still remain impossible to forget. This episode is honest, personal, emotional, and at times surprisingly funny, because sometimes survival stories come with scars, hospital gowns, bad timing, and a few memories that still feel unreal ten years later. More than anything, this is a reflection on what it means to keep going when life interrupts the plan in the biggest way possible. From the first steps after surgery to the long road back toward racing, this story helps explain the runner, the podcast, and the stubborn refusal to let one defective valve write the ending. Ten years later, Kyle is still here, still moving, still telling the story, and still probably fine. Join us for a very personal episode about the heart behind the miles.

    "I'm Probably Fine"

  4. Jul 17

    Why Are We Like This?: The Social Side of Suffering

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, our July series Why Are We Like This? continues with a look at the social side of endurance sports. Runners and endurance athletes bond over some very strange things: hills, heat, porta-potties, chafing, finish lines, race medals, bad decisions, and the phrase “never again” even though we are absolutely going to do it again. This episode dives into how shared suffering can create fast friendships, whether it happens during a rough race, on a brutal hill, at mile 10 of a half marathon, or through the shared heartbreak and celebration of something like London Marathon lottery day. We talk about the race friend pipeline, where strangers become familiar faces, familiar faces become running buddies, and running buddies become road trip partners, run club regulars, post-race beer companions, and family. There is also plenty of love for the post-race story economy, because runners trade tales of heat, hills, blisters, bathroom emergencies, forgotten registrations, and miserable races like sacred currency. We also dig into endurance peer pressure, group bad ideas, FOMO, and why “come on, it’ll be fun” has probably caused more suffering than most training plans. But this episode also reminds us that life outside the miles still matters, whether that means concerts, lake weekends, family obligations, recovery, or simply putting the Garmin down for a while. Finally, we look at why run clubs work, especially places like Chasing Rabbits Run Club, where the miles matter, but the conversations afterward may matter even more. Why are we like this? Because somewhere between the miles, the misery, the medals, the group photos, and the parking lot conversations, we found our people.

    Why Are We Like This?: The Social Side of Suffering

  5. Jul 13

    A Very Back-of-the-Pack Duathlon

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we recap one of the hardest and strangest endurance weekends of the year: the Argo Half Marathon and Kyle’s first official bike race, Lizard Under the Skillet. First up is Argo, the infamous “finishers only” half marathon on Argo Road, where the hills are rude, the sun is merciless, and the shirt at the end is earned the hard way. With a 9:00 a.m. July start, full sun, 60% humidity, a dew point of 71, and a finishing heat index of 102 degrees, this year’s Argo was even nastier than expected. Kyle walks through the brutal out-and-back course, the repeated trips past the cooler, the lifesaving water stops and misters, the climb up Slaughter Hill, and the final push to earn the fluorescent finisher shirt. Despite the heat, the hills, and the general “why did we do this again?” energy, Kyle finished four minutes faster than last year, proving that even tiny victories on a monstrous course deserve celebration. Then, less than 24 hours later, it was off to Lawrence, Kansas for the Lizard Under the Skillet ride with the Lawrence Bicycle Club and Kyle’s first official bike event. The 31-mile Gecko distance brought country roads, bike etiquette lessons, SAG stops, one very important helmet-wearing rubber duck named Crash, and a whole new appreciation for padded shorts. From scorching hills to sore legs, numb bike-seat regrets, and the realization that Argo followed by a bike race may not be the smartest scheduling choice, this episode is a full weekend of bad ideas that somehow turned into big wins.

    A Very Back-of-the-Pack Duathlon

  6. Jul 10

    Why Are We Like This?: That Sounds Awful, I’m In

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, our July series Why Are We Like This? continues with a look at the endurance decisions that sound terrible on paper but somehow end up on our calendars anyway. With the Argo Half Marathon and its 2,900 feet of elevation waiting on Saturday, followed by the Lizard Under the Skillet 31-mile bike race and an Evanescence concert on Sunday, this episode asks why runners, cyclists, and endurance people keep signing up for things that sound more like warnings than weekend plans. We talk about why hard courses tempt us, why hills expose our weaknesses, and why a flat course may give us a time, but a brutal course gives us a story. Argo becomes the perfect example of a race where effort matters more than pace, walking hills is smart instead of shameful, and simply finishing can be the real victory. We also dive into the Bad Decision Hall of Fame: signing up before checking elevation, stacking races, chasing medals, falling for peer pressure, and pretending a bike race after a hilly half marathon counts as recovery. This episode also gets into the fine line between brave and dumb, especially when heat, hydration, fatigue, elevation, and recovery are all part of the equation. There is plenty of humor here, but also a real reminder that challenge should stretch us, not wreck us. And as Kyle steps into the biking world as a beginner, we talk about how humbling it can be to start something new again after years of experience in running. Why are we like this? Because sometimes a bad decision with a bib number reminds us exactly what we are made of.

