Heartland 100/50

Fast Times and Fireworks in the Prairie

October 13, 2007

By Randy Albrecht RD

The weeks leading up to the eight annual Heartland races were unusually warm and with race day highs projected at around 80 degrees. I anticipated slower times with many runners struggling in the heat. The second week in October was chosen for this race as October weather is usually mild and severe storms do not frequently occur. This is Kansas however and you have to be prepared for rapid changes in the weather. Race morning started with mild temperatures in the 50’s, but there was lightning in the distance. Approximately three hours into the race the storm hit with lots of lightning, thunder and brief heavy rain. As a race director, a severe thunderstorm is one of my biggest fears. On the prairie you are the highest object and lightening is always a serious concern. Fortunately, the storm passed quickly without any problems, and the following cloud cover helped to keep the highs for the day in the low 70’s. Lows on Saturday night also remained very mild with temperatures in the 60’s. The usual Kansas winds picked up during the day and while I tell the runners that we designed the course so that the majority of the race is run in a cross wind, I doubt it ever feels that way to the runners.

Just maybe that lightening early in the race energized the runners causing them to move a little faster, as course records were set in both races. With Paul DeWitt and Mark Henderson in the race I knew we would have a fast race. Back in 2002 when Eric Clifton set the course record of 14:30:27 I figured it would stand for many years. When Paul DeWitt reached the 50-mile turnaround in 6:56 I knew there was a chance for a course record if the weather would cooperate. Mark Henderson’s 50-mile split was 7:24, which was closely followed by Clark McLemore in 7:26 and Rob Cowan in 7:46. Paul DeWitt continued to extend his lead and slowed down very little in the second half of the race, finishing with a new course record of 14:26:43. Mark Henderson hung on for second, finishing in 17:37:15. This was his eighth Heartland finish with five wins and three second place finishes. Louise Mason is the only other runner finishing each Heartland 100. Carrie Sauter the female winner ran a very consistent race pulling away from the competition, finishing in 20:46:57.

When we formed our running club, Kansas Ultrarunners Society, in 1994 our goal was to promote Ultrarunning in Kansas. At that time there were only a few of us who had ever run an ultra and there were no races in Kansas. While Kansas may never be the hot bed of Ultrarunning we now have several high quality races to choose from and each year we expose more runners to the ultra experience. This years First Kansan competition was very close. Jess McNeely knocked 2 ½ hours off last years time and finished in 19:19:05, but could not catch Tony Clark. In his first attempt at 100 miles he ran a very impressive 18:28:04

In the 50-mile race, Joe Reis of New York set a course record finishing in 7:04:23 and Chris Harrison from California was the first female finisher in 9:24:41. The 50-mile finishing rate continues to be high with 28 of the 29 starters finishing.

Thanks goes out to all of our aid station volunteers. Their hard work and experience has helped many a runner finish Heartland. Each year Heartland has one of the highest finish rates of any 100-mile race in the country and this year was no exception with 75% of the starters finishing. A special thanks also goes out to Willie Lambert and Great Plains Running Store for the running products given away at the 100 mile awards ceremony and Hammer Nutrition for their race sponsorship. For those of you who have never experienced a run in the prairie, take a look at the short film produced by Eric Steele on the KUS website and see if next years race is something you want to experience.