KANSAS ULTRARUNNERS' SOCIETY (KUS)
Second Annual Heartland 100 & 50 Mile
Races
October 13, 2001
Cassoday, KS
Running in the prairie is a new
experience for many of the first time participants in the Heartland 100. William Least Heat-Moon in his book Prairie
Erth describes the prairie as, “Whatever else prairie is - grass, sky, wind -
it is most of all a paradigm of infinity, a clearing full of many things except
boundaries, and its power comes from the apparent limitlessness; there is no
such thing as a small prairie any more than there is a little ocean, and the
consequence of both is this challenge.”
Temperatures were in the mid-40’s for the
start of the second annual Heartland 100 as a cold front had just moved through
the area. Winds were out of the north
and would become an obstacle that the runners would have to deal with
throughout the event. The projected
rain never materialized and the sky was crystal clear by late morning providing
the runners with unsurpassed views of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. High temperatures for the day were in the
upper 50’s and by early evening the winds lessened. As the runners were enjoying
an evening of running under the clear star filled skies Mother Nature decided
it was time for some more Kansas wind. The increasing wind along with
temperatures that were falling to the low 40’s caught many runners off guard
between their drop bags.
Returning champions Charles Stodter and Monica
Scholz were in the field along with 48% of last year’s participants. Phil Sheridan set the early pace covering
the first 50K in 4:03. Mark Henderson
and David Wakefield who was running only his second ultra followed him. By the turnaround it looked to be a two-man
race with Phil reaching the 50-mile mark in 7:05 followed by Mark in 7:33. Phil was forced to retire from the race at
83 miles and Mark continued on his mission of redemption after his second place
finish last year and finished in 17:17:50 with an impressive course
record. Charles Stodter demonstrated
the same consistent pacing as last year and finished in 20:40:06. At the awards
ceremony he proudly displayed a perfect Indian arrowhead he had found on the
course during the race.
Early in the women’s race, Monica Scholz
and Molly Gibb were close, however Monica’s consistent pace allowed her to
gradually pull away from Molly. Monica went on to defend her women’s title, set
a course record of 20:32:34 and finish second overall. What makes her performance even more
impressive was that she had an equally fine performance the previous week at
the Arkansas Traveler. Molly continued
on to finish third in 25:56:31.
James Maher won the 50-mile race in
8:02:28. Dave McGuire and Raul Flores
finished next and then helped crew and pace Monica to her victory.
For runners looking for a different
adventure, or looking for a good race for their first attempt at 100-miles, the
openness of the prairie will present challenges and views that are uniquely different
from other races. We look forward to seeing everyone next October for the third
annual Heartland 100.
Randy Albrecht RD
Jack Menard adds:
The October issue of Ultrarunning
contains over 39 reviews of ultras across the nation. This attests to the number of races being offered. My wife and I wanted to run something
different for my first 100 miler and her first 50 miler. The Heartland 100/50 looked good and was
also within driving distance from our home base of Denver.
It is easy to be humbled when running a
mountain race. We were to find that
same feeling while running beneath a blanket of stars where only the unending
horizon fills ones vision. This race is
unique, to say the least. It is no cakewalk.
The 6042 feet of climb through the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie
provides a serious challenge. Nowhere
else can you run with a 360 degree field of view with nothing but open
space. Occasional oilrigs churn with
the same sounds they have made since the turn of the century. Cattle crossings become welcome distractions
from the pace.
Forget pasta at the pre-race dinner. This is Kansas and meat is king. The
Cassoday Café (founded in 1879!) catered a great menu of home cooking'. In
addition, the aid station at mile 31/62 offered Dave’s famous " Prairie
Power Pellets"-a unique blend of some prairie bean mixed of course with
wieners.
Our thanks go out to all the great
volunteers. We made a lot of new
friends who we hope to see again.