2025 UPDATE
The Kansas Ultrarunners Society sponsors 6 annual races, which are Rockin’ K Trail Races, Heartland 50, Heat Wave 6/12/24 Hour Ultra, Heartland 100, Horsethief Canyon 10K Trail Race, and KUS 6/12/24 Hour Run. We would love anyone with the vision and creativity for planning future KUS members-only runs, trips, etc. to contact KUS President SCOTT HAGERTY
HISTORY OF KUS EVENTS, NEWSLETTERS AND PHOTOS
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 were Eric Steele, President; Scott Demaree, Vice
President; Randy Albrecht, Secretary; and Marc Friesen, Treasurer. Other members
were recruited and by the organization’s first event that fall, there was a membership of
approximately 15 runners.
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 organization 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 ultra race.
This was the KUS 24/48-hour Ultramarathon, which was held at Camp Hiawatha in Wichita, Kansas on May 3-5, 1996. The 48-hour event started at 8PM on May 3rd and the 24-hour event started at 8PM on
the 4th. With Mother Nature making a brief appearance by sending a mini hurricane to remind all participants they were in Kansas in the spring, the KUS organizers 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 more members, so the KUS family continued to grow.
KUS continued with the Flatrock events annually until 2004. In 2005, Eric Steele, the race director, decided to take the race out on its own and from underneath the KUS umbrella. While now the race has
changed hands multiple times, with its current race directors being KUS’ very own Heartland 50 RDs, Tawny and Brain Scantlin, the essence and history of Flatrock remains as it is the longest-standing
ultrarace in Kansas. You can find out more about the Flatrock through its Ultrasignup website.
KUS timed events, however, continued. One of the original founding members, Scott Demaree, had moved to Texas and founded his own timed events, which were sponsored by KUS. The TAMU ultra was held
on November 12-14, 1999 on the Texas A&M campus. Then in 2000, a timed event returned to Kansas and was held in Hesston. The 2001 and 2002 events were at 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.
Phil and Stacy Sheridan directed the first Rockin’ K ultra race in 1999. It was held at Kanopolis State Park and remains a staple race of KUS still today. This event is held annually on the first Saturday of April.
For more information visit the Rockin’ K page.
The year 2000 brought the inaugural Heartland 100 Spirit of the Prairie ultra, directed by KUS members Randy Albrecht and Jim Davis. In 2001 they decided to add a 50-mile to be held
in conjunction with the 100. Today, the race offers distances from a ½ Marathon up to 125-miles. More information is on the Heartland page. In 2003, Marc Friesen decided to host a new event. This was the
Ad Astra Ultra and Relay to be held on a 4-mile loop along the Arkansas River in Wichita. The course was beautiful and would have been a great location for such a race, however 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 rerouting 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 then turned his attention to planning and directing KUS Members-Only events. These were one-time races, each one being held on a new course and in a different format. The Trans-Kansas event was a
multi-day adventure across Kansas held on Memorial Day weekend in 2006.
Next was the Prairie Spirit Trail Run March 10, 2007 on the Prairie Spirit Trail starting in Ottawa and ending in Welda, all ran on the rails-to-trails railroad beds. This race remains and is very popular each year,
though it is no longer a KUS Members-Only ultra. The 2008 member’s event was Sun-to-Sun in Newton and North Newton on the Sand Creek Trail. It began at 7PM and ended the next day at 7AM. In 2009
Marc hosted the Flint Hills 50. Utilizing the Heartland course, the event started at the Heartland turnaround point and finished in Cassoday. The 2010 event was the River City 50, a 50K at Sedgwick County
Park in Wichita, Kansas.
Though many of the races in KUS’ history have gone away, what remains is the original spirit of the organization that is fostered and carried on by its current race directors and members. We
not only support and promote current KUS ultras, but all of those in and around Kansas and work to continue this sport for generations to come.