The Kansas Ultrarunners' Society (KUS) was founded on March 1,1995, as a non-profit ultrarunning organization with the following mission statement.
The sole mission of our society is to organize, sponsor, staff and support ultrarunning events/competition in Kansas and the surrounding region. Our vision is to create an atmosphere that fosters not only the enlightenment of the novice ultrarunner, but nurtures the needs of the veteran ultrarunner as well.
The original founding members, Eric Steele, President; Scott Demaree, Vice President; Randy Albrecht, Secretary; and Marc Friesen, Treasurer, recruted members and by the orginizations first event that fall had a small membership of around 15.
KUS first official event, the Flatrock Trail 50K was held on September 30, 1995. With 28 paid entrants and 24 starting the event, KUS as an orginization was also on the starting line early that morning. As the last finisher crossed the finish line, so did the small band of KUS members and plans started for the next event.
The KUS 24/48 hour UltraMarathon was held at Camp Hiawatha in Wichita Kansas on May 3-5, 1996. The 48 hour event started at 8:00 p.m. on May 3rd with the 24 starting at 8:00 p.m. on the 4th. With Mother Nature, making a brief appearance,by sending a mini-hurricane to remind them we were in Kansas in the spring, , the KUS orginizers recovered quickly and had taken a few more steps down the trail toward the KUS mission. The successful results of KUS' second event brought in a few more members and KUS family continued to grow.
KUS continued with the Flatrock events annually until 2004, links to results, reports and some photos are listed below. In 2005, Eric Steele the race director decided to take the race out on it's own, you can find out more about the race at the Flatrock website.
KUS timed events also continued, links to the results and reports are below. One of the original founding members, Scott Demaree had moved to Texas and had founded his own timed events, sponsored by KUS. The TAMU event was held on November 12-14, 1999 on the Texas A&M campus. The year 2000 brought a return of the timed event to Kansas with the event held in Hesston, the 2001 and 2002 events were held in Linwood park in Wichita. Scott had by then moved to the Houston area and along with KUS member Wes Montieth started the Houston Ultra Weekend events at Bear Creek Park. The last Houston event was held in 2006.
In 1999 Phil and Stacy Sheridan directed the first Rockin K race held at Kanopolis State Park. This event is held annually the first Saturday of April. For more information go to the Rockin K page. In 2000, KUS members Randy Albrecht and Jim Davis decided to host the inaugural Heartland 100 Spirit of the Prairie race. In 2001 they decided to add a 50 mile to be held in conjuction with the 100. More information is on the Heartland page.
In 2003 Marc Friesen decided to host a new event, the Ad Astra Ultra and Relay held on a 4 mile loop along the Arkansas River in Wichita. The course was beautiful and would have been a great place to hold an event, however the in the days before the event the ever-challenging Kansas weather dumped rain in the area and by race day the swollen Arkansas River had claimed some of the course. Marc and his volunteers did a great job of remarking the course and the event went smoothly from there but in the end Marc decided that the Ad Astra was a one time event.
Marc has turned his attention now to the planning and direction of our KUS Members Only events, these events only open to KUS members are one time events and each one is a new course and format, the Trans-Kansas event was a multi-day adventure across Kansas held on Memorial Day weekend in 2006. The Prairie Spirit Trail Run was held March 10th in 2007 on the Prairie Spirit Trail starting in Ottawa and ending in Welda, all run on the rails to trails railroad beds. The 2008 event promises to be just as interesting, it will be a timed 12 hour event starting in the evening and running overnight. Stay tuned for the results.
Last Updated 5/29/2008
KUS Timed Events
April 25-27, 1997 KUS ULTRAGANZA 6/12/24/&48 hour races at Hesston KS Results and Report
April 25-26, 1998 24 Hour Ultramarathon held at Camp Hiawatha Results and Report
April 21, 2001 KUS 12/24-Hour Ultramarathon at Linwood Park, Wichita KS Report and Results
March 1-3, 2002 Houston Ultra Weekend at Bear Creek Park 6/12/24/48 Hour and 100K Events ResultsEvent Report and Pictures
April 27, 2002 KUS 12/24 at Linwood Park, Wichita KS Results
Feb 28 through Mar 2, 2003 Houston Ultra Weekend at Bear Creek Park 6/12/24/48 Hour and 100K Events Results and Report
Feb. 27-29, 2004 Houston Ultra Weekend at Bear Creek Park 6/12/24/48 Hour and 100K Events Results and Photos
Feb. 25-27, 2005 Houston Ultra Weekend at Bear Creek Park 6/12/24/48 Hour and 100K Events Results and Report
Feb. 24-26, 2006 Houston Ultra Weekend at Bear Creek Park 6/12/24/48 Hour and 100K Events Results and Report Thanks to Russell Meyer for providing these pictures .
