Above: Marathon Coach #1407 Salon
Marathon Club President Ed Cheeney doesn't know off the top of his head exactly how many club rallies he's been to, but he does know it's enough that, "I have about 20 pounds of rally pins stuck to my Marathon Club badge," he cracks.
In other words, the answer is "a lot," which is no surprise considering Cheeney and his wife, Jan, haven't missed many rallies since joining the club in 2012, the same year they purchased their first, and still only, Marathon Coach.
Point being, Cheeney knows his rallies and has enjoyed each one he has attended, for the sights he's seen, the activities he's enjoyed and, above all else, the life-long friendships he and Jan have made. But the most recent Marathon Club rally, held in Kansas City last April, was extra special to him, and not just for all the world-class barbecue. This rally also was the first one Ed had been convened on his watch as president of the Marathon Club.
"It was a great rally, but also an enormous release of pressure seeing it all come together," he said. "I had worked with the previous club administrator on a number of things, but this was my maiden voyage as club president, and I have to say the ship left the dock in perfect form.
Cheeney wasn't the only one taking a voyage into the relative unknown of Kansas City; this was also the first rally Lydia Admire was in charge of organizing since becoming Marathon Club administrator in April 2024.
So, if you felt a sudden gust of air on Saturday, April 12, the closing day of the rally, that may have been the huge sigh of relief Admire exhaled at the end of a very successful week.
"It was definitely a little stressful leading up to the rally, primarily because you just don't know what to expect until you do one," Admire said. "You just hope you've done your planning well. I learned a lot of things during this rally that will be helpful in the future, but I think it went really well." Cheeney seconds that. "I was talking to club members throughout the rally, and all of them were having a lot of fun and were very, very happy," he said.
Here are some of rally highlights:
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�Welcome Dinner and Dance:
"This took place at a WWII aviation-centric hangar, which was an incredible little gem I found," Admire said. "We had a great barbecue dinner and an awesome band for dancing. People were able to have dog tags made for themselves. It was a really fun start to the rally.City Tours:
Club members were able to learn more about Kansas City by taking either a trolley tour or guided walking tour. "I really enjoyed the tour," Cheeney said. "Jan and I had been through Kansas City in our Marathon a number of times, but we always just traveled through and never really saw it. After the tour and entire rally, we were kind of kicking ourselves for not stopping sooner."
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�Distillery Tour and Ax Throwing:
"The distillery tour included a visit to one place that claimed to have the only "distillery slide" in the country," Admire said. "Everybody had so much fun on that slide. You could just hear the joy when people were sliding down it. The ax throwing was also a hoot. I heard so many people saying 'We never would have thought to go ax throwing, but it was really fun.'"
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�Kansas City BBQ Tour:
After throwing axes, club members boarded buses and headed out on a tour of three of Kansas City's best barbecue stops - Arthur Bryant's, Jack Stack and Gates. "They were only tastings, but we were all definitely full after that," said Admire.
Hike/Walk:
Club members who wished could opt for a walk or hike Friday morning, and those who participated were surprised with T-shirts imprinted with the words "I ran a Marathon at the Kansas City Rally" and an image of a Marathon Coach.
Rally activities concluded Friday night when, after a farewell dinner at the American Jazz Museum, Marathon Club members had the option of taking a two-step dance lesson or listening and dancing to jazz music.
With her first successful rally behind her, Admire is hard at work planning her next one which is set for October in Albuquerque in conjunction with the city's famous balloon festival. For his part, Cheeney is anticipating a future in which he'll be adding plenty of rally pins to his collection.
"The Marathon Club stands far above any other coach club, and I'm not just saying that because I'm president," he said. "The club is so welcoming and friendly. It's like a family. The people who go to these rallies become some of your best friends, and that's a huge motivator that makes you want to go see your friend again at the next rally."