    Why Are We Like This?: That Sounds Awful, I’m In

  7. Jul 6

    A Very Back-of-the-Pack Fourth

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we recap a busy Fourth of July weekend full of fireworks, frantic huskies, Patreon gratitude, race reviews, and questionable scheduling decisions. Kyle starts by thanking new Patreon supporters and talking honestly about how listener support, social media interaction, and community engagement help keep the podcast moving forward. From there, we head to Clinton, Missouri for the Old Glory Days 5K, a small-town Friday night race attached to a much bigger Fourth of July festival full of carnival rides, food, music, fireworks, and classic small-town America energy. The course may have ended up short due to a misplaced turnaround volunteer, but the race still delivered hills, humidity, a beautiful evening atmosphere, a great medal, and one unforgettable trail of pre-race funnel cake regret. After a quick turnaround, it was back to Kansas City for the Ward Parkway 4 on the 4th, where heat, humidity, patriotic outfits, familiar Rock the Parkway roads, and a much-improved medal made for a solid holiday morning race. Kyle also talks about managing overheating on course, including the surprisingly helpful trick of holding ice in the left hand during the final mile. The weekend wrapped with a bike ride that became Kyle’s longest adult ride so far, right up until a blown back tire led to the dreaded biker walk of shame. And with Summer Argo and Kyle’s first official bike race waiting next weekend, this episode is part race recap, part warning label, and part evidence that runners will sign up for almost anything if enough friends are doing it.

    A Very Back-of-the-Pack Fourth

  8. Jul 3

    Why Are We Like This?: Holiday Race Edition

    This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, we kick off our July series, Why Are We Like This?, by asking why runners insist on turning holiday weekends into race weekends. With the Fourth of July upon us, we look at the wonderfully weird tradition of waking up early, dressing in red, white, and blue, charging the Garmin, checking the weather, and voluntarily sweating through a shirt before breakfast. From the Olde Glory Days 5K on July 3rd to Ward Parkway 4 on the Fourth on July 4th, this episode celebrates the strange little joy of patriotic races and holiday start lines. We talk about why holiday races feel different, why they bring out families, walkers, first-timers, costumes, tourists, longtime locals, and plenty of back-of-the-pack party energy. We also dig into the myth of the “just a fun run,” because a festive 5K can still hurt, a 4-mile race can sneak up on us, and heat and humidity do not care how cute the theme is. There’s plenty of talk about patriotic gear, novelty outfits, chafing, sunscreen, hydration, and why racing before the cookout means we still need to recover like adults with at least partial wisdom. More than anything, this episode reminds us that holiday races become traditions because they connect running to real life. They welcome new runners, grow the community, and turn the start line into something bigger than the clock. Why are we like this? Because somewhere between the costumes, the sweat, the family photos, and the finish-line banana, we found a tradition worth keeping.

    Why Are We Like This?: Holiday Race Edition
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4.9
out of 5
53 Ratings

About

Lace up your sneakers, grab your favorite headband, and toe the starting line! The signal has fired and the “Back of the Pack Podcast” is up and running! Are you a fan of running 5k’s just because the finisher medal looks cool? You are not alone there! Join the show that is all about the race swag and running on a Saturday morning to get the most out of your race registration. We will talk about local races in the Kansas City area. We will give you a heads up if you’re wanting to go farther outside the area to run the big races. Host Kyle Walker has fourteen full marathons, over eighty half marathons, and hundreds of 5k’s and 10k's. Take it from us, you are among friends here if you’ve gotten to the finish line to find all the bananas gone!

Information

  • Creator
    Kyle Walker
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    294
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright The Back of the Pack Podcast
  • Show Website
    Back of the Pack Podcast