Amid the exploding popularity of “extreme” sports comes an extreme form of running — ultramarathons.
No longer content to settle for those puny 26-mile jaunts, Eric Steele is among the growing legion of runners who have taken to running upward of 100 miles or more per trip.
Steele plans to introduce eastern Kansas to the world of ultramarathons March 23 with the Prairie Spirit 100.
The race will start at the Ottawa end of the Prairie Spirit Trail, make its way to Iola, then double back to Ottawa.
“As soon as I heard about the plans to extend the trail all the way to Iola a few years ago, I knew the trail would be perfect,” said Steele, the race’s chief organizer and founder of Epic Ultras, an organization that plans and organizes ultrarunning events.
The race will be offered in two lengths — 50 miles for about half of the expected 100 or more participants, and the full 100 miles for the heartiest of souls.
Those who race the 50 miles will be given 28 hours to complete their trek; the 100-milers will get 30 hours.
The close deadlines for the two distances was done intentionally, Steele noted.
“If you can power walk, you can probably do a 50-miler,” he said.
Those who run the full 100 miles can be joined by a “pacer” or companion runner for different segments of the return trip to Ottawa.
AS OF last week, runners from 12 states have registered — 33 doing the 50-mile path; 34 during the 100-mile path.
Registration will remain open through March 20, Steele said, and can be completed online at prairiespirit100.com. Registration costs $125 for those doing the 50 miles and $175 for the 100-mile participants. The prices will go up $25 after Feb. 9, plus early registration will guarantee participants will get a shirt and buckle on the day of the race.
“Everybody who races will get a buckle, but we’d like to make sure we have enough that day,” Steele said.
RUNNING ultramarathons became a natural progression for Steele, 47, Wichita, who admitted he was hardly a bastion of good health as a young adult.
“I was overweight, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and not really happy with where my life was headed,” he recalled.
He started running — poorly, it turns out — as a quick route to physical fitness.
“I had run a little in high school, but I was in pretty bad shape,” he said. “I couldn’t even run a mile when I started.”
Plus, he continued his smoking habit the first two years as a runner.
“It’s almost easier to do it that way,” he said with a laugh. “Most people would try to stop smoking before they start running, but what forced me to quit was that after running more and more, I figured out that smoking was making me sick. That’s when I finally stopped.”
Steele has a tie to Iola.
His paternal grandfather, Horace Glen Steele, was born in Iola in the early 1900s.
WHAT PROMPTS a runner to go 100 miles in one excursion?
“You mean what makes us a special breed of crazy?” he replied with a laugh.
Steele compared ultramarathoners to college students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree in a certain course of study, yet still want to do more in that area.
“So you complete your master’s courses,” he said. “That might be like doing a 50-mile race. Is there further study from a master’s? Of course; you have your doctorate. Runners have their doctorates in the form of 100-mile runs.”
He notes one significant difference between ultramarathoners and those dedicated to shorter distances.
“Serious runners who do marathons or half-marathons are the type who hate to have to walk at any point,” he said.
Ultramarathoners, on the other hand, are perfectly willing to slow to a brisk walk — some will even stop to rest or take a quick nap — to ensure their body stays charged enough to complete the course.
Steele follows a simple philosophy.
“Just run until it feels too hard, then walk until it feels too easy,” he said.
THE PRAIRIE SPIRIT trail should be attractive to veterans and newcomers alike for its forgiving gravel surface, its relatively flat course from end to end and its limited exposure to traffic, Steele said.
“This is a great course for runners to try to get their personal best marks,” said Steele, who ran the trail shortly after it was extended to Iola about three years ago.
The trail’s proximity to U.S. 169 and then U.S. 59 — it runs virtually parallel to the highway corridor from Ottawa to Iola — is another benefit.
“It makes it very easy for runners to have support teams at the ready if needed.”
Several manned and unmanned aid stations will be set up along the route, close enough together that runners will go no farther than six miles between stations. Most will be about five miles apart, Steele said.
STEELE helped form the Kansas Ultrarunners Society in 1995.
One of the first races he conceived was the famed Flatrock 50K race in rural Montgomery.
The name is something of a misnomer. Following the Elk River Hiking Trail, the course is anything but “flat” with scenic climbs along rolling hills just west of Independence.
The Prairie Spirit Trail will be far less challenging, as far as ultramarathons go.
“Plus, the runners will get to visit some great little towns along the way,” he said. “It should be a tremendous event. That’s why I’m calling this the ‘Inaugural’ Prairie Spirit 100. I want to come back year after year and do this again.”
