THE KANSAS SUNFLOWER SERIES

How it works…

Kansas Ultrarunner's Society announced a new awards series in 2025 -- The KUS Sunflower Series! 

KUS Sunflower Six will recognize participants who start AND finish any distance in all 6 KUS races consecutively. The 6 races are: Rockin K Trail Run (4Mi, 21Mi, Marathon, or 50K), Heartland 50 (Heavy 25K, 50K, or 50Mi), Heat Wave 6/12/24 (6, 12, or 24Hr events), Horsethief Canyon Trail Run (10K), Heartland 100 Spirit of the Prairie (1/2 Marathon, Marathon, 50Mi, 100K, 100Mi, or 125Mi), KUS 6/12/24 Hour Run (6, 12, or 24Hr events) A custom sunflower themed buckle will be awarded to those hearty competitors!

KUS Sunflower Smackdown is a top mileage competition open to all participants with 1 Male and 1 Female acknowledged at the year’s end. A personalized award will be given to the 2 who achieve the most miles in KUS races during the calendar year. It is not required to compete in all 6 KUS races for this award, but the chances are better if you do!

KUS Sunflower TKO “Total [Kansas] Knockout” will be the top achievement to strive for — this awards any participant who reaches 411Mi in KUS race finishes in a rolling calendar year (meaning: start with one KUS race and finish all consecutively to achieve the distance). Why 411Mi, you ask? Well, it is simply serendipity …per Google search, there are varying distances for the total miles east-to-west across Kansas. One result yields “411Mi east-to-west” …the highest fixed distances of 4 KUS races added together total 212.4Mi (Rockin’ K 50K + Heartland 50Mi + Horsethief Canyon 10K + Heartland 125Mi) — throw in the “wild card” Heat Wave & KUS 24Hr events where a racer can achieve 100Mi in each, and this totals 412.4Mi (with a very small amount of leeway of 1.25Mi). Thus, the Sunflower TKO was realized and a special prize will be presented to any participant who reaches this equivalence of running across Kansas in KUS events.