5K? So passé

The Main Street Mile doesn’t come with the bragging rights of longer races, but what the route lacks in distance, it makes up for in urban scenery — including historic views that many take for granted as they zoom in cars along the downtown artery that is Main Street. “People are just amazed by the character of some of the buildings,” says race coordinator Ashley Lee, referring to the Art Deco architecture around 39th Street and Main. Lee works for the Main Street Corridor Development Corporation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the street. The organization donates all proceeds beyond event costs to a streetscape project. “Next year, when people come back, more physical changes on Main Street will have occurred with landscaping, lighting, bike racks and all that,” Lee says. Register to run or walk one mile of Main for $25 ($20 in advance). The third-annual Main Street Mile begins at 9 a.m. at Linwood and Main and runs southward to the parking lot of St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School and Church at 40th Street and Main, where participants and their families are rewarded with free slushies and other snacks, plus samples and prizes from local businesses. For more information, see kcmainstreetmile.org.

Sat., May 8, 9 a.m., 2010